New DA in Portland admits he is ‘old buddies’ with an Antifa militant

"Just before I was sworn in as DA, I sat down with an old buddy of mine, @AWKWORDrap, for an interview about my priorities as District Attorney and rethinking what public safety means," Schmidt tweeted.

The hour-long Jul. 21 interview with Schmidt is a first in the series of "social justice leaders" features conducted by a self-described "Anti-Fascist" and "old time buddy" of Schmidt's, social media personality Awkword.

Awkword leads the Ten Demands for Justice movement, "a roadmap for the defunding and then full abolition of police and prisons."

Before Schmidt was sworn in as district attorney for Multnomah County, Oregon, he video chatted with Awkword to discuss his priorities as incoming chief prosecutor.

Their 20-year-long friendship began at Vassar College in New York dominated by "what general society would deem as radicals" who made the duo "look like conservatives."

"As a DA, people probably assume that your mission is to put people in jail," Awkword prefaced. "I know that's not what you do," he added.

Awkword then asked Schmidt how he thinks he was "radicalized" since college.

Schmidt explained that he was left of center at Vassar and grappling between applying to be a public defender or a prosecutor.

When the public defenders wouldn't accept him, former Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk gave him his first chance to practice criminal law as an intern and as a deputy district attorney.

"There are things you can do to show people mercy at your discretion, and also there's the victim's side," Schmidt said, "...although I think our criminal justice system very much fails victims..."

"The vast majority of perpetrators have been victims themselves," Awkword pivoted, finding his "research" not surprising.

These "victims" seek "reparative justice" by being rewarded with social services opposed to imprisonment, he emphasized.

Then Awkword questioned what Schmidt considers "fair punishment."

Schmidt began by claiming that the criminal justice system was built on "white supremacist culture" and serves the needs of certain victims defined by the system.

"The focus is not 'How do we help the victim heal?' The focus is on, as you said, punishment," Schmidt answered.

In 2015, Ore. Gov. Kate Brown appointed Schmidt to be the director of the Criminal Justice Commission, the state's sentencing agency. In this leadership role, Schmidt advocated for ending cash bail and investing in alternative programs to incarceration.

As a "prison and police abolitionist," Awkword stated that these alternatives are an "incremental step" to "utilize prisons less" as leftist activists work to defund law enforcement.

"I definitely see you as an ally in that effort," Awkword told Schmidt.

As a change-from-within official, Schmidt expressed that he ran on "needing to shrink the criminal justice system" as "counterproductive to public safety."

Awkword then called attention to Schmidt's stance on not criminalizing protestors who are "just exercising their First Amendment rights."

Schmidt stated that the violent Portland riots "are nothing like the Armageddon that the Trump Administration is trying to portray our city," calling the Burnside Bridge Die-In on Jun. 2 a "beautiful demonstration."

Leftists activists are protesting for issues that are "completely consistent" with the platform Schmidt ran on, he proudly exclaimed, such as the elimination of mandatory minimum sentencing.

"This dystopian image that is being painted nationally is not at all what it looks like on our streets," Schmidt continued. "We have amazing people out every night talking about the systemic racism in our criminal justice system."

Overnight, Antifa rioters shut down streets and started fires in north Portland, also causing a car accident. Responding officers were attacked with concrete, lasers, paint bombs, and ball bearings from slingshots. Only four were arrested, according to a press release by the Portland Police Bureau.