Corrections: The original version of this article had accidentally misspelled Ms. Araoju's name, and has been corrected
Day two of the misdemeanor trial of Isabel Rosa Araoju moved at a surprising pace, with law enforcement witnesses completing their testimony, complainant Sorbeah Almosa taking the stand, and the state resting its case before the end of the day. What had been scheduled as a three-and-a-half day trial now appears likely to conclude ahead of schedule, as the defense expects to call only one expert witness.
The morning session began with the prosecution leaning heavily on police testimony and a short YouTube clip titled “5th Qur’An Burning 🔥 ATTACKED BY ANTIFA,” which the state presented as the core visual evidence of the incident. Defense attorneys framed the case as one of mistaken identity and a weak investigation, reminding jurors that clothing, politics, or presence at a protest do not constitute crimes.
Editor’s note: The video title is as was shown on the monitor, with a non-standard spelling of Quran. The video itself appears to be a download, since unlisted or deleted on YouTube and other video streaming sites, and we are working to get a copy of the video provided to the state at this time.
The first officer to testify, Royce Barber, has served three years with the Portland Police Bureau after five years as an Army military police officer. He described reviewing the video Almosa provided, showing her lighting a Quran on fire and making statements toward people in the park before a person in black approached and sprayed her. Under cross-examination, Barber admitted Almosa never saw the attacker’s face and that her identification was based solely on a voice she claimed to recognize and a name provided after the fact. He also acknowledged that he made no effort to identify bystanders visible in the video who might have witnessed the event.
Officer Barber’s testimony was interrupted by the judge ordering the jury to leave the room so that the court could deal with a disruption in the gallery. A man came in, refusing to follow court rules and decorum when asked to remove his hat, instead using his hoodie to cover his eyes before trying to mask his posture. The judge ordered him to sit in the gallery benches and instructed court staff to remove all extra chairs from the gallery save the one in use as a medical accommodation. He left sometime during the lunch break and was not seen again during the afternoon session, but the disruption was significant enough to cause concern from both state and defense attorneys as well as the judge, who held several sidebars with the lawyers amid amped up security of the defendant.
The second officer, Jason Wands, has been with PPB for 13 years and now works in the Criminal Intelligence Unit after serving on the Rapid Response Team during Portland’s 2020 protest season. He contacted Almosa by phone several days after the incident. She initially had no name for the suspect, later offering the nickname “Aspen,” which Wands knew from protest-related conversations with other officers. He admitted that no lineup or photo array was ever conducted, that he did not contact unmasked bystanders visible in the footage, and that he made no attempt to collect physical evidence such as clothing or residue from the spray. Defense counsel highlighted that Almosa had described the substance as “feeling like Windex” in that call, and Wands struggled to recall the statement until confronted with the transcript.
Officer Kristina Serrano, the third witness, was one of the arresting officers months later. She testified that Araoju was taken into custody near 6th and Yamhill without incident. Items collected at arrest included four cans resembling pepper spray and tactical gear Serrano described as “militaristic.” During her testimony, Serrano briefly misgendered Araoju, then quickly apologized. On cross, she admitted that the distinctive tattoos and patches she observed on Araoju after the arrest were not part of the original flyer or the incident footage. The defense emphasized that the arrest relied entirely on the circulated dragnet flyer and visual similarity rather than direct evidence.
After lunch, the state called Officer Dustin Barth, also a former member of the Rapid Response Team during the 2020 social justice protests, who had spotted Araoju in downtown Portland and alerted other officers to make the arrest. Barth noted the individual was dressed in all black with a motorcycle-style helmet, which stood out among the more common bike helmets he was used to seeing at protests. He did not personally confirm the identity and acknowledged that his assumption of probable cause was based on the flyer and the helmet match alone.
The central event of the afternoon was the testimony of Sorbeah Almosa. A longtime activist, she described herself as a counter-protester and said she had been involved in activism for 22 years and that she has both protested far left and far right causes, and has made enemies on both sides. She testified that she went to Couch Park with a driver, carrying a Quran she intended to burn, and claimed she recognized Araoju in the park without a mask from about 20 feet away. Almosa said she knew Araoju from the 2020 protests and identified her both by face and voice, adding that she had heard the first name “Isabel” in the activist community.
Editor’s note: as part of our research into this story, a search of all of the various former names and aliases we know of for her, we could only find evidence of her championing conservative and far right causes, and even those going back less than a decade. She also testified that she used to be Muslim and lived in the Middle East, using that as a basis for her complaints against the Muslim religion. Research done about this claim has provided nothing concrete to verify or debunk the claim, but a variety of aliases and other names used in the past suggest that Almosa, Arabic derived for 'the one who is saved' is a more recent affectation of her persona.
Almosa told jurors she filmed and later edited her own footage of the protest, removing remarks like “so much for the religion of peace.” The testimony revealed multiple video versions: the eight-second viral clip, a one-minute video spread in various places online, including by The Post Millennial journalist Katie Daviscourt, a two-minute version provided to police, and a longer recording that the state never received. Almosa said she delayed reporting the incident for three days, rated her pain as eight or nine out of ten, and did not seek medical attention. She also mentioned that her driver experienced eye irritation from the spray, but the driver was never called as a witness.
On cross-examination, the defense confronted Almosa with inconsistencies in her timeline, identification details, and prior statements. A call recording of her interview with Officer Wands showed her acknowledging video edits that she initially denied in court. Defense counsel also explored her history of negative statements about Islam, including social media posts and prior public comments, as well as her connections to Andy Ngo, who she had named to police as the source of Araoju’s name. Almosa appeared flustered at points, accused the defense of trying to trap her, and blamed memory gaps on the time elapsed since the event.
By the end of the day, the state rested its case. Outside the jury’s presence, the defense renewed its speedy trial motion, arguing prejudice from Ngo’s unavailability and ongoing online harassment, but Judge Brown denied the motion, finding the delay not “manifestly excessive or unreasonable.” The defense also moved for a judgment of acquittal, contending that the state failed to prove sufficient injury for assault or to establish that the spray met the statutory definition of a deleterious agent. The judge, noting the complexity of the mace statute, denied the motion and left those questions for the jury.
The day’s proceedings left the defense with momentum. The state’s case now rests almost entirely on Almosa’s testimony and her self-submitted video, supported by officers who acknowledged minimal corroboration efforts. Jurors have heard a story marked by missing witnesses, delayed reporting, and inconsistent statements. The defense will begin its case tomorrow with a single expert witness, Dr. Cara Laney of the College of Idaho, a social cognition specialist. If testimony is brief, closing arguments and jury deliberations could begin by afternoon.