Previous post
Next post
To no one’s surprise, the Antifa violence at the Portland protests is a feature, not a bug. Yesterday Lisa wrote about Mayor Ted Wheeler’s super “tough” words about the planned protests. Did Antifa Listen? Survey says! NO.
“Portland police made arrests around town — 13 by 3:30 p.m. — as people posted video of the confrontations, including black-clad protesters breaking the windows out of a bus that was said to carry Proud Boys supporters. One person arrested on the east side was bleeding from the head.
Elsewhere, a large group of left-wing protesters encircled a man and what appeared to be a young girl in American-flag garb, taunting, threatening and chasing them.”
Does that report from Oregon Live sound innocuous? Yes. Police had to close streets and bridges in an effort to keep the various groups of protestors apart. Yet, that didn’t stop the Antifa punks from going after people verbally and physically.
Seems like no big deal right? Nothing bad happened right? Wrong.
A horde of Antifa managed to isolate a handful of conservative protesters (including a young girl), assaulting them with pepper spray and a taser. pic.twitter.com/4X2GNtcw03
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 17, 2019
Four takeaways from that.
A. Antifa was absolutely wrong to use pepper spray and tasers to go after those they don’t agree with.
B. The masks and the get ups of both Antifa and the counter protestors…this isn’t ComicCon
C. WHAT THE HELL was that guy doing bringing his CHILD to these protests?? It wouldn’t surprise me if she spends the next while dealing with nightmares because of what the adult exposed her too!
D. All the cretins who then chased the guy and that little girl onto a highway ramp are why Antifa deserves ZERO consideration.
“Shoot yourselves. Suicide is the only way out!”
—Antifa man to Portland cops #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/99hdscUW8g
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 17, 2019
Aren’t you Antifa just swell. Dressed all up in armor shit, carrying bullhorns and cameras, attacking people with chains/pepper spray/Mace/Tasers .. and then you stand there and order police officers to kill themselves. The Antifa has nothing to brag about here. Mocking black police officers and calling them c**ts, the N word, Uncle Tom, and race traitor. Such a lovely group of people the Antifa are. Bless their hearts.
Watch as Racist Proud Boy bus runs over a comrade trying to have a civilized conversation with the NAZIS. pic.twitter.com/BCy6KLl76i
— ☭ Portland ANTIFA ☭ (@ANTIFA_Portland) August 17, 2019
First of all, the idiot wasn’t run over by the bus. If he had been, he’d be in the hospital dealing with major injuries. Secondly, calling those you are supposedly ‘trying’ to have a conversation with NAZI isn’t going to win hearts and minds. Third, why would anyone want to talk with someone wearing a mask who screams at you?
Quite honestly, the supposed far right groups like the Proud Boys have nothing to cheer about. Their choice to go ahead and protest in supposed support of Andy Ngo was like a match to gasoline.
Is it beyond the pale that no one has been arrested and charged in the attack on Andy? Yes. Should that mean that ZERO permits should’ve been given to any group purporting to be Antifa or Proud Boys or others? In my opinion, yes, because what happened yesterday is the result.
The city and the MAYOR of Portland are also to blame with this. Wheeler’s tepid rhetoric didn’t do a damned thing to stop the events of this weekend. What is he going to say about the the fact that downtown businesses closed because they knew things were going to get violent and the police encouraged then to do so for their safety?
“Richard Martinez, 55, has had a booth at the Saturday Market for 14 years. The longtime Portlander has manned this outpost for Rose City Totes through the Occupy demonstrations and last year’s turbulent protests downtown and on the waterfront.
Martinez told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Saturday was the worst business day he’s seen since setting up shop. By 1 p.m., he’d only made $60 in sales. It’s usually $500 by now.”
Multiple businesses closed or delayed openings in anticipation of the riots. People were injured during yesterday’s riots. It shouldn’t have happened. Quite honestly, all parties (Antifa, Proud Boys, Patriot whomever, and others) bear full and complete blame in this. Ted Wheeler needs to step up and get realistically tough instead of using pretty words. The more all those groups are enabled, the more dangerous and destructive the protests will get. If they aren’t stopped, the City of Roses will be no more.
I’ll leave our readers with this final note. While Antifa parades around Portland with hammer and sickle posters, people in Hong Kong are waving the American flag and blasting our National Anthem.
Welcome Instapundit Readers!
Feature Photo Credit: Video via Ian Miles Cheong Twitter, cropped and modified
The fact that not one single member of the Presidential Clown Car has denounced the Democrat Fascists says a lot.
mark says: he is classifying them as domestic terrorist group says a hell of a lot.
GWB says: Third,
Fourth, he was NOT trying to have a “peaceful conversation”. He was attacking the bus with a hammer.
