A Portland judge Friday held off ruling on whether to dismiss Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson from a lawsuit filed against him by the owner of Northeast Portland’s Cider Riot pub.

But the judge threw out similar requests by four less prominent defendants associated with Patriot Prayer.

Cider Riot owner Abram Goldman-Armstrong has accused Gibson, Ian Kramer, Christopher Ponte, David Willis and Mackenzie Lewis of vandalizing or conspiring to vandalize the cidery, intentionally interfering with its ability to make money and sparking a May 1 melee outside Cider Riot.

Gibson and the others fired back by filing motions that asked Multnomah County Circuit Judge Andrew Lavin to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that they had not incited violence and that their presence outside Cider Riot was protected political free speech under the First Amendment. They pointed to a 2001 Oregon law, known as the anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPP, law.

Lavin said he plans to rule in two weeks on Gibson’s request. The judge declined to dismiss the case against Kramer, Ponte, Willis and Lewis, finding that they didn’t follow the proper procedure in filing their anti-SLAPP law requests. Unlike Gibson, the four aren’t represented by lawyers.

Gibson didn’t attend the hearing because of an unspecified “family emergency,” his attorney, James Buchal, told the judge.

Buchal said that Goldman-Armstrong is a leader of the left-wing group antifa and that his bar is a gathering place for antifa members. Antifa activists are the ones who sparked violence during the May 1 confrontation because that’s what they do when they see Gibson, he said.

Members of antifa had gathered at Cider Riot that evening to celebrate their demonstrations earlier in the day and listen to live music. About 20 right-wing protesters, including Gibson, later arrived at Cider Riot, and a clash between them and patrons of Cider Riot ensued. Video shows people using pepper spray, throwing drinks and fighting.

According to the lawsuit, Kramer, a frequent Patriot Prayer rally participant, hit a female patron of Cider Riot on the head with a baton and knocked her unconscious.

Kramer also has been charged with second-degree assault and other crimes, which could result in a nearly six-year prison sentence if he’s convicted. Kramer, Gibson, Ponte and Lewis also are face rioting charges and are scheduled for trial in late February or early March.

Buchal said Gibson was peaceful and wasn’t armed the evening of the confrontation. He said Gibson was there to record the violent actions of antifa members, but he didn’t lash out in response even though he was spit upon, swatted at while recording video and pushed.

“He doesn’t respond at all,” Buchal said. “This is the kind of behavior that Mr. Gibson wants to broadcast to the world. ... People see this and they say ‘Antifa are the violent people.’”

In a written declaration to the court, Gibson said he has been a target at events he’s promoted. “I have never fought back, though I may on occasion push people away who are attacking me and fend off blows," he said.

Buchal played many video clips from the May Day clash, including one clip in which Gibson tells a crowd surrounding two men brawling to lay down their weapons. But he also yells, “Let him fight! ... It’s mutual combat.”

Lavin noted that not all speech is protected by the First Amendment. The judge asked Buchal if Gibson was encouraging others to fight at any point during the clash. Buchal responded that “encouraging someone to fight is not a crime.”

Lavin, a former prosecutor, seemed to disagree -- saying spoken words can be a form of “aiding and abetting” the crime of disorderly conduct.

Juan Chavez, an attorney for Cider Riot, said although Gibson’s lawyer denies it, Gibson is in fact the right-wing group’s “general.” The violence didn’t start until he showed up, Chavez said.

“Part of the M.O. of Mr. Gibson: He yells and screams and cajoles and conspires and directs people to fight and then ... he attempts to claim he has nothing to do with it,” Chavez said. “When I think you can all see from the video ... that is not the whole story.”

Chavez added: “This is not in fact protected speech.”

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

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