BREAKING: Portland Antifa 'ringleader' Alissa Azar sentenced to jail over felony conviction

An Oregon judge has sentenced a violent Portland Antifa ringleader to jail time and probation following a trial last month. A jury of mostly women convicted Alissa Eleanor Azar, 33 (b. Feb. 12, 1991), of felony riot and disorderly conduct on Aug. 14 following a five-day criminal trial at the Clackamas County Courthouse in Oregon City.

Azar, who became a self-styled chief propagandist for Antifa in the Portland area, was sentenced on Monday afternoon by Judge Todd L. Van Rysselberghe for the 5th Judicial District Circuit Court of Oregon. He sentenced her to 14 days in a local jail, followed by 36 months of supervised probation and GPS monitoring.

This is over her criminal role in a 2021 riot against the Proud Boys at a community park.

"Azar misused a park to clash with fascists, placing innocent people at risk," Judge Van Rysselberghe said before handing down his sentence. "Azar continued to deny being a participant in the riot and acknowledged only that she played a minor role in the incident. Like the Proud Boys, Ms. Azar demonstrated no empathy for the innocent people who were at the park on June 18, 2021."

Azar was immediately cuffed and taken into custody while her masked supporters in the public gallery shouted, "We love you." She will serve her short custodial sentence at the Clackamas County Jail.


Alissa Eleanor Azar was handcuffed and taken into custody in Clackamas County, Ore. Photo: Chelly Bouferrache



Alissa Azar's official mug shot and jail booking. Photo: Clackamas County Sheriff's Office

Clackamas County Deputy District Attorney Josh Cutino had asked the judge for a 30-day jail sentence, which was the maximum recommendation based on the state's sentencing guidelines. The jail stint, he said, would accompany 36 months of supervised probation that includes harsh restrictions, such as cooperating with GPS monitoring when deemed necessary by the probation officer.

"She [Azar] played a lead role in amplifying, promoting and organizing a violent brawl in a public park," Cutino argued. "She admitted that she would do it again and the message from our community should be clear that violence of this sort should not be tolerated."

Cutino explained to the judge that the county jail was at full capacity at the time of sentencing, but he had contacted Clackamas County jail commander Capt. Lee Eby to make special arrangements for Azar to be booked. The jail granted the prosecutor's request and told Cutino a cell would be made available to Azar for the duration of her sentence. 

The prosecutor argued, citing state law, that "court sentences are given priority for space" in jail, ensuring Judge Van Rysselberghe that Azar could be booked regardless of whether the facility was full.

Since rioting in June 2021 in Clackamas County, Azar has been repeatedly arrested in Portland at violent Antifa direct actions. She currently has an open case for her involvement in the May 2024 violent pro-Gaza occupation at Portland State University. A separate indictment for a felony robbery case in Portland was dismissed in October 2023.

Cutino said at sentencing that Azar was ordered to complete a restorative justice program for an unrelated case but didn't bother to complete it. This, he argued, demonstrates her reckless disregard for accountability.


Clackamas County Deputy District Attorney Josh Cutino argues to the court that Azar should receive the maximum sentence. Photo: Chelly Bouferrache


The courtroom was filled with many Antifa supporters of Azar. Most of them hid their identities by wearing masks, sunglasses and scarves.

Azar's defense, headed by Lauren Regan, an Antifa activist attorney for the far-left Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC), told the court Azar's felony conviction should be downgraded to a misdemeanor and that she should get no jail time. 

"She does not intend to give up her career in journalism," Regan said. She then argued that judicial systemic racism would unfairly impact Azar. "Widespread racial and gender disparities exist in our courts. Azar is a woman of color and is Middle Eastern."

Patreon and Venmo appear to have disagreed with allowing Azar to continue using their platforms for fundraising for her "gonzo journalism," which the prosecution showed at trial was a front for violent criminal activities. Following Azar's conviction, both platforms suspended her. 


Alissa Azar and her far-left activist attorney, Lauren Regan. Photo: Chelly Bouferrache

Ahead of sentencing, Regan wrote to the court that it should ban this publication and its reporters because of "false and inflammatory posts seeking to incite others to physically attack or kill her [Azar] and her family." The judge didn't buy it, and our reporters were in court. Additionally, The Post Millennial stands by our reporting on Azar and her trial. We have received no requests for corrections from Azar or Regan.

