A 46-year-old man with ties to the conservative group Patriot Prayer posted $2,500 in bail and was released from jail last week pending trial on charges that he bashed a 31-year-old woman on the neck or head with a baton, fracturing her vertebra.

Ian Alexander Kramer had spent nearly a year in jail since his arrest on Aug. 7, 2019. With no trial date in sight because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Angel Lopez reduced Kramers bail from $269,000 to $25,000 during a July 27 hearing, according to the Multnomah County District Attorneys Office. On Wednesday, two days later, Kramer posted the necessary 10% -- or $2,500 -- and was released, according to jail records.

He is required to regularly report to a Close Street Supervision deputy who will keep tabs on him while hes out.

The prosecution objected. But a year is a long time for a defendant to await a trial on the charges Kramer faces: second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, rioting and other alleged crimes during a large clash between the left-wing group antifa and right-wing Patriot Prayer outside a Northeast Portland pub. Although a trial is currently scheduled for October, its likely that the date will once again be delayed and court officials estimate that it could be sometime in 2021 before Kramers case is heard by a jury.

Mr. Kramer has been in jail for nearly a year now, with no end in sight, defense attorney Dave B. Peters had argued, before the judge made his ruling.

Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson and two other men -- Mackenzie Lewis and Russell Schultz -- are scheduled to go to trial at the same time as Kramer. They each face a single charge of rioting, and none have been kept in jail pending trial.

Court officials have deemed it unsafe to hold such a large trial -- with four defendants and sets of lawyers, plus a jury, witnesses, court staff and members of the public -- in one room as the coronavirus continues to spread unchecked.

Juan Chavez, an attorney representing the interests of the woman Kramer is accused of striking with the baton, said there isnt a strong legal argument to continue holding Kramer. But his client, Heather Clark, is concerned Kramer could be dangerous and that recent protests could tempt him to engage in violence once again.

Ms. Clark understands the moment that were in in the pandemic, but fundamentally we dont feel safe with Mr. Kramer being out in the streets during a moment of national uprising. ...Its not an unfounded fear.

Chavez referred to more than two months of nightly protests over racial injustice and police violence that have taken place in the core of downtown Portland. Chavez also noted that on Monday evening, police say a woman was stabbed by another woman during an argument or dispute, just as that nights protests were firing up.

Lopez, the judge, ordered Kramer to steer clear of any public protests while out on bail. Kramer also must refrain from all contact with Clark.

Kramer is accused of attacking Clark on May 1, 2019, during a large confrontation outside Cider Riot, a Northeast Portland pub that permanently closed last November. A crowd of antifa activists had gathered on the patio of the watering hole at the end of a day of May Day demonstrations. About 20 right-wing protesters, associated with both Patriot Prayer and the group Proud Boys, showed up on the street next to the patio and tensions flared.

Publicly posted videos show a chaotic scene, with shouting, swearing, brawling, drink-throwing and people using pepper spray or mace.

The former pubs owner has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Gibson, Kramer and a few other men for allegedly sparking the May Day melee and intentionally interfering with the pubs ability to conduct business.

Prosecutors say Kramer and others arrived at the establishment looking for a fight, and that Kramer was armed with mace and an asp baton. Prosecutor say video shows Kramer, who was wearing goggles and a helmet, striking the woman as she turned and started to walk away from the right-wing groups.

The woman immediately fell down unconscious on the street. This video captures the incident shortly after the 42-minute mark:

Kramer was arrested and charged more than three months later on Aug. 7, 2019.

During a hearing a few weeks later, Kramers defense attorney at the time, Jason Steen, said Clark was an aggressor just before she was struck because she ran across the street into a crowd of people who are associated with my client with her fists swinging.

During the hearing last August, Lopez, the judge, refused to lower bail from $269,000 -- explaining that Kramer presents a clear and present danger to the community. If convicted of the most serious charge against him -- second-degree assault -- Kramer would receive a minimum five years and 10 months in prison.

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee

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Ian Kramer, accused of striking woman with a baton during Patriot Prayer-antifa clash, is released from jail - OregonLive