Oregon man facing charges for Jan. 6 ends campaign for governor – Oregon Capital Chronicle

A Hillsboro man going through federal felony fees for his involvement within the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol has ended his marketing campaign for governor.

Reed Christensen shared a press launch dated April 14 about his resolution to finish his marketing campaign in response to a Capital Chronicle article about Republican gubernatorial candidates who defended the incident. 

Christensen mentioned in a press release that he skilled a stroke on April 11 that hospitalized him. It was his second stroke in two years, he mentioned. 

“It’s clear that my well being shouldn’t be robust sufficient for Oregonians to depend upon,” he continued. 

He informed the Capital Chronicle on Monday that he doesn’t plan to endorse some other candidates. 

Christensen will nonetheless seem on Republican main ballots and within the government-issued Voters’ Pamphlet. The platform he offered within the pamphlet requires ending Oregon’s decades-old mail voting system, banning abortions and abolishing the Oregon Schooling Division.  

Christensen has pleaded not responsible to eight federal crimes, together with assaulting, resisting or impeding two Capitol cops and a Washington, D.C. Metropolitan police officer and interesting in bodily violence and disruptive conduct in a restricted constructing. He’s scheduled to seem by way of video earlier than a federal decide in a Washington, D.C.,  U.S. District Court docket on Might 10.

His arrest warrant describes Christensen making an attempt to take away a set of motorcycle racks that officers used as a barrier to stop the group from transferring nearer to the Capitol. A police officer sprayed him within the face with pepper spray, inflicting him to briefly again away, in keeping with the report.

Officers then gave him water to rinse the spray from his face, in keeping with the report, however a couple of minutes later he joined a bunch of rioters who succeeded in eradicating the bike rack limitations. He burst by and hit or pushed three cops, the warrant mentioned. 

The FBI recognized him utilizing surveillance cameras and cameras worn by officers, with assist from witnesses who knew Christensen was in Portland and acknowledged him from footage aired on tv. Whereas Christensen pleaded not responsible to the fees, he readily admits to being current on the Capitol.

He mentioned attending the occasion brought about him to cease watching conservative networks as a result of they referred to it as a “riot.” Current polling indicated {that a} plurality of Republicans in Oregon imagine Jan. 6 is finest described as a “riot uncontrolled,” whereas a majority of Democrats contemplate it an “tried coup or riot.” 

Christensen didn’t report elevating any cash for his marketing campaign, in keeping with state marketing campaign finance data.