US/OR/Portland/2018/08/04/protest

About

[2018/08/04 - Portland, Oregon] : Local antifascists protested downtown in response to a rally by elements of the far Right, including the Proud Boys, Patriot Prayer, and white supremacists in general. Although elements of the Right had previously promised violence, the police apparently saw the peaceful counterprotesters as the primary threat and only ever targeted them with violence, disproportionately protecting and defending the far-right fascists.

This is but one of a number of incidents in which actions of the Portland Police Department have signalled a preference for fascism over peaceful coexistence.

Commentary

police disinformation in the wake of the august 4 protests has been wild: first they said they opened fire because somebody threw a water bottle, then they said it was a rock, then explosives, then M-80s...

they reject that anyone was wounded by their munitions but they sent cops to local hospitals to look for injured protesters. they want the injured to come forward but nobody trusts that they won't be detained for speaking out.

—@Garbados, 2018-08-09

[...]the fascists of Patriot Prayer bused in bruisers to crack skulls. in response, everyone from pussy-hat liberals, union orgs, the DSA, black bloc, and even clown bloc showed up as a united front. it was big for me to see even the centrists recognize the need to physically confront fascism, to appreciate the bloc battalions who brought medics, who put themselves between the police and civilians when the cops opened fire.

—@Garbados, 2018-10-12
(thread)

Links

Related

• 2018/08/09 [L..T] Protester Maimed by Portland Police: ‘I Thought I Was Going to Die’ Anthony, who asked to be identified only by his first name, was injured last weekend when cops in riot gear unleashed flashbangs, pepper spray, rubber bullets and other less-lethal weapons as local protesters demonstrated against far-right groups massed downtown.
• 2018/08/07 [L..T] Protesters clash with guards at Portland City Hall; 2 arrested Protesters demanding reforms in police use of crowd control clashed with security officers at Portland City Hall after Mayor Ted Wheeler shut down a Wednesday morning City Council meeting.
• 2018/08/06 [L..T] Portland Police Chief: Allegations Of Protest Favoritism 'Ridiculous' "Everything that was anticipated ... with the very clear intent of what people wanted to do, with the level of confrontation and violence that they were expecting to bring, that did not occur. The officers were there and they prevented all of that from happening."
• 2018/08/04 [L..T] IGD Portland: Mass Community Mobilization Against Far-Right Live blog from antifascist mobilization in Portland, Oregon.
• 2018/08/04 [L..T] Portland's Patriot Prayer Rally Could Be Most Violent Since Charlottesville, Activists Say Armed, proto-fascist gangs are set to rally in Portland, Oregon, this weekend, stirring fears that the city could witness the kind of political violence not seen since the deadly white supremacist “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, Virginia, nearly a year ago.