Nearly two years after he allegedly yelled a racist slur at a security guard in downtown Portland, a man has been arrested on hate crime charges.

Jason Huffman, 48, was initially arrested on January 3, 2018 after he allegedly approached a security guard working at a West Burnside building, called him a racist name, spat on his boots, and gave him a Nazi salute.

Huffman, who was charged with harassment and intimidation in the second degree, a misdemeanor, was released from jail later that day. But he didn't return to court for his arraignment hearing the following day. There's been a warrant out for his arrest since January 4, 2018.

Yesterday afternoon, Huffman was arrested again by a Portland police officer. His bail was set at $4,000. Huffman pled not guilty to the charges at court hearing this morning.

According to court documents, Huffman is currently homeless and claimed to have only been living in Portland for a week and a half before his most recent arrest. He said he'd been living in Seattle up until that point. Huffman also told court staff that he's been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but is not taking any medication to treat it.

Since Huffman's initial arrest, the Oregon State Legislature has changed the penalties for individuals arrested for intimidation, the state's criminal charge for a hate crime.

Prior to June 2019, individuals could only be charged with first-degree intimidation, a felony, if they had committed the crime in partnership with one or more people, a statute that resulted from coordinated attacks by skinhead gangs in the 1980s. Thanks to a change in the state statue, people who act alone can now be indicted on first-degree intimidation charges (several already have).

According to Multnomah County District Attorney's Office spokesperson Brent Weisberg, Huffman's intimidation charge cannot be retroactively impacted by this new statute.