On Thursday November 10th, 2016 Portland exploded with over ten thousand people hitting the streets in opposition to the election of Donald Trump to the highest position of power in the world. The evening saw rebellious acts by youth of color and anarchists taking actions against bourgeois businesses in the Pearl District, one of Portland’s most gentrified neighborhoods, against car dealerships and against city infrastructure. Thursday wasn’t the end, as the next day a combative protest was also declared a riot after demonstrators hurled projectiles at police and set up blockades in the streets, huge mobilizations continued for several weeks with students self organizing and blockading bridges and several more highway shut downs also occurring. In the aftermath, several individuals faced felony charges.

Mateen Abdul Shaheed is a black youth, born and raised in Portland, who was arrested on a felony warrant after police hunted him down at a friend's home. He was charged with 6 accounts of criminal mischief in the first degree, which is a class c felony, each carrying a minimum 5-year sentence. The charges stem from alleged acts of property destruction during the post-Trump election “Portland Riots.” Mateen is accused of causing damage totaling $25,000 against a bourgeois car dealership and other infrastructure items such as electrical boxes in the city.  He was convicted of criminal mischief and was released in 2018.