Armed Portland man hides in Target store rafters after confrontation with security guard
A knife-wielding Portland, Oregon man was arrested Monday after he hid for hours in the rafters of a Target store following a confrontation with a security guard, police said.
Officers responded around 10:30 a.m. to reports of a disturbance involving a weapon at the Target in the 9800 block of Southeast Washington Street, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
Witnesses initially told police that a suspect armed with a knife and a hatchet threatened a security guard before fleeing deeper into the store.
The security officer received medical treatment at the scene.
KNIFE ATTACK AT MASSIVE PORTLAND RAVE LEAVES FOUR TEENAGERS WOUNDED
Police evacuated the building and launched a search. They eventually spotted the man armed with a knife and perched on a second-story shelving unit used to store excess inventory in the back of the retailer.
Officers negotiated with the suspect for several hours. He eventually dropped the knife and surrendered around 4 p.m., police said.
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The man was identified as Michael Harper, 41, of Portland. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of assault, attempted assault, and unlawful use of a weapon.
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Figures on the right have spun unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about how Epstein died and who was connected to him, weaving them into an overarching narrative that the country is run by an evil cabal that revels in abusing children. 'There is a sense Epstein had so much influence over these elites,' said Cynthia Wang, who studies conspiracy theories and heads a conflict-management center at Northwestern University. In the past, Trump and current leaders of his administration often fanned the flames. Trump said on the campaign trail that he would 'have no problem' releasing files from Epstein's case. His administration initially seemed headed down that road. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on TV shortly after she took office that a rumored 'client list' of powerful men who abused girls alongside Epstein 'is sitting on my desk right now.' 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Republicans and Democrats on a House subcommittee voted last week to demand that the Justice Department hand over thousands of pages of files about Epstein and his associates. It's a legally binding move that will force the Republican-led Congress to subpoena the Trump administration. 'The president, by September, will surely have turned over everything,' Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), who is in charge of issuing the subpoenas on behalf of the panel, predicted. This is the most significant action Congress has taken, but it's not the only one. Various House committees have voted three times in recent weeks to investigate Epstein's actions. Fanned by Democrats who see an opportunity to weaken Trump, the debate has paralyzed the House from doing much of anything else. Republican leaders sent lawmakers home early last week, with plans to reconvene in September. Maxwell was Epstein's girlfriend, and she is serving a 20-year prison sentence on charges of helping him sexually abuse underage girls. She is a critical link in the Epstein story, but she was also accused of lying related to her case, so it's not clear what credible information she might provide. House Republicans have subpoenaed her and are scheduled to talk to her in prison in Florida next month. Last week, the Justice Department dispatched Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was Trump's criminal defense lawyer, to interview her over two days about people in Epstein's orbit. Legal experts doubt Maxwell can shed any new light on the case. 'Prosecutors would have fully explored whether she had any valuable information before she went to trial and was sentenced,' said Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney now with the University of Michigan Law School. 'Anyone who could have been charged would have been charged a long time ago.' Evan Gotlob, an attorney who prosecuted similar crimes as a federal prosecutor in New York during the first Trump administration and is now with the Lucosky Brookman law firm, echoed that sentiment. 'I think she's just going to tell them what they already know. So this could be just for show,' Gotlob said. Another reason to be skeptical of what Maxwell says to authorities: She is gunning for a pardon. Trump recently told reporters he hasn't considered it but noted, 'I'm allowed to do it.' Bondi told Trump in May that he is named multiple times in the Epstein files, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. That may not be surprising given that the two once were friends, and Epstein had hundreds of contacts. There's no public evidence of any wrongdoing on Trump's part. But new reporting has underscored the extent of their friendship. Epstein attended one of Trump's weddings. Trump also contributed a 'bawdy' drawing and the wish that 'every day be another wonderful secret' for a book assembled for Epstein's 50th birthday, The Journal reported. (The Journal reported that other contributions included a poem from Wall Street billionaire Leon Black: 'Blonde, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically/ With this net of fish, Jeff's now 'The Old Man and The Sea'.') Trump's base is largely brushing off the idea that he knew about Epstein's criminal activity. Still, MAGA's most vocal adherents have yet to let go of what they see as the underlying issue: that the president has a chance to bring down bad guys, promised to do so and now isn't jumping on it. 'If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People,' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) posted on social media last week. 'If not, The base will turn and there's no going back. 'Dangling bits of red meat no longer satisfies,' Greene wrote. 'They want the whole steak dinner and will accept nothing else.'
