Portland district attorney brings charges following week of BLM-Antifa arson attacks

Four accused rioters in Portland are facing local charges ranging from arson to possession of a destructive device, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office has announced.

On Wednesday night, hundreds of Black Lives Matter-Antifa rioters attacked the Justice Center, shattering windows of the central police station with rocks, and setting the exterior on fire multiple times. Three Molotov cocktails were hurled at law enforcement, narrowly missing cops by inches. One explosion caused an officer’s boot to catch fire. A follow-up investigation is underway to determine who threw the firebomb in this incident. The Portland riot was organized in response to a grand jury decision to pursue a lesser charge connected to the police-involved death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky. 13 individuals were arrested in Portland and booked in the Multnomah County Detention Center.

Joseph Robert Sipe, 23, of Portland, is charged with one count of riot and one count of unlawful possession of a destructive device. According to court documents, Sipe admitted to lighting the wick of a Molotov cocktail and then launching the device behind a line of uniformed police officers as they moved along Southwest Main Street. He was initially arrested for four felonies including first-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault, first-degree arson, and possession of a destructive device. A federal hold was placed on him to avoid immediate release.

All but the last initial charge were dropped. A source with knowledge tells The Post Millennial those charges were dropped because investigators couldn't verify the firebomb's landing spot. Sipe was charged last year in an ongoing trespassing case. Two previous harassment and unlawful possession of methadone charges were also dropped against him.

Cyan Waters Bass, 21, of Portland, is charged with one count of riot, two counts of first-degree felony arson, one count of first-degree felony attempted assault, one count of felony 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. Authorities reportedly observed Bass “squirt a substance” onto the main doors of the Portland Police Central Precinct and then ignited the material. He was also caught squirting and igniting an accelerant onto a boarded up section of the police station’s north-facing façade. Bass additionally threw a flaming object towards uniformed police officers.

Bass was initially arrested for several of the above charges plus felony criminal mischief in the first degree, which was not pursued. A federal hold was also placed on him.

Their separate indictment hearings are scheduled for Oct. 02.

Calvin Jerome Jackson, 19 of Portland, is charged with one count of felony riot and one count of criminal mischief in the second degree. Jackson was spotted throwing rocks at the Central Precinct windows and causing damage. During the police interview, Jackson admitted to vandalizing the police headquarters with others. Law enforcement learned that another rioter supplied the rocks in a backpack that was left on the ground.

Jackson was initially arrested for felony criminal mischief in the first degree. He was released quickly without bail. His arraignment is set for Nov. 27. Jackson was charged last year for two counts of possession of a loaded firearm in a public place and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm. The case was dropped. In 2018, he pleaded not guilty to strangulation and harassment charges and the case was dismissed.

Sophia Paige Kalsta-Watkins, a 21-year-old social-justice Portland TikTok star, is charged with felony arson in the first degree and is accused of intentionally causing damage to the police association building in relation to an unlawful assembly on Thursday night. The District Attorney’s Office says Kalsta-Watkins lit fire to the wooden boards that line the police union hall’s exterior. The building had been attacked and set on fire some half-a-dozen times by rioters over more than 110 days of violent protests. Law enforcement arrested Kalsta-Watkins near the intersection of North Lombard Street and North Campbell Avenue. A lighter and a spray paint can were discovered in her belongings, according to court documents.

Her TikTok page shows she is passionate about abolishing capitalism and the American criminal justice system. In a gas mask, she self-captioned a video: “[A]ren’t you that girl that’s over prepared for the end of capitalist rule?”