A Portland Parks and Recreation employee is under investigation by the city’s human resources department for his participation in apparent harassment of Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty during a demonstration downtown on Saturday.

Mayor Ted Wheeler said Portland police are looking into the incident at Lownsdale Square, described it as “disturbing” and said that the investigation would check whether any city policies were violated. The incident was first reported by The Portland Mercury.

“We do not tolerate threatening behavior,” Wheeler said in a statement.

Mark Ross, a Parks Bureau spokesperson, declined comment and referred all questions about employee Gregory Isaacson to the mayor’s office. Wheeler oversees the Parks Bureau.

Isaacson works as an analyst in the city’s Parks Bureau. He made nearly $103,000 in wages and other pay in 2019 and has worked for the city since 2016, according to city records.

The Mercury reported that the event was organized by Portland’s Liberation, an affiliate of Vancouver-based right-wing group Patriot Prayer. Isaacson is a Patriot Prayer supporter who takes part in right-wing rallies.

Several videos posted on social media show Hardesty walking up to the small rally and asking what was going on and what they were protesting. Isaacson is seen on a bike, thanking Hardesty for being there and saying that he and fellow rally-goers were “participating in free speech.” Haley Adams, one of the group’s organizers, said they were protesting attacks on independent journalists.

About two dozen people are near Hardesty as she explains that she knew nothing about such attacks. Another person referred to by Isaacson and several others as “Porkchop” used a megaphone to talk over her, saying he wanted to talk about “homeless people” and calls her “the head of Black Lives Matter.”

The videos show people continue talking over Hardesty as she tries to explain that she’d be willing to talk to anyone who wants to have a conversation, then Hardesty walks away.

At some point, Isaacson yells, “I’m sorry you didn’t want to have a conversation, Jo Ann.”

Video footage also shows other people shouting expletives at Hardesty, calling her a “sad excuse for a city commissioner” and saying that she should resign. Some from the group follows Hardesty as she goes to a parked car and one person repeatedly yells out the license plate number.

Hardesty said she wouldn’t comment on the incident because of the ongoing investigations.

“I want to thank the community for their support and concern after this weekend’s incident,” she said in a statement. “This support reminds me Portland is still full of love.”

-- Everton Bailey Jr; ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey

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