Jathina Campos Updated March 15 at 12:42 p.m.
A 24-year-old woman says port police used excessive force against her during an altercation captured on video at Portland International Airport.
Jathina Campos says she suffered a black eye, a chipped tooth and bruises in the Feb. 24 incident. She acknowledges she tried to kick the Port of Portland police officers, who were trying to detain her.
The three officers took her to the ground, secured her hands and feet, carried her to a holding cell and placed her on the floor, according to the woman and police reports.
Both incidents were captured on airport security video obtained Wednesday by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
[Disclaimer: An earlier version of the video showed the incidents at a slightly higher rate of speed than which they actually occurred.]
"I just don't want this to happen to anyone else," said Campos, a Brooklyn native and bartender at the Multnomah Whiskey Library. She moved to Portland in August 2016.
Port of Portland spokeswoman Kama Simonds said police are reviewing the incident but that Campos was drunk and disorderly.
"When Port of Portland police arrived at the security checkpoint Ms. Campos appeared impaired to a point where she was unable to care for herself," Simonds said in an email. "Port Police attempted to take her into protective custody for a civil detox hold, when she assaulted an officer."
Campos acknowledged she had consumed several drinks before she arrived at the airport that night.
Her scheduled flight to Florida was not until the next morning and a TSA agent told Campos she wouldn't be allowed to go through security screening until after midnight, police reports said.
She argued with the agent, who called police, the reports said.
Officers said Campos was cursing and smelled of alcohol when they arrived, they wrote in their reports.
The video footage, released by Campos' lawyer, John Schlosser, appears to show Campos having a heated conversation with officers outside the airport's Pendleton store.
The officers said they told her they were going to place her in a detox holding cell for the evening, which Campos and her lawyer claim never happened.
The officers then tried to grab her.
Once they put their hands on her, Campos said, she reacted in defense.
She tried to kick one of the officer's legs, video shows, and that's when the officers took her down. She landed face-first.
"This is why black people hate cops," Campos screamed from the ground, the police report claims. She was eventually placed in a wheelchair and carted off.
Campos is Latina. Schlosser said he believes the response by police was motivated because of her ethnicity. "It is unlikely that such an incident would have happened if she was white," he said.
After Campos was on the ground, police said, she continued to struggle with officers and tried to head butt one of them. They then placed her in a hobble restraint, which fastens a person's legs to their wrists with a cord.
Video shows four officers carrying Campos toward a holding cell. At one point, eight officers surround her while she's on the ground near the cell.
Campos was booked into Multnomah County Jail on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, a felony, as well as attempted assault and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.
Her mugshot shows a black eye and laceration across her forehead.
Prosecutors later reduced the assault charge to attempted assault. She was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty.
Schlosser said he and his client are considering filing a civil claim against the Port of Portland.
"I'm definitely not going to be quiet about it," Campos said. "What police did was not acceptable."
-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
skavanaugh@oregonian.com
503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh