Jury finds Portland police pepper spraying woman during 2020 riots was NOT excessive force

A federal jury took less than two hours before finding that a former Portland police sergeant didn’t use excessive force when he pepper-sprayed a woman in the face during the riots in Portland, Oregon in 2020.

According to The Oregonian, then 59-year-old Marie Tyvoll was setting up a “community aid” tent for the Antifa activists in Kenton Park on September 28, 2020 when Portland police officers arrived and cleared it of weapons, including shields or poles, before a protest.

Tyvoll’s attorney claimed that her client was only holding her cell phone filming police when then-Sgt. Justin D. Damerville sprayed her in the face. In a video played in the federal court in Portland, she was seen wearing a mask and glasses and filming police. According to Damerville’s lawyers, Tyvoll didn’t listen to his order to “get back” as other officers worked to take remove a large pole from a man in front of her. 

Tyvoll then slapped Damerville’s hand when he held up the pepper spray and grabbed onto his other hand. That’s when Damerville sprayed Tyvoll in the face.

Damerville’s lawyers argued his actions were justified because Tyvoll engaged in “physical resistance” as he attempted to keep a safe space between the rioters and the officers trying to remove the pole from the other man. Additionally, a picture of Tyvoll taken shortly after she was sprayed showed her eyes weren’t red, tearing up, or watery. Additionally, she continued to stay at the park and film police.

In her closing argument, Damerville’s lawyer Karen O’Kasey said, “Citizens have the right to observe, no question about that. Citizens do not have the right to interfere or physically engage with an officer.”

The outlet reported that the seven-member jury began deliberations at approximately 12:30 pm on November 14 and reached a verdict by 1:55 pm. The jury also said the city wasn’t liable for Damerville’s use of pepper spray.

In May 2022, Damerville resigned from the Police Bureau as a sergeant after 11 years working with the agency and now works as an officer for the Brentwood Police Department in Tennessee.