Police arrested Michael Bivins, 34, of Portland on May 6, 2022. Bivins is suspected of intentionally setting a fire at a Muslim community center, as well as breaking windows at two Jewish congregations and leaving graffiti on one of them, was arrested early Saturday, Portland police said. Signed-in readers now can bookmark stories to read later. NEW! 665 shares By Catalina Gaitán | The Oregonian/OregonLive.com A 34-year-old Portland man suspected of intentionally setting a fire at a Muslim community center, as well as breaking windows at two Jewish congregations and leaving graffiti on one of them, was arrested Friday, Portland police said. Michael Edgar Bivins was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center around 4 a.m. Saturday on five charges of arson and criminal mischief. Four of the charges are felonies. Bivins was a freelance journalist who frequently covered protests in Portland over the past decade. Bivins had written or co-written about 20 stories for Willamette Week between 2016 and 2019, according to the newspaper’s website. Willamette Week said on Saturday that it was conducting a review of his work. A prolific live streamer of protests, Bivins occasionally shared his video with various news organizations, including The Oregonian/OregonLive. Bivins had posted multiple hateful tweets in recent weeks, and tweeted April 17 that Twitter had locked his account for violating rules against abuse and harassment. Last month, Bivins tweeted that Oregon should do away with bias crime laws.
via oregonlive: Police arrest 34-year-old Portland man accused of vandalizing synagogues, setting fire to mosque