Charges dropped against Oregon journalist

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Mutnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez pictured at a candidate debate last year.

Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP Images

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New York, Jan. 24, 2025 —

The Multnomah County, Oregon, District Attorney’s Office dropped its case against Portland-based independent journalist Alissa Azar yesterday. Azar had been set to stand trial Monday on trespass charges arising from her arrest while covering a protest at Portland State University last May.

“Azar and all journalists have a First Amendment right to cover protests, even after police disperse demonstrators. This is not a controversial position — even the Department of Justice agrees. And that right extends to journalists outside the mainstream, including ones that police don’t like. We thank District Attorney Nathan Vasquez for doing the right thing and call on him to go one step further: Publicly commit to allowing journalists to cover protests and their aftermath and not prosecuting any similar cases going forward.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and other press freedom organizations explained in a June letter to then-DA Mike Schmidt that the charges violated Azar’s First Amendment rights — recognized by the 9th Circuit, in addition to the DOJ. Schmidt ignored the letter, but his successor, Vasquez, dropped the case after outreach from FPF and Defending Rights & Dissent, which created a petition seeking the dismissal of the charges against Azar.

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