A 39-year-old woman who a prosecutor said “literally was caught red-handed” after people dumped red paint outside the federal immigration building Tuesday night in Portland is now accused of assaulting an officer.
Katherine Meagan Vogel made her first appearance in federal court Wednesday.
Officers from Federal Protective Services and U.S. Border Patrol arrested Vogel about 11 p.m. outside the gates of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on South Bancroft Street after they watched her and others applying red paint to the driveway and sidewalk in front of the building, according to a federal affidavit.
Video surveillance footage from the ICE building showed Vogel raising her hands up, revealing her palms covered in red paint, the affidavit said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lewis Burkhart made the argument to U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman that Vogel was “caught red-handed.”
Federal officers moved to take her into custody, initially alleging a federal violation for damaging property. But as they arrested her, she struggled with officers and punched one in the jaw with her closed right fist, the affidavit said.
The officer was not injured, the affidavit said.
Vogel denied participating in the painting of the ICE facility property and asserted that she was “peaceful” and “not violent” in an interview with officers after her arrest, according to the affidavit.
Beckerman called the allegation against Vogel serious but agreed to release her pending trial on the condition that she not return to a specified area surrounding the ICE building.
Vogel has no prior convictions, the judge noted.
Beckerman cautioned Vogel that federal officers would recognize her and rearrest her if she returned to the building and she would be back in custody.
Vogel’s assistant federal public defender, Megha Desai, noted that the charge is an allegation and the defense had not been provided any evidence as of Wednesday.
Vogel is one of about 30 people who have been arrested and charged in federal court in encounters with federal officers outside the ICE office since June. Most of the federal arrests occurred in June.
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