Adam Allen had just moved back to Portland after spending five years on the East Coast when he decided to meet an old friend for a drink on Aug. 9.
He had a couple of rounds of vodka and cranberry juice on the patio of the Kenton Club, then parted ways and headed back to the house off the intersection of North Lombard Street and Denver Avenue, where he has been staying with friends since the beginning of the month.
While attempting to cross Denver Avenue, he told Street Roots, he encountered one of the protests against racism and police brutality centered near the Portland Police Association building.
He held up his hands and began to cross and get away from the action.
The next thing Allen knew, he was surrounded by street medics. He has no memory of the incident.
Ryan Skut, a photographer who captured the incident, said in a written statement provided to Allen's attorney that a police line "advanced quickly and when they reached Adam he was shoved so forcefully that his feet left the ground, he landed on his upper back, shoulders and head, and proceeded to roll backwards."
In a video posted to Twitter on the morning of Aug. 10, Allen said, "The Portland police just did all of this to me," while pointing to injuries on his elbow and head. "I am just trying to get home."
Allen told Street Roots he does not remember that exchange.
Allen’s attorney filed a tort claim against the city of Portland Wednesday afternoon seeking $75,000 in damages from Portland police "negligence, assault, battery, and for the excessive use of force under the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution."
While his attorney's notice to the city alleges Allen lost consciousness, Allen told Street Roots he doesn't know whether he lost consciousness that night, but he did say he was not diagnosed with a concussion and only had two drinks at the bar.
Skut's photo show Allen falling onto his back on the street, with his legs splayed in the air, and another of him crouching on his hands and knees.
Allen also shared photos of himself with red marks on his back and on his head.
“I haven’t been able to sleep or eat. I’m scared to leave my house after dark,” Allen told Street Roots.
“Normally, if you’re walking down the street and get pushed down, that would be assault and battery,” Allen’s attorney, Lake James H. Perriguey told Street Roots. “When the person doing that is an arm of the government, it’s excessive force.”
Allen was the general manager of a restaurant in the Washington, D.C., area until mid-March, when he was laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He grew up partially in the area — dividing his time between Vancouver, Wash., and Kansas after his parents split up when he was 2 — and decided to move back when friends offered him a place to stay in their home in North Portland.
“He had just moved to Portland. What a welcome,” Perriguey said.
Allen said he’s never had a negative encounter with the police. In fact, he said, he has no history of interactions with cops, good or bad. A preliminary search appeared to back up this claim, however Street Roots is still waiting on the results of a records request placed with the Portland Police Bureau.
Since posts featuring photos of Allen went viral, commenters have suggested that he was not coming home from a bar but was part of the protest.
Skut wrote that when he saw Allen on the street it was obvious by his "apparel, and physical demeanor" that he was not part of the protest, and that he was "stuck between the advancing line of police and the retreating line of protesters."
Allen said he got caught in the crowd because there was simply nowhere else for him to walk to get home.
He also said he supports the Black Lives Matter movement, and he's been an outspoken supporter of progressive causes. Recent posts to his Facebook page are critical of President Donald Trump and police, and the night of the incident he was wearing a T-shirt reading "IMMIGRANTS MAKE AMERICA GREAT."
But he has consistently said he was not part of that night's demonstration.
He provided Street Roots with screenshots of a text exchange between himself and the friend he met that night.
The first text, from the friend, is time-stamped 7:01 and reads, “I’m heading from work to Kenton shortly. Meet you at The Kenton Club at 7:40?”
A text from Allen, time-stamped 9:57 p.m. reads, “Was great to see you.” At 11:13, Allen wrote, “Was beat by police on my way home.”
He also provided Street Roots with a screenshot from his bank account log, showing a debit card purchase at The Kenton Club in the amount of $27.50 — enough for two cocktails for himself, one for his friend and a tip for the bartender — dated Aug. 11.
Allen also sent Street Roots a photo of himself at the protest with his hands up, and Perriguey forwarded a statement from Ryan Skut, the photographer who captured the image of Allen lying on the ground surrounded by police.
“I was on the front line of a protest that was being pushed north by PPB and OSP,” Skut wrote. “Our group was on N Denver Ave approximately 80 yards north of N Lombard St. I saw someone that was clearly not a protester (this was obvious at a glance by their apparel, and physical demeanor). They looked to be stuck between the advancing line of police and the retreating line of protesters. They were walking from east to west across N Denver Ave with their hands up. The police line advanced quickly and when they reached Adam he was shoved so forcefully that his feet left the ground, he landed on his upper back, shoulders and head, and proceeded to roll backwards. I was able to take 2 photos at this moment. The police line caught up to his body, and swarmed him.”
Allen’s claim is part of a spate of legal actions filed against law enforcement this summer relating to use of force at protests — in particular, the use of tear gas, over which local and federal agencies have been issued several restraining orders.
Protesters have filed most of those claims, but five Portlanders filed tort claims with the city earlier this summer saying tear gas had entered their homes. The city has settled with at least two of the claimants, paying one $500 and another $1,000.
PROTESTS: Portland police are no better than the feds, activists say
That police injured Allen even though he was a bystander rather than a demonstrator is striking. But, he said, nobody deserves to be treated the way he was.
“The ultimate point of this is that militarized police in residential neighborhoods are hurting people, like innocent people that live in the neighborhood,” Allen said.