Damion Zachary Feller, 23, admitted to throwing flares into a cop car and a Target department store during violent May Day protests in Portland, Ore. May 1. (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office)
A May Day protester confessed in court Thursday to throwing a flare into a Portland police car and another into a Target store and will be sentenced to five years in jail, reports said.
Damion Zachary Feller, 23, is expected to be sentenced in October after being arrested and later charged for his part in the violent May Day protests that engulfed the streets of Portland, Ore. on May 1, The Oregonian reported.
Video reportedly showed Feller throwing one flare through a shattered Target window before tossing another through a window of a police SUV parked across the street from the store.
Police said Feller was one of about 20 anarchists who invaded the initially peaceful protests, the report said.
Police in Portland shut down the rally, which they eventually declared a riot, after marchers started throwing smoke bombs and destroying property. One medic was hit with a full can of Pepsi during the mayhem, police said.
Approximately 25 people were arrested that day.
Feller was arrested two days later, after police saw him on the street, The Oregonian reported.
According to a police affidavit, when detectives showed Feller a picture of a person who threw a flare at the protest he said, “I saw that online, and I knew I was (expletive),” the report said.
Feller admitted to authorities that he was guilty, saying he got caught up in a “mob mentality,” The Oregonian reported.
He pled guilty to first-degree arson, second-degree arson, riot and first-degree criminal mischief, according to the report. He was also reportedly charged in federal court but will not serve any extra time in accordance to a plea deal.
Feller told authorities that he is homeless, unemployed, and does not talk to any of his family, The Oregonian reported. He also said he was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and bipolar disorder and smokes marijuana every day.
Feller was reportedly arrested five times in the past in Oregon, Colorado, and Texas for alleged nonviolent crimes or for not appearing in court, although he has no criminal convictions. And he is still facing charges in Umatilla County, Ore. for theft and criminal trespass, The Oregonian said.
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