D.A. refuses to prosecute assault case, victim made to look like the aggressor

By

Brad Smith

Assault victim raises questions about D.A.'s decision

 

Pictured here is Amanda Rose's assailant, William Henry Morgan. This picture was taken by Rose after Morgan shoved her twice and hit her in the face with a flagpole.

JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. -- The Jackson County District Attorney’s Office will not be pursuing charges in the Aug. 29 assault that happened during the Southern Oregon Coalition for Racial Equality (SOEquity) rally held in Rogue River.

Deputy DA Kelly Hager was assigned to the case. In a press release issued on Sept. 18, the D.A.’s Office said: 

“After thorough review of the evidence collected by the Rogue River Police Department concerning an altercation in Rogue River at a Black Lives Matter rally on Aug. 29, 2020, no criminal charges for Harassment ORS 166.065 and/or Assault in the Fourth Degree ORS 163.160 will be filed. There is insufficient evidence to support proof beyond a reasonable doubt William Morgan intended to harass or annoy Amanda Rose when he pushed her away from him, or that he recklessly caused her physical injury.

“On Aug. 29, 2020, there was a Black Lives Matter rally in Rogue River as well as a counter-protest. Rogue River Police Chief Curtis Whipple and multiple other officers were working during the event and had their body cameras on. William Morgan was standing on the side of Broadway Street with his wife and friend. Amanda Rose came and stood next to him with her arm held high and her hand in a fist. They stood this way for some time. At one point, Amanda Rose leaned closer to William Morgan and yelled "Black Lives Matter!" When Ms. Rose yelled, she was less than a foot away from Mr. Morgan. Mr. Morgan shoved Ms. Rose away with his forearm, Ms. Rose stepped towards Mr. Morgan again and yelled "Black Lives Matter!" Mr. Morgan shoved Ms. Rose away with his forearm a second time. At this point Chief Whipple and Officer Brent Miller of the Rogue River Police Department intervened and split up the parties. 

“This incident was recorded by Chief Whipple and Officer Miller's body worn cameras. After extensive review from both sources, the District Attorney's Office determined the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt Mr. Morgan was intending to harass or annoy Ms. Rose when he shoved her. Instead, the evidence showed Mr. Morgan appeared to be responding to Ms. Rose being in his personal space and yelling in his face. It is also clear any injury resulting from that shove to the shoulder does not meet the legal definition of physical injury in that it did not cause substantial pain or impair Ms. Rose's physical condition. Mr. Morgan's actions do not rise to the level of criminal conduct.”

 The press release was promptly picked up by local media outlets – which they ran without contacting either parties. Rose was angered by the press release’s tone.

 “To me, the press release reads as a defense of (Morgan’s) assault on me,” she said. “Whipple's video that I watched showed the part where I had moved forward. I'm guessing the other video shows what you interpret as me ‘leaning in’ to yell in his face? And all this misses when he hit me in the mouth with his fist holding his flagpole?

“It seems like there was a push to frame the incident as him just pushing me but never once was it brought up that he had hit me in the mouth – even though that's the report I gave,” she said. “Why is this all missing? It's not subjective. It happened. In the video, Whipple even approaches Morgan after he takes my report then tells him that I have a bloody mouth. Whipple told (Morgan) he’s going to have to leave or he'll be arrested. Again, why is this missing from the D.A.’s press release and their decision?”

Rose had been at the rally for nearly an hour when Morgan attacked her. As the SOEquity event started, Rose said the counter protesters -- a mix of both local and out of town instigators and white nationalists -- were ramping up their rhetoric.

“It was bad. There was a lot of yelling and screaming. People drove pickups and motorcycles up and down the street,” she said. “It was getting heated. I stood between counter protesters and Clarence Carr, who was visibly upset and was being harassed by the cops. I did that as the cops surrounded him. There was an older man with a flagpole was right there. He was very upset. An older man. Like I said, he was very angry.”

She felt a deescalation was necessary. She placed herself between Carr and the counter protesters – including a woman accompanying Morgan.

“I just wanted to keep the peace and calm down the situation,” Rose said. “I’ve done it before -- so I put my body between him and them. (Carr) was terribly upset.”

As Rose stood between Carr and the counter protesters, the crowd chanted “Black lives matter!” She held up a fist and said the same thing. That’s when Morgan got angrier, she claimed.

“‘Put your fucking fist down, you fucking piece of shit’ – that’s what he said to me,” Rose recalled. Morgan shoved her twice and then hit her in the mouth with the flagpole.

Whipple and other police officers were nearby, Rose said.

“I said, ‘Can any of you do anything?’ and they moved me away from the street,” she said. “Whipple gave me a case number and I asked if they could have him leave.”

Whipple never offered her medical aid.

“He took pictures of my face and didn’t say a lot,” she said. “My lips were bruised and swollen. He seemed brusque and distant. All the cops acted like that.”

Rose said she kept seeing her alleged assailant during the rest of the protest. “I took a couple of pictures of him,” she said. “He really got angry when I did that.”

Rose has been frustrated with Whipple – along with her husband.

“He’s called Whipple three or four times -- no response. My kids ask me if the police are ever going to do anything,” she said. “I don't know what to do.”

Rose’s husband was assured by an RRPD employee that Whipple received all the messages but apparently didn’t have the time to return them, she said.

But Whipple did have the time to appear on a TV news segment and talk about the rally. As one former Rogue River resident said about the news segment, “It was classic Whipple: ‘You know we were really prepared and I think it went as well as it could. Pat me on the back please.’ Curtis thrives on praise.”

SOEquity president Kayla Marie Wade posted this on her Facebook account after the D.A.’s decision was released:

I guarantee you if it were the other way around. If a “patriot” was screaming in one of our protestor's face (and likely screaming much more violent and threatening things than simply stating the fact that "Black Lives Matter"), and one of our protestors shoved them out of the way, charges would have been pressed. That's all I have to say for now.

Welcome to the 21^st Century.

With the resurgence of racial and social injustice, it looks more like the 1950s.

The Rogue Free Press attempted to contact William Morgan but was unable to do so.