The city of Portland has agreed to pay Mark Mayberry, an anti-abortion street preacher, $50,000 for being targeted by police and barred from open-air preaching in a public park.
Though initially suing for over $300,000, both parties agreed to the negotiated settlement after it became apparent that the city didn’t have a leg to stand on when Mayberry sued in federal court.
Mayberry, of Abolish Abortion Oregon, was in the park in the summer of 2019, open-air preaching, passing out gospel and anti-abortion tracts and “engaging passersby in conversations about abortion and the gospel,” when he was stopped by one of the rangers. The ranger ordered him to leave the park, and when he declined, he was cited for harassment and failing to obey a park officer’s and was ordered not to return for 90 days.
Mayberry successfully had his exclusion from the park quickly overturned by city auditors, but escalated his legal action due to being concerned about ” being harassed again should he ever return to share his views in Portland” according to his lawyers.
