Freelance journalist Andy Ngo has sought vindication after Antifa members who he says attacked him and left him with a brain hemorrhage in 2019 were ordered to pay him $300,000 in damages.
Katherine Belyea, Madison Allen, and Sammich Overkill Schott-Deputy (formerly known as Joseph Evans) are in the hot seat for damages Ngo sought for alleged assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, even though they never showed up to respond. to their charges. Against them.
He accused the trio of causing a mob to pounce on him, hitting him over the head with a sign and dousing him with milkshakes, which Portland police warned might contain quick-drying concrete.
A viral video shows a mob approaching Ngo during the June 2019 protest. YouTube
Madison Allen (left), Sammich Overkill Schott-Deputy (center) and Katherine Belyea (right) failed to appear at trial but were ordered to each pay the maximum of $100,000 in compensation.@mrandyngo/Twitter
Each was ordered to pay $100,000. “It was a little vindication after a traumatic experience,” Ngo told The Post. “The judge awarded me the full amount she could, and maybe that’s telling.”
He says the result is a relief as he fights for justice for other Antifa victims.
“I owed it to myself and to all the people who have supported me over the years in seeking justice. I was fighting not only for myself, but for many, many others who have been victims of this violent extremist movement,” he said.
Ngo, author of the 2021 book “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Plan to Destroy Democracy,” rose to fame for his on-the-ground coverage of Antifa.
Ngo’s lawsuit claims one of the defendants threw a milkshake at him.Getty Images
Andy Ngo recently appeared in court, where he claimed that Portland Antifa members assaulted him and inflicted emotional distress on him. Courtesy of Chelly Bouferrache
The 36-year-old Portland native has frequently gone undercover and infiltrated Antifa’s ranks, exposing its tactics and live-streaming protests.
“The legacy media…provided biased or incomplete reporting on the political violence that was occurring in Portland,” Ngo said. “So I went out and recorded on my phone because I thought it was important for the public to see what was happening on the streets with their own eyes.”
The ruling was announced Monday by Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Chanpone Sinlapasai. Ngo won the case by default and was granted the full settlement he requested after the three defendants failed to respond to the summons and did not appear in court.
According to his lawsuit, Allen, Belyea and Schott-Deputy were among a mob of assailants who kicked, punched and threw eggs and milkshakes at him during a protest in June 2019. Part of the altercation was caught on video.
The complaint claims that Schott-Deputy was one of the first to hit Ngo, thus inciting more violence. Allen allegedly hit him over the head with a sign, while Belyea threw a milkshake at him.
Defendant Madison Allen was captured on video hitting Ngo over the head with a sign. Andy Ngo vs. Rose City Antifa
After the 2019 altercation, Ngo posted photos of himself at the hospital where he was treated for a brain hemorrhage.@mrandyngo/Twitter
Ngo was subsequently hospitalized overnight for a brain subarachnoid hemorrhage. He claims to have lasting brain injuries as a result of the altercation.
Schott-Deputy was ultimately convicted of a felony charge of hitting a man over the head with a tool during protests earlier that day.
Although he is pleased with the deal, Ngo worries that it will be “extremely difficult” to come up with the money.
“For years we have seen documented evidence that many Americans suffer at the hands of so-called Antifa, but in reality none of them file civil lawsuits because these [Antifa] Losers often have no assets of their own to collect on,” he said.
Surveillance footage showing an NGO being attacked outside a hotel was shown during the hearing.John Rudoff/Sipa USA
The compensation order comes after Ngo had a disappointing day in court earlier this month, when alleged Antifa members John Colin Hacker and Elizabeth Renee Richter were found not liable in the same civil lawsuit.
Although the complaint claimed the couple were among a mob that ripped off his mask, hit him over the head and chased him into a hotel during a 2021 protest, a Portland jury found them not liable for assault and battery after a trial. One week. .
“I still find it shocking,” Ngo said of the result. “I froze when the judge read the verdict. I thought maybe he had misheard her.”
Looking back, he worries that the chaos during the trial influenced the jury, who he said were “quite scared.” The Oregonian reported multiple outages and increased security at the courthouse.
John Hacker was also named in Ngo’s lawsuit, but a jury found in Hacker’s favor.John Rudoff/Sipa USA
“There were threats online and supposedly dangerous people tried to get into the courtroom,” he said. “And unfortunately some of these incidents occurred in front of juries.”
After her reporting led to multiple hospitalizations and ongoing harassment, Ngo left Portland and moved to London earlier this year for personal safety reasons. But he says he’s still in contact with the Portland police to keep his family safe.
He said that Antifa members have shown up at his mother’s home and workplace on multiple occasions, including recently.
“She came here as a refugee after the Vietnam War and always thought that the United States was a very safe place where people’s civil rights were protected,” he said. “I think she is now confused. And he’s scared for her and for me.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn