By
Alex Hardgrave | The Oregonian/OregonLive
A man who attended Monday’s Portland protest as part of the
PDX Dad Pod, was arrested by federal officers early Tuesday morning. He said officers took him to the ground after they tried to take away his leaf blower.
Zack Duffly, a 44-year-old Portland attorney, attended the protests for the first time Monday. He said he went to express his opposition of police treatment of Black people and of federal officers’ treatment of protesters in downtown Portland.
He arrived before 9 p.m. and met up with the group of dads, who organized to protest and support the Wall of Moms. Many Dads wore orange, hard hats and some brought leaf blowers which can be used to disperse tear gas. They marched and listened to speakers.
Duffly sent text updates to his wife throughout the night.
“Just kind of marching around,” he texted around 11:30. “Very mellow.”
His wife sent a text a bit later telling him to let her know if there is an emergency.
“And that was it for the next 14 hours,” Duffly said.
Around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, officers used tear gas on the crowd. Duffly said he didn’t hear any warning, but started backing up and leaving amid flashbangs. There was an officer nearby who was telling people to get out of the street. Duffly said he didn’t feel threatened by the officer at that time.
One of the agents in camo, holding a baton, came from Duffly’s side and charged him, he said. Duffly believes he was targeted because he brought a leaf blower.
Duffly said the agent tried to grab his leaf blower, which was strapped to his body. Since he didn’t have time to unstrap, he said he was taken to the ground and his glasses were broken as the two officers arrested him.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Duffly’s arrest.
After being arrested, he said an officer led him into the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. He said he could still feel his skin burning from the tear gas, and was unable to see well without his glasses.
As he waited to go into the holding area, he said he saw Jennifer Kristiansen,
a mom who was arrested at the protest,and they spoke for a moment. He said he complimented Kristiansen on her rainbow skirt.
As he was processed by officers, he said he didn’t have time to understand what had just happened and what was going on at each particular moment.
He said the night entailed a lot of waiting with no information. He said when he asked various questions, like when he could have a phone call, he was told that a different agency was in charge of that.
“There was a lot of inter-agency buck-passing,” he said. “Also, legitimate logistical hiccups.”
Duffly said the confusion seemed partly because of coronavirus rules and restrictions, but also because of out-of-town agents being unfamiliar with processes and the buildings. He said he was read his Miranda rights before officers tried to conduct an interview with him. Duffly said he chose to not answer questions.
He tried to calm down and get comfortable on the metal bench in the holding cell, but got very little sleep that night.
He was transported around 7 a.m. Tuesday to the Justice Center. He said while there, he was placed with other detainees who didn’t have masks on in a very confined space.
He said he had earlier been sent to a nurse, who made sure he wasn’t hurt and asked about coronavirus symptoms.
He was told he had an arraignment around 11 a.m., and waited for that to come. But at that point, he said, he still didn’t know what he was being charged with.
After asking continually throughout the whole time, he finally got to call his wife. She’d already guessed he had been arrested after waking up around 3 a.m. and seeing he wasn’t yet home. She called a hotline to figure out what happened.
His arraignment happened around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. He was charged with federal disorderly conduct. He has a trial date set for the misdemeanor charge. He also has a curfew and cannot be within five blocks of the courthouse.
In the days following, he said he can still feel and smell the tear gas.
But the “greatest amount of stress right now,” he said, is that he was doxed, meaning his personal information, including home address, was posted on Twitter. He has received a threat since that happened and has installed security cameras at his home.
He said his experience was “terrifying” but believes that was the intent.
“I think federal agents are here to terrorize the city and to chill our free speech and our rights to assembly,” he said.