Ahead of sentencing, Alissa Azar's attorney, Lauren Regan, lobbied the court to ban reporting by The Post Millennial

Background

Azar's conviction stems from her violent role in an Antifa riot in Oregon City on June 18, 2021. Azar claimed to be an "independent journalist" there to document a protest against the Proud Boys, but the court saw and heard evidence of her role in the violent conspiracy. She was captured on key video evidence launching a chemical attack on an unidentified woman in the park, and admitting to police to owning several riot shields that were brought to the attack. Additionally, Oregon City police testified that they found bombs at the park.

The 2021 event Antifa organized to attack was a voter registration and flag wave event hosted by Daniel Tooze, a former Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives who is also an associate of the right-wing Proud Boys group. The far-left extremists arrived in their black bloc uniform with melee weapons, supplies, canisters of mace, and other equipment to occupy a park pavilion that was permitted to be used by Tooze.

Brawling broke out between Antifa militants and the Proud Boys, resulting in police declaring a riot. In addition to Azar, two Proud Boy affiliates, Gordon Cronk and Tommy Campbell, were indicted on felony riot charges. Their cases are ongoing and the court has issued arrest warrants. A third Proud Boy associate, Barry Johnson, has a trial set for Nov. 12.
 

The Trial

During the trial, prosecutor Cutino presented evidence to the jury that characterized Azar as a ringleader and organizer inside Antifa who actively participates in the group's violent direct actions, undermining her self-identity as a journalist.

Evidence submitted to the court included a surfeit of Azar's social media posts, including a post where she issued a call to action to shut down the event at Clackamette Park that she later went to attack. Azar's defense argued she was on a journalism assignment.

During cross-examination, Azar testified she would continue her extremist involvement with Antifa. Cutino told the jury that Azar's admission to continue with acts of violence raises significant public safety concerns.

Alissa Azar's defense tried repeatedly to get the judge to block the prosecution from entering videos of Azar as evidence. Video stills: News2Share

Azar testified that violence is permissible against any group whose political beliefs "antifascists" disagree with. Cutino then asked Azar: "What does violence mean to you?" She answered: "I don't think defense of community members is violence."

The Antifa movement, which is made up of many decentralized groups and cells, accuses any of their opposition, including conservatives, liberals, Christians, pro-Israel Jewish people and women rights campaigners, of being "fascists" who must be silenced through the use of violence and intimidation. Several members of the Antifa movement in the Portland area have been convicted of violent crimes, including attempted murder and a bombing, stemming from rioting since 2020.

The jury in Azar's trial comprised 10 women and two men. They convicted Azar on two of the three charges: felony riot and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

The third charge, unlawful use of mace, resulted in a hung jury. The state filed not to retry that charge. The judge sealed the jury roll to protect the identities of the jurors due to fears of retribution from Antifa.

 

Who is Alissa Eleanor Azar?

The December 2021 indictment of Azar, a long-time regular at Antifa riots in Portland for years, sent shockwaves across Antifa cells and networks in the Pacific Northwest who felt invincible after few were prosecuted in Multnomah County, where Portland is. Azar had been repeatedly arrested and charged at violent Antifa direct actions in Multnomah County, but was repeatedly not prosecuted. Until she came to neighboring Clackamas County.

Clackamas County is a politically moderate county adjacent to Multnomah County, a left-wing stronghold. It has both suburban and rural communities.

Alissa Azar at a pre-trial court hearing in August 2024. Photo: Chelly Bouferrache

Azar had risen to become one of the chief propagandists for the violent Antifa movement and maintains close ties with Rose City Antifa, a violent cell of Antifa in Portland. She claims to be a journalist and uses her social media following to help mainstream Antifa's message of political violence.

For example, extremists who commit politically motivated attacks have fed responsibility claims to her for publication. Her extremism appears to be the reason Patreon pulled her account sometime in 2023. However, Azar later created a second ban-evading account on the platform, which was also banned following her conviction.

Her work is also financed in part by her online sex work, which heavily mixes Antifa propaganda along with pornography.

Alissa Azar was arrested at a violent Antifa riot in downtown Portland in March 2021. Photo: Portland Police

Victims of Azar's violence have spoken to TPM about their frustration that she wasn't held accountable for her actions in Portland.

