Charges Filed After Molotov Cocktails Thrown at Portland Police

Portland police arrested 13 people at the Sept 23 protest.

Portland Police had incendiary devices thrown at them at recent protests. Image: KGW/YouTube

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - During the night of September 23rd, the 118th day of protests in Portland, Oregon, multiple Molotov cocktails were thrown at police in downtown. One exploded near the intersection of SW 2nd Avenue and SW Main Street.

The resulting explosion caused a Portland Police officer’s boot to catch fire. Law enforcement continues to conduct investigative follow up to determine exactly who threw the Molotov cocktail from this incident.

Deputy District Attorney Kelley Rhoades said "a police officer saw Sipe lighting the petrol bomb" in a probable cause affidavit.

"One of the Molotov cocktails exploded in the street and caught one of the officers on fire," Rhoades writes.

"As officers attempted to move the rioters out of the street and disperse the crowd, an officer watched as Joseph Sipe lit the wick of a Molotov cocktail. The officer attempted to detain Sipe and ultimately tackled him near SW 3rd and SW Main."

Portland police arrested 13 people at the Sept 23 protest.

One of the two people charged with possession of a destructive device is a homeless ex-Marine who suffers from schizophrenia.

The facts, as alleged in court documents, follow the list of charges for each of the following three defendants:

23-year old Joseph Sipe, is being charged with one count of riot and one count of unlawful possession of a destructive device. It is alleged that law enforcement saw Mr. Sipe light the wick of a Molotov cocktail and then throw the object near the intersection of Southwest 3rd Avenue and Southwest Main Street.
Sipe later admitted during a police interview that he lit a Molotov cocktail and threw the device behind a line of uniformed police officers as they moved along Southwest Main Street.


21-year old Cyan Bass, is charged with one count of riot, two counts of arson in the first degree, one count of attempted assault in the first degree, one count of unlawful possession of a destructive device, one count of attempted assault of a public safety officer and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.
It is alleged that law enforcement observed Mr. Bass squirt a substance onto the main doors of the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct and then set them on fire. Law enforcement also observed Bass squirting an accelerant onto a boarded up section of PPB’s Central Precinct's north-facing façade, igniting the accelerant and thereby causing a fire.
Finally, law enforcement witnessed Bass holding an object with a wick, lighting the object on fire and then throwing the flaming object toward uniformed police officers. The device did not explode.


19-year old Calvin Jackson, is charged with one count of felony riot and one count of criminal mischief in the second degree. It is alleged that law enforcement observed Mr. Jackson throwing rocks at the Portland Police Bureau's Central Precinct windows and thereby causing damage.
During a police interview, Jackson admitted that he witnessed other people throwing rocks towards police headquarters, admitted to doing so himself and acknowledged that one of the rocks he threw broke the window.
During the investigation law enforcement learned someone else brought the rocks in a backpack and dropped them on the ground, which is when people started picking up rocks and throwing them.

NOTE: A charging document is only an accusation of a crime. Sipe, Bass and Jackson are innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: Multnomah County District Attorney