Their choice to go ahead
Sorry, but hell no. The heckler’s veto should NOT be given into any longer! These people desire nothing but RAW POWER, destroying civilization in the process. I think the AntiFa groups need to be shut down. TOTALLY. And their rebellious acts need to be dealt with with extreme prejudice.
beyond the pale
You don’t really believe that, or you would advocate for extreme measures to be used against AntiFa. “Beyond the pale” means past the lowest level of the demons of Hell. Something “beyond the pale” is so far out of civilized norms that the only answer can be to respond in extremity.
ZERO permits should’ve been given
Sorry, but unless you can demonstrate the Proud Boys abused their freedom to assemble, you’re wrong on this. You do NOT punish the whole classroom because half of it is abusing the other half. That is how we got where we are today.
downtown businesses closed
Yeah, I answered with how *I* would have handled it yesterday. I would have been open for business, and I would have dealt severely with anyone interfering with my business or my customers.
police encouraged then
And that is absolutely wrong. The police should have encouraged them to arm up and present a united front of free citizens to the rioters.
(BTW, the reason the police and gov’t won’t do anything? Because the people themselves have lost the will to do anything. They’re all relying on someone else to take care of it. Someone with authority. Well, citizen, you ARE the authority!)
By 1 p.m., he’d only made $60 in sales
Kudos to Mr Martinez for at least being open.
all parties (Antifa, Proud Boys, Patriot whomever, and others) bear full and complete blame in this.
BULLSHIT!
The only folks who deserve blame are those who abused their right to assemble by committing violence and destruction of property. If you can point to members of any group besides AntiFa that did so, then I’m willing to condemn them, as well. But until then, I REFUSE to let you punish those who did NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG.
Sorry, but this one is a pet peeve of mine – you do NOT punish the victim because he hit the bully in the face finally. Even if the victim is a jerk. Been there, had that done to me. It is NOT justice, and it isn’t even “civilized”.
“He was attacking the bus with a hammer.”
I’m laughing myself silly because the jackass tripped over his own clumsy feet !!. Also looks like he grabs his nuts on the ground.
John Galt says: Why would anyone with an ounce of brains want to live in Portland, OR?
Mike Houst says: Because the climate is actually nice.
Bill Dalasio says: This doesn’t seem right to me. Suggesting that, somehow or another, the Proud Boys or Patriot Prayer bear any responsibility for the violence engaged in solely by Antifa gives Antifa the gangster’s veto. America is a free country and Portland is part of America. People have a right to peacefully protest no matter how much some people object to that right. Suggesting they bear responsibility for Antifa’s violence because they had the temerity to protest smacks of justifying violence against “outside agitators” in the Jim Crow South.
Brian says: “Quite honestly, the supposed far right groups like the Proud Boys have nothing to cheer about. Their choice to go ahead and protest in supposed support of Andy Ngo was like a match to gasoline.”
First off Proud Boys aren’t “far right” and secondly are you suggesting that their right to free speech and their right to peacefully assemble should be suspended because Antifa and the contemporary left aren’t able to control themselves, engage in civil discourse and behave in general? That’s asinine..
Uncle Buck says: Crazy as it sounds, the best thing that could happen at this point is for some old timer to set themselves up atop a building overseeing the next ‘protest’ with their hunting rifle and let off a few rounds into some nice noisy targets near where the action is ( maybe plink some mild steel, like a sign ). Let these idiots know how their game ends and give the authorities reason to shut it down with clear and compelling justification to not tolerate street fighting, rioting and public intimidation in the future.
Because right now we’re living Orwell’s warning: “So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.”
Tobey the Ninja and Captain Spazmerica think this is all just a live action version of Fortnight because they’re being protected from the consequences of their behavior. We’re actually nurturing that by allowing it to continue and escalate. But there’s plenty of evidence that a harder and more disciplined element are trying to hone the wannabe’s into something more violent and effective.
CeeKay says: I live across the Columbia from Portland – and have watched as the city has slid down the slope of liberalism/socialism to third world “shithole” status. Ted Wheeler and the politicians cater to those groups that they are sympathetic to (left/extreme left) while having no concerns with what is really happening. Portland is a huge asylum and the inmates are running it
amr says: Those who receive a permit, regardless of ideological bent, are by definition the legally authorized group. And to my knowledge, Antifa never gets a permit, they just attack those who do. I have been involved in conservative demonstrations/picketing/protests for over 5 decades and every time there has been violence it has come from the Left. I even had to have signs made to hold over violent people/infiltrators so TV and private videos of each event did not misrepresent our intent and actions.
[…] and irony exhaust themselves as aesthetics” (aka “hipster”) – said he was violently assaulted by someone wearing a face mask and an ANTIFA t-shirt who apparently objected to Haskell wearing a […]
[…] Portland Protests: The Antifa Violence Is A Feature, Not A Bug […]
14 Comments