Jury Unanimously Convicts Man For Bias Crime That Occurred During Portland Pride Month

A jury unanimously convicted 45-year-old Rodney Rodell Henry today for a bias crime that occurred days before the downtown Portland Pride festival.

The jury found that Henry "unlawfully and intentionally, because of his perception of the sexual orientation of the victim, subjected the victim to offensive physical contact and that he unlawfully and intentionally harassed and annoyed the victim," according to a release from the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office. He was charged with one count of intimidation and one count of harassment.

Related: Portland Man Who Shouted Slurs and Shoved Gay Men Is First Person Convicted Under Oregon's New Bias Crime Law

The charges stem from a June 7 incident, where Henry approached a group of city sidewalk ambassadors—the green-shirt clad workers who hand out informational brochures to tourists downtown—and harassed a member of the group who had a rainbow Pride bandana in his backpack.

According to testimony from one of the ambassadors present, Henry approached the group via bike near a kiosk by Pioneer Place and yelled "federal target" to the group. He then flicked the flag and said something to the effect of "we don't like that on these streets."

"The victim challenged Henry and told him to leave, which is when Henry abruptly tried to punch the victim with a full swing, according to court testimony," the DA's release read. "The victim was able to lean back to avoid being punched in the chest."

Officers with the Portland Police Bureau's bike theft task force also presented video evidence to the jury of Henry approaching the group aggressively and flicking the victim's flag.

The case was tried under Oregon's new bias crime law, which went into effect July 15 and renamed "intimidation" as "bias crime" as well as added gender identity to the list of protected categories.

Henry is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 22.