Saturday’s organized, hour-long “End Domestic Terrorism” protest at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon, went off peacefully and without a hitch, as law enforcement officers kept violent anarchist counter-protesters separated from the hundreds of conservative demonstrators. But then things started going south.
Long afterward, Antifa supporters roamed the streets unchecked, attacking individuals and small groups, some of whom may not have had any connection at all to the conservative protest in the park. Many of the assaults were recorded and posted to social media, showing Portland police doing little more than observing the violence from a safe distance.
By early evening, Lt. Tina Jones, public information officer for the Portland Police Department tweeted an announcement that the “demonstration in downtown Portland has now been declared a civil disturbance. Individuals gathered in the SW Park and Morrison area must now leave the area immediately.
“People should stay out of the area for their safety,” Officer Jones advised.
Video Update 6 – The demonstration in downtown Portland has now been declared a civil disturbance. Individuals gathered in the SW Park and Morrison area must now leave the area immediately. Transcript: https://t.co/avlUi2YZ7x #PPBAlert pic.twitter.com/tuqX2O3peq
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) August 17, 2019
She reported that a crowd that was at one point estimated at 1200 had dwindled down to about 400 by early evening, with 13 arrests made throughout the day.
“One of the primary objectives of our crowd management teams is to provide quick medical treatment to anyone injured in demonstrations such as these,” she said. “Portland Fire medics embedded within these teams evaluated five individuals during the course of the events. All injuries are said to be minor with only one transport. One individual was treated for a medical condition not related to the demonstrations.”
The spokesperson’s statement confirmed that the all-hands-on-deck, show-of-force deployment of Portland police on Saturday had restrictive rules of engagement when she said, “Our law enforcement partners worked throughout the day to try to keep the opposing groups separate in an effort to keep everyone involved safe.”
“There were limited interactions reported between individuals,” Jones added.
The crowd attending the 11 a.m. rally organized by former InfoWars personality Joe Biggs included several Proud Boys, a far-right group that the left has painted as being racist, fascist, and all the rest of those “ists” in an attempt to demonize them, yet they did not engage in any unlawful activity or violence and were quick to leave the area by around noon.
One rally-goer told the Washington Examiner he made the decision to attend because he believes Antifa should be recognized as a domestic terrorist group, a move President Donald Trump has said is under consideration. The anonymous rally-goer, who was afraid for his own safety, said that Antifa has “been committing a lot of violence, and nothing is being done about it … they have rhetoric thinking ICE members are Nazis, and that’s just not true.”
At around noon, rally leaders got word from their police liaison officer that leftist counter-protest groups had effectively surrounded the rally and were approaching. At that point, the rally ended and attendees left the park, leaving Antifa and their supporters in the park, and they subsequently moved out into the downtown area.
Ignoring police commands to stay on the sidewalks, the counter-protester crowds moved throughout the downtown area, engaging in confrontations with individuals who were somehow perceived to be against the leftist cause.
In many cases, the police would simply leave, apparently to avoid provoking the crowd of anarchists.
Portland police are retreating from Antifa:#PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/AeAsyH5j9u
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 17, 2019
Among videos online that have shown police standing down and failing to render aid to citizens in trouble, this one is a good example. Watch to the end as the man who was attacked and knocked out attempts to make it to a line of police who made no move to help him:
Man was beaten and maced by Antifa. He wandered off dazed and bloodied and collapsed in a parking lot. No authorities have helped him yet. #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/Jq36rhAF22
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 17, 2019
Portland is a lawless city controlled by anti-American terrorists. Never go to Portland. Never visit. Good people who live there should move away. #AntifaDomesticTerrorists #AntifaTerrorist #antifa #DefundPortland
— Jack Furnari (@JackBPR) August 18, 2019
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Victor Rantala is an Army vet who lives in Minnesota, he is a former intelligence analyst and business owner, and is an NRA Life member who is officially retired but has yet to slow his roll.
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