Protester Chantilly Geigle, who was arrested for splurging red paint around the entrance to city hall on the third anniversary of the death of James Chasse, plead guilty to a misdemeanor in court yesterday. Geigle was originally charged with felony criminal mischief after the city presented a bill of $1,440 to clean up the paint—16 hours of cleanup at $90 an hour according to Laurel Butman of the city's Office of Management and Finance. The Mercury received the following letter yesterday, in reference to the high cost of cleanup:
Geigle pled guilty yesterday to second degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, and will pay a $200 fine, as well as $1400 in restitution. "They paid $250 to get a rug cleaned," she says. "So it's pretty ridiculous."
Geigle plans to bake cupcakes with red frosting on them and solicit donations outside city hall, in exchange for a flier about Chasse's death, and a cupcake, to pay off her fine. "As far as I'm aware that's legal," she says. "But someone on the Oregonian's website called me an 'attention whore' and that really hit me hard. This is about Chasse. He's haunted me for three years, and I still see his face in the faces of the mentally ill people I work with. I don't feel that enough has been done. At the very least, the three officers who did this should be fired."
Lots of people have got in touch with Geigle over recent weeks. "Not all of them agreed with what I did or how I did it," she says. "But they all agreed that what happened to Chasse was murder."
"The cops are always talking about how the mental health system is broken and the cops have been scapegoated," she continues. "But really, they've scapegoated the mental health system. This is a police accountability issue." "If a mental health worker had done what happened to Chasse, they would not only have been fired, but jailed," she continues.
