Alissa Azar on Nostr: I’ve referenced it here and there, but I’ve yet to actually share what happened ...
I’ve referenced it here and there, but I’ve yet to actually share what happened to me during my last arrest. Now that the charges are dropped I feel comfortable doing so.
Exactly a year ago to date I got out of jail after spending two days there. This is separate from my clackamas county trial coming up btw…
The day after Christmas I had dropped my kiddo off at their dads. Upon arriving home, I had just parked my car right in front of my home. Everything seemed normal until the moment I opened my car door. That’s when 5-6 unmarked cop cars immediately turned on their sirens and one of the vehicles (the only marked one) drove forward until it was parallel with my car. I tried sitting back down and closing my door, but the cop forced my door open and pulled me up, snatched my phone from me, and immediately put me in handcuffs. It was frightening, but mostly, I was just extremely confused. Not only did I have no idea what was going on, but they refused to tell me why I was being arrested and Miranda rights were not read to me. The only thing they did tell me was that they had a warrant to search my home as more cops showed up.
After I was put in handcuffs, the two male cops doing the arrest patted me down then shoved me in the police car. I was still very confused. I remained in the vehicle for about 30 minutes before we finally left. They drove me to North Precinct first. When they first pulled me out of the car the two male cops patted me down again. Then they took me inside and put me in a secluded room. When inside the room, the male cops once again patted me down, but this time it was much more invasive as they felt me beneath my clothing while they were laughing about it. After a brief wait, an officer joined me inside and started to ask me questions like if I knew why I was there. I kept saying “lawyer” when he would ask me anything. It took about 10–15 minutes of this before they gave up frustratedly and left me alone. An hour or so later a cop came back in and tried asking me questions again, to which I had the same response. Mind you- I still had no idea why I was arrested and was still not allowed to make a phone call. After they got the point that I wasn’t going to answer any questions and wanted a lawyer, I was finally filled in on the reason for my arrest.
Now up until this point my mind was all over the place trying to figure out what it could possibly be for. I truly couldn’t think of anything, and I just kept wondering if it had to do with my Clackamas Co case… the reason they gave me legitimately blew my mind and left me even more confused than before.
They stated the reason was due to a day that took place a few months back, earlier that summer. There was a street preacher downtown near the Saturday market. I remember seeing there was going to be a counter demo and I showed up to cover said event. Now mind you, when I showed up, there wasn’t much to cover. It was a tiny group that showed up to counter. The street preacher and the people with him got fucked with and walked out away from the waterfront area. Later on, a scuffle broke out because of a local streamer who is friends with a lot of local and violent fash, and said streamer always has very inflammatory tendencies. I took a few pictures here and there, like the preachers destroyed sign that laid on the ground, but like I said, there wasn’t really much to cover… I observed as I usually do and watched it play out. I stuck around for a bit because events like this often go from nothing to something really quick, and a very large portion of what I do is just observing.
So when the cops said that THAT was the day I was arrested for, you might imagine why I was beyond confused. I had legitimately not done a thing that warranted that response. What’s worse was the charges themselves. I don’t remember them all, but it was SEVEN FELONY charges. One was tampering with evidence, another was assault, and there was even a measure 11 charge thrown into the mix.
A few hours went by after the cops tried and failed getting me to speak. Still no phone call allotted to me. Finally they came into the locked room again and pulled me up and took me back to the vehicle. From there they drove me to the justice center downtown. By this time, it was like 7PM (I was first arrested around 10AM). From when I was in holding at the Justice Center to when I was actually booked, my charges kept changing from one thing to another. This entire time I was still just so confused. Mad, but definitely confused.
What’s funny too is that even the police report from that day indicates all the incidents that took place that day, and that the people involved weren’t identifiable. There were folks in black bloc, some in grey bloc, but the State couldn’t figure out who they were. So placed all those charges on me instead. I also later realized that 2 other far right propagandist actually lied about me in a grand jury. Again, I was there to cover said event, so I was there as myself. I was wearing a kn95 because of Covid, but I was there as myself and anyone who knows me can tell it’s me. I wasn’t hiding my identity. I was literally wearing small bike shorts and a crewneck with an album cover on it and some vans.
I’m glad this is behind me now but fuck. It’s scary how much power they have and the bullshit they do with said power. I genuinely don’t think that they believe I was involved. I think it was just a way for them to fuck with me and go thru my things. They ended up completely destroying my home. Everything was turned upside down and inside out. It was a shit show. There’s even a video of my arresting officer talking to the streamer I mentioned above, and the cop was trying to pressure him to press charges against me so that they could “finally get [me]”
What a fucking joke.
