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Ibrahim Mubarak speaks with two of the 20 supporters who came to watch his two-day trial that resulted in a guilty verdict.
(Sara DiNatale/The Oregonian)
Ibrahim Mubarak, a co-founder of Portland's Right 2 Dream Too and Dignity Village homeless communities, was sentenced Wednesday to 80 hours of community service for trespassing and interfering with an officer.
The charges followed Mubarak's arrest in a parking lot under the Burnside Bridge Feb. 27, where Mubarak he was checking on people sleeping on a sidewalk.
Mubarak, who is a well-known leader in the homeless community, is not allowed to fulfill his community service requirement by helping the homeless, said Judge Edward Jones.
Jones sentenced Mubarak after a jury of six people on Wednesday unanimously found him guilty of all charges following a two-day trial.
"I'm going to continue to do my work," Mubarak said following his sentencing. "This is not going to stop me."
Mubarak, 57, is a public face of the Right 2 Dream Too encampment, which has occupied a vacant lot at Northwest Fourth Avenue and West Burnside Street since 2011.
City leaders have been working to find a new home for the campers with $846,000 chipped in by private developers earlier this year toward lease or purchase of a site.
Mubarak will be on probation for the next year, but the judge imposed no travel restrictions.
Mubarak was arrested after a confrontation with Officer Jennifer Thompson of the Portland Bureau Police, who arrested him in a parking lot located between the University of Oregon's White Stag Building and the Mercy Corps headquarters.
Mubarak's trial focused on whether that the parking lot was a private or public space and whether his arrest was lawful.
Prosecutor Jonathan Rue and defense attorney Kenneth Kreuscher argued over the meaning of a lease agreement between the city, which owns the lot, and Venerable Properties, the company that manages it.
Although a no trespassing sign is posted on the premises, Kreuscher argued that the lease agreement allows members of the public to walk through the lot.
Rue told jurors that Kreuscher's explanation of the 57-page lease "does not make sense."
The prosecutor said the lot is private property and Mubarak needed permission to be there from Venerable Properties.
Rue also said Mubarak did not follow lawful orders from Thompson when asked to leave the parking lot. Thompson told him repeatedly to step off private property and onto the sidewalk, according to her testimony.
The sidewalk is a public area where people were sleeping the night Mubarak was arrested.
Mubarak said afterward he disagreed with the verdict.
"They accused me of not complying with a direct order from a police officer who came down where there was no riot and no clear form of trespassing or no disruptions, but wanted to bully her power in the wrong direction," Mubarak said.
Jones, however, told the courtroom Mubarak could have handled the situation better and needs to handle similar situations better in the future. The judge said the confrontation between Mubarak and the police officer, which was filmed and shown to jurors, could have turned violent.
Mubarak's trial trial drew a crowd of community support. Jones told the full courtroom it was unusual to see so many people sit through a trial. About 20 people who know Mubarak were present for the verdict.
Jones said Mubarak must complete at least three hours of his community service within three months.
"Try not to get arrested," Jones told Mubarak before adjourning.
-- Sara DiNatale