Thread by @mmkelly22

Thread: Swept up in the federal response
to Portland protests: ‘I didn’t know
if I was going to be seen again’

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/…

@joyceslee, @shawnboburg and I reconstructed four of these incidents that resulted in no charges and few records.

1/ This is Evelyn Bassi, a 30-year-old chef from Portland. The video of her arrest went viral in mid-July, but this is the first time she’s telling her story.

2/ At 1:55 a.m., she was standing with her friend at an empty intersection when an unmarked van with doors open on the passenger’s side pulled in front of them.

They put their hands up and ran.

3/ Two officers approached Bassi, held her hands behind her back and escorted her away. They never said who they were.

4/ They drove her seven blocks away and dropped her off — with a warning. “They again said just so you know, bro, we have cameras everywhere.”

Bassi is transgender. (photo credit: me)

5/The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Oregon said 23 of the 98 arrests in July did not result in charges and the people detained were released. The office would not release the names or circumstances around those arrests or confirm if Bassi was among them.

6/ DHS declined to comment on the circumstances that led to Evelyn Bassi’s detention but stated that when there is probable cause, federal law enforcement is able to detain and investigate.

7/ Watch our mini-doc on YouTube here:

8/ last but not least, a very necessary h/t, to @brianrmonroe, @nadineajaka, @marypatflaherty & andrew hinton -- who's vision, patience, clutch animations and videography helped us tell this story