Exactly a year ago to date I got out of jail after spending two days there. This is separate from my clackamas county trial coming up btw…
The day after Christmas I had dropped my kiddo off at their dads. Upon arriving home, I had just parked my car right in front of my home. Everything seemed normal until the moment I opened my car door. That’s when 5-6 unmarked cop cars immediately turned on their sirens and one of the vehicles (the only marked one) drove forward until it was parallel with my car. I tried sitting back down and closing my door, but the cop forced my door open and pulled me up, snatched my phone from me, and immediately put me in handcuffs. It was frightening, but mostly, I was just extremely confused. Not only did I have no idea what was going on, but they refused to tell me why I was being arrested and Miranda rights were not read to me. The only thing they did tell me was that they had a warrant to search my home as more cops showed up.
After I was put in handcuffs, the two male cops doing the arrest patted me down then shoved me in the police car. I was still very confused. I remained in the vehicle for about 30 minutes before we finally left. They drove me to North Precinct first. When they first pulled me out of the car the two male cops patted me down again. Then they took me inside and put me in a secluded room. When inside the room, the male cops once again patted me down, but this time it was much more invasive as they felt me beneath my clothing while they were laughing about it. After a brief wait, an officer joined me inside and started to ask me questions like if I knew why I was there. I kept saying “lawyer” when he would ask me anything. It took about 10–15 minutes of this before they gave up frustratedly and left me alone. An hour or so later a cop came back in and tried asking me questions again, to which I had the same response. Mind you- I still had no idea why I was arrested and was still not allowed to make a phone call. After they got the point that I wasn’t going to answer any questions and wanted a lawyer, I was finally filled in on the reason for my arrest.
Now up until this point my mind was all over the place trying to figure out what it could possibly be for. I truly couldn’t think of anything, and I just kept wondering if it had to do with my Clackamas Co case… the reason they gave me legitimately blew my mind and left me even more confused than before.
They stated the reason was due to a day that took place a few months back, earlier that summer. There was a street preacher downtown near the Saturday market. I remember seeing there was going to be a counter demo and I showed up to cover said event. Now mind you, when I showed up, there wasn’t much to cover. It was a tiny group that showed up to counter. The street preacher and the people with him got fucked with and walked out away from the waterfront area. Later on, a scuffle broke out because of a local streamer who is friends with a lot of local and violent fash, and said streamer always has very inflammatory tendencies. I took a few pictures here and there, like the preachers destroyed sign that laid on the ground, but like I said, there wasn’t really much to cover… I observed as I usually do and watched it play out. I stuck around for a bit because events like this often go from nothing to something really quick, and a very large portion of what I do is just observing.
So when the cops said that THAT was the day I was arrested for, you might imagine why I was beyond confused. I had legitimately not done a thing that warranted that response. What’s worse was the charges themselves. I don’t remember them all, but it was SEVEN FELONY charges. One was tampering with evidence, another was assault, and there was even a measure 11 charge thrown into the mix.
A few hours went by after the cops tried and failed getting me to speak. Still no phone call allotted to me. Finally they came into the locked room again and pulled me up and took me back to the vehicle. From there they drove me to the justice center downtown. By this time, it was like 7PM (I was first arrested around 10AM). From when I was in holding at the Justice Center to when I was actually booked, my charges kept changing from one thing to another. This entire time I was still just so confused. Mad, but definitely confused.
What’s funny too is that even the police report from that day indicates all the incidents that took place that day, and that the people involved weren’t identifiable. There were folks in black bloc, some in grey bloc, but the State couldn’t figure out who they were. So placed all those charges on me instead. I also later realized that 2 other far right propagandist actually lied about me in a grand jury. Again, I was there to cover said event, so I was there as myself. I was wearing a kn95 because of Covid, but I was there as myself and anyone who knows me can tell it’s me. I wasn’t hiding my identity. I was literally wearing small bike shorts and a crewneck with an album cover on it and some vans.
I’m glad this is behind me now but fuck. It’s scary how much power they have and the bullshit they do with said power. I genuinely don’t think that they believe I was involved. I think it was just a way for them to fuck with me and go thru my things. They ended up completely destroying my home. Everything was turned upside down and inside out. It was a shit show. There’s even a video of my arresting officer talking to the streamer I mentioned above, and the cop was trying to pressure him to press charges against me so that they could “finally get [me]”
What a fucking joke.