A 42-year-old Portland man has pleaded guilty to attacking a security officer outside Pioneer Courthouse in July 2023, admitting to a violent struggle that ended only when the wounded guard shot him twice in the torso. Jett Avery Thomas now faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine at his sentencing, scheduled for December 16, 2026.
According to court records cited by KATU, Thomas threw an object at Pioneer Courthouse on July 3, 2023, then climbed over a fence and charged toward the courthouse front steps as the security officer retreated into the building. Thomas forced open the courthouse door and continued the assault outside, punching the officer in the head and striking him with a hard object, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon said. He then placed the officer in a chokehold before being shot twice in the torso and taken to the hospital.
An FBI special agent's affidavit filed in the case adds further detail to how the struggle unfolded: Thomas allegedly struck the officer in the head with the officer's own radio and choked him until his face turned purplish-blue, stopping only when a bystander distracted him long enough for the officer to draw his firearm, according to KGW.
No Ambulance Available Amid Crisis
The station's report also found that 911 dispatchers were unable to send an ambulance to Pioneer Courthouse in the minutes after the shooting because no local emergency vehicles were available. U.S. Marshals Service agents ended up transporting the bleeding, injured officer to the hospital themselves in a federal vehicle, per the same account.
That gap wasn't an isolated failure. During 2023, Multnomah County 911 dispatchers recorded more than 15,000 instances in which no ambulance was available for emergency calls, prompting county officials to begin issuing financial penalties against provider American Medical Response and to alter paramedic staffing models, KGW reported separately.
Federal Charges and Guilty Plea
A federal grand jury in Portland returned a three-count indictment against Thomas on August 1, 2023, charging him with three variations of aggravated assault on a federal employee, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon. Thomas has now pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on a federal employee involving physical contact, aggravated assault on a federal employee with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault on a federal employee causing bodily injury.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 111, enhanced federal penalties of up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines apply when an assault on a federal officer or contract employee involves a dangerous weapon or causes bodily injury, according to the Legal Information Institute. Thomas also faces three years of supervised release once any prison term concludes. The prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott M. Kerin, with the investigation conducted jointly by the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service, assisted by the Federal Protective Service and the Portland Police Bureau.
A Historic Courthouse Under Modern Threat
Pioneer Courthouse, where the attack took place, is the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest, with construction beginning in 1869, and it ranks as the second-oldest federal courthouse west of the Mississippi River, according to the General Services Administration. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977, it remains one of four primary locations where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments and maintains judges' chambers.
The guard who confronted Thomas worked as a contract security officer under the U.S. Marshals Service's Court Security Officer Program, which deploys more than 6,000 officers nationwide as the primary line of interior defense for federal courthouses, per the U.S. Marshals Service. That status means an assault on a contract guard carries the same federal weight as an attack on a sworn federal agent under the statute Thomas pleaded guilty to violating. Federal judicial security officials and professional associations have separately reported a sharp rise in targeted threats and safety incidents against court staff nationwide in recent years, a trend that has pushed Congress to expand funding for courthouse hardening and the Judiciary Vulnerability Management Program, according to the Federal Bar Association.
Thomas's sentencing on December 16, 2026 will determine how much of that 20-year statutory maximum federal prosecutors ultimately seek, a question that remains unresolved as the case moves toward its final phase.
