DA: Portland man shouts ‘white power,’ racial slurs in attack on strip-club bouncer
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - A 32-year-old Portland man is facing multiple assault charges after he allegedly attacked and injured a bouncer in a Portland strip club and restaurant while shouting racial and anti-Semitic slurs, according to court documents.
On May 28, police responded to the Acropolis Steakhouse on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard after reports of a customer, identified as Justin Anthony Gates, yelling racial slurs and punching several people.
Police said they found a club bouncer with “significant” swelling and purple discoloration around his eye and upper cheek. A manager also reported that Gates had punched him in the throat and face.
According to police, the club bouncer had confronted Gates on the request of a waiter after Gates began yelling racial slurs, including the n-word, and told him to leave. Gates allegedly responded by punching the bouncer “multiple” times in the face.
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In court filings, the Multnomah County District Attorney states that as Gates attacked the bouncer, he shouted anti-Semitic epithets, the words “white power” and made white nationalist hand gestures.
Then, according to the DA, after being pushed out of the club, Gates forced his way back inside and punched the manager, all while he continued to yell racial and anti-Semitic slurs.
After being removed from the club again, the DA says Gates went around to the back of the building and broke a plate glass takeout food window. The manager estimated to police that the window would cost $1,000 to repair and replace.
Responding police officers said they found Gates at a nearby bar on McLoughlin Boulevard and arrested him. They said they found dried blood on his right forearm.
According to police, “Gates continued to tell racial slurs and kicked the back doors of the patrol vehicle.” The DA said he also continued to repeat the words “white power.”
When he was booked at the Multnomah County Detention Center, officers observed that Gates’ cell phone background was an image of Adolf Hitler, according to the DA.
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Two days after Gates’ arrest, the bouncer reported that he had been to the doctor and was diagnosed with fractured orbital socket and hemorrhage behind his eye. Since then, the bouncer has needed surgery and the implantation of a plate below his eye, according to the DA.
Gates faces charges of second-degree assault, fourth-degree felony assault, bias crime, criminal mischief, burglary and harassment.
Gates also has eight previous convictions ranging from assault to burglary between 2010 and 2017.
On Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge Melvm Oden-Orr granted the DA’s request that Gates be kept in custody.
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