Ibrahim Mubarak

Ibrahim Mubarak talks to reporters before his arraignment on Friday on trespassing charges

(Andrew Theen/The Oregonian)

(UPDATED: this story was updated with additional context and reaction from law enforcement)

Ibrahim Mubarak, the co-founder of Portland's Right 2 Dream Too homeless community, made his first appearance in court on Friday after a c

Bureau officers underneath the Burnside Bridge.

Mubarak entered a plea of not guilty, and will appear in court again on March 10.

The 57-year-old was arrested and charged with trespassing and interfering with a police officer Thursday evening. He also lobbed charges of discrimination against the arresting officers for refusing to use his legal name, which Mubarak said he changed decades ago.

Instead, Mubarak was

at 10:57 p.m. Thursday under his birth name, Keith Jackson. He remained in jail, Mubarak said, for roughly four hours.

Mubarak, who is Muslim, said that demonstrated "total disrespect" for his spiritual beliefs. He said he plans to file a counter-suit against the arresting officers. He claims officers told him they wouldn't refer to him by his "Ali-baba name."

Lt. Steve Alexander, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said four hours is not an unusual time frame for someone to remain in custody prior to release. Alexander said Mubarak can "certainly file a complaint" with the sheriff's office regarding his treatment.

Alexander said there's a standard process Mubarak would have to follow. "We definitely would want to take a look at it," he said.

Mubarak appeared in court before Multnomah County Judge John Wittmayer Friday afternoon and he wasn't alone.

The appearance came after a handful of shoplifting and DUI cases, and the homeless leader had a cadre of supporters sitting in the audience throughout.

Mubarak said he and other members of

, the homeless community on the corner of Northwest Fourth Avenue and West Burnside Street, went to a parking lot underneath the Burnside Bridge to look after homeless people sleeping there.

Portland police officers responded to the parking lot after security guards hired to watch the lot called in the incident, according to Sgt. Pete Simpson.

Simpson said officers planned to give Mubarak a written warning called an "exclusion," which would guarantee him a trespassing citation if he returned there. Mubarak refused to give officers his name, Simpson said, and also refused to move to the sidewalk as requested. "Our officers go to great lengths to get compliance without arrest," Simpson said.

Mubarak said he wouldn't step on the sidewalk because there were homeless people sleeping there. "I wouldn't step on them," he said. Before the arraignment, Mubarak told reporters he estimated 100 people were sleeping on the sidewalk underneath the bridge.

Simpson said he couldn't confirm there were that many people sleeping on the sidewalk.

The property underneath the bridge is a patchwork of public and private property, nestled between Mercy Corps headquarters and the University of Oregon's White Stag Building.

During the court appearance, Wittmayer instructed Mubarak to avoid the parking lot before the case is finished.

Mubarak told Wittmayer that "houseless people" sleep in that area. "The police were interfering with my outreach," Mubarak told the judge.

"While the case remains pending, don't go into that parking lot, sir," Wittmayer replied.

After his court appearance, Mubarak said "of course" he would return to the parking lot, calling it his job to be underneath the bridge. "They trying to stop me from doing what I believe Allah wants me to be doing," he said.

In the

a supporter said the group should "Call Amanda Fritz." Fritz, who

for more than six months, said nobody called her about the confrontation.

-- Andrew Theen