--- title: Federal Judge Dismisses Naked Portland Protester’s Claims description: A federal judge has tossed out a naked protester’s claim that Portland police violated his rights by arresting him while he played violin. canonical: https://time.com/4174392/naked-protester-portland/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-10T21:44:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:04:46.533Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Federal Judge Dismisses Naked Violinist's Claims Against Portland Police og:description: He was playing violin naked to protest the government og:url: https://time.com/4174392/naked-protester-portland/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Federal Judge Dismisses Naked Violinist's Claims Against Portland Police twitter:description: He was playing violin naked to protest the government twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Federal Judge Dismisses Naked Violinist's Claims Against Portland Police  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 10, 2016 9:44 PM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 10, 2016 9:44 PM CUT A federal judge has [tossed out a protester’s claim](http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/01/federal%5Fjudge%5Fdismisses%5Fnude%5Fp.html#incart%5Friver%5Fhome "undefined") that Portland police violated his rights by arresting him while he played violin nude outside a federal courthouse. Matthew Mglej, 26, was [arrested for indecent exposure](http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/05/naked%5Fman%5Fplaying%5Fviolin%5Farres.html "undefined") in May 2014 after he stripped outside the downtown courthouse to show that transparency is needed within government, The _Oregonian_ reports. He filed a lawsuit last January against both Portland police and Multnomah County, alleging unlawful arrest, violation of his First Amendment rights and excessive force after his charge was dismissed, according to the newspaper. Mglej was seeking $1.1 million in damages. A judge on Friday dismissed Mglej’s claims that the arrest was unlawful or that his First Amendment rights were violated, saying his nudity didn’t advance a specific message, so it wasn’t protected, according to The _Oregonian_. However, his allegation of excessive force at the downtown jail can proceed to trial, the newspaper said. \[[_The Oregonian_](http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/01/federal%5Fjudge%5Fdismisses%5Fnude%5Fp.html#incart%5Friver%5Fhome "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4174392/naked-protester-portland/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4174392/naked-protester-portland/"},"headline":"Federal Judge Dismisses Naked Violinist's Claims Against Portland Police","datePublished":"2016-01-10T21:44:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:04:46.533Z","description":"He was playing violin naked to protest the government","url":"https://time.com/4174392/naked-protester-portland/","keywords":["oregon","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/oregon/","name":"oregon"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4174392/naked-protester-portland/","name":"Federal Judge Dismisses Naked Violinist's Claims Against Portland Police"}}]}] ```