Biography
Jacob Gaines is a Texas man who was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for striking a Deputy U.S. Marshal with a construction hammer during protests at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning of July 11, 2020. Gaines used a 4-pound DeWalt hammer to breach a plywood barricade at a side entrance, and when deputies emerged to prevent trespassing, struck one three times in the shoulder, neck, and upper back before being subdued and arrested. He was held in continuous federal custody from his arrest until sentencing. At sentencing, Judge Karin Immergut rejected a joint prosecution-defense recommendation of 37 months and imposed 46 months instead, calling the attack an "ambush," not lawful protest behavior.
During ongoing protests in Portland, OR, Jacob Michael Gaines used a hammer to damage a barricaded entrance at the Hatfield Federal Courthouse on July 12, 2020 while federal law enforcement personnel were inside. While attempting to detain him, Gaines struck a U.S. Marshals Service deputy three times with the hammer; the deputy deflected the blows but was struck in the left shoulder, lower neck, and upper back. Sentenced to 46 months federal prison.
