Entire Portland Police crowd control unit resigns after officer indicted on protest assault charge
The mass resignation comes a day after a grand jury indicted Portland Police Bureau Officer Corey Budworth on one count of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, for what prosecutors allege was an "excessive and unlawful use of force" during a protest in August 2020.
Budworth, who at the time was on the bureau's Rapid Response Team, is accused of striking a woman in the head with a baton during an Aug. 18, 2020, demonstration outside the Multnomah Building. The indictment marks the first time a Portland police officer has faced prosecution for striking or firing at someone during a protest,
according to the Oregonian.
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Two law enforcement sources close to the team told ABC News the officers decided the assault charge reflected too much hostility towards their police work, and they did not see a way forward in being members of the team facing sometimes violent protests in downtown Portland.
Davis said the bureau, including the members of the Rapid Response Team, has been under a "tremendous amount of stress" due to the coronavirus pandemic and in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, during which he said Portland saw over 150 nights of "sustained civil unrest."