In March 2021, Azar was charged with second-degree disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer at an Antifa riot in downtown Portland. Her case was dropped by Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt—in line with his 2020 policy of not prosecuting most leftist riot-related crimes.

Alissa Azar was arraigned in 2022 in Multnomah County over other alleged violent crimes related to Antifa


In December 2022, she was charged with felony robbery, felony assault, tampering with physical evidence, theft and other serious crimes stemming from an attack on a citizen journalist in August 2022 in downtown Portland. Schmidt's prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the case entirely in 2023.

In May 2024, she was charged over a pro-Hamas riot on the Portland State campus after far-left occupiers were evicted from a violent four-day occupation of the Millar Library that sustained over a million dollars in damage.

Azar joins a long list of Antifa self-described journalists who have been accused or convicted of politically motivated violent crimes. In November 2022, Darrel Kimberlin, a secret Portland Antifa member who publicly identified as a "gonzo journalist" like Azar, became a convicted felon after pleading guilty to smashing up the Oregon Democrats headquarters and businesses in multiple attacks. DA Schmidt's office asked for no prison time as part of the sweetheart plea deal.

In December last year, Renea Goddard, of Little Rock, Ark., was sentenced to federal prison over a 2020 firebombing attack on police. Goddard was a former journalist for a local NPR-affiliated station.

Before Azar's involvement in militant Antifa extremism in Portland, she had a failed career in the entertainment industry.

She has spoken about her family's Syrian background and her support of dictator and accused genocidaire Bashar al-Assad. She also previously posted about her concern that Jewish people in the "entire industry" might discriminate against her. Last October, Azar appeared to post in support of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.

"Militant action is not for everyone, but it's how things get accomplished," she wrote on Oct. 7 in response to a post about Palestinians.

Alissa Azar appears to justify the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in Israel


Simultaneous to her involvement with Antifa in Portland, Azar has also grown a fanbase within that community for her sex work. She runs an OnlyFans account where she shows off nude photos of herself standing in front of Antifa print propaganda. In some of the photos, Azar dons a balaclava while brandishing an AR-15-style rifle.

In November 2022, Azar lost custody of her only child after the boy's father told a family court that her involvement with Antifa and her sex work had created an unsafe environment for their child.


Antifa members stood outside the Clackamas County courthouse and stared at people and jurors as they walked out. Photos: Chelly Bouferrache


Online reactions by Portland Antifa associates show them condemning the sentence. 

"[A] small woman acted in self defense against a violent mob of far right extremists," far-left Portland radical Ronald Bernard Hickey wrote under an alias. "ALWAYS RESIST FASCIST VIOLENCE. the [sic] courts are a right wing tool of political violence."

More Violence

Violence appears to regularly follow Azar.

Outside of the courthouse at her trial last month, Antifa supporters of Azar nearly rioted. John Hacker, an Antifa member who also self-identifies as a journalist, was observed beating and bloodying a man to the ground. He was arrested by sheriff's deputies and was booked into the Clackamas County jail on a fourth-degree assault charge. He has pleaded not guilty and has an October court date.

When Azar's guilt was read out in the courtroom at her trial, she burst into tears. Some of her masked friends also cried. However, she did not visibly respond when she was cuffed at sentencing on Monday. She grinned as she was walked out of the courtroom by a deputy.

And similar to the violent attack last month by an associate of Azar, a woman who attended the sentencing in support of Azar was also arrested following a violent incident outside the courthouse involving a videographer. 

Update Sept. 10, 2024: Oregon City Police Capt. David Edwins told TPM that "officers arrested 26-year-old Natalia Goudvis related to a disturbance that occurred near the courthouse." Natalia Leah Goudvis, originally from Massachusetts, was arrested on suspicion of harassment and second-degree disorderly conduct. She was released from jail on the same day on own recognizance.


Natalia Leah Goudvis, Alissa Azar's friend, was arrested over a violent attack outside the Clackamas County courthouse following sentencing


Goudvis has a long history of far-left activism in Portland. Her social media links to resources about Palestinian militancy, rioting and making homemade abortion pills. 

The TPM exclusive report on Azar's trial in August 2024 can be read here.