1 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: For most of the last decade, the city of Portland's 2 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: national reputation was largely informed by the sketch TV series Portlandia. 3 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: The show began airing in two thousand eleven, right at 4 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: the start of the relevance of the word hipster, and 5 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,480 Speaker 1: portrayed Portland as something of a stereotypically loony liberal paradise, 6 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: a place where people know the names of the chicken 7 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: served in their restaurants. This image dogged the city until 8 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen, in the beginning of the Trump Years. 9 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 1: For millions of Americans, the first time they heard about 10 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: Antifa or saw images of people in black block was 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: from news footage of the street fights that grew increasingly 12 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: endemic to Portland as the Trump Years wore on. But 13 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: anti fascism has a long history in the City of Roses, 14 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: one that goes back further than the reign of Donald Trump. 15 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: Rose City Antifa is the oldest organization in the United 16 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: States with Antifa actually in its name. It formed in 17 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: two thousand seven as part of a local effort to 18 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: stop a music festival from the neo Nazi Hammerskin Nation. 19 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: The festival was supposed to be coming to Portland, and 20 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: our Cier was successful in stopping it. The organization has 21 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: continued up to the modern day. While its members do 22 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: take place in street actions to counter fascist demonstrations, the 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: bulk of their organization's work happens online, revealing and doxing 24 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: white supremacists and other fascists. The history of anti fascist 25 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: organizing an Oregon goes back a lot further than even 26 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: our Cier, though, as we discussed an episode one, Oregon 27 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: is the only state that was founded to be whites only. 28 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: The Clan had an overwhelming presence here in the nineteen twenties. 29 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: In the early twenties, virtually every member of the Portland 30 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: Police Bureau was a member. The first president of the 31 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: Portland Police Association was a former member of German American Bund, 32 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: an organization established by the Nazi Party. Oregon in particular, 33 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: and the Pacific Northwest in general, has held a special 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: place in the hearts of white supremacists for more than 35 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: a century. In the nineteen seventies and eighties, the clan 36 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: saw another surge, and Nazi terrorist groups like the Order 37 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:21,239 Speaker 1: carried out a string of successful attacks. White supremacist ideologus 38 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: began floating the idea that the Pacific Northwest might be 39 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: the perfect place for a white homeland. The idea was 40 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: that since the PNW was already one of the whitest 41 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: parts of the country, Nazis would have an easy time 42 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: moving here and forcing non whites out through violence. This 43 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: idea was most directly pushed by a man named Harold 44 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: Covington with a now defunct Oregon based organization, Volksfront. Covington 45 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: coined the term Northwest Imperative to describe the white supremacist 46 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: drive to conquer the Pacific Northwest. As the Nazis flooded 47 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: into Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, anti racists started organizing to 48 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 1: oppose them. The group Anti Racist Action was formed in 49 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: port in nineteen seven, and it's probably the most direct 50 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: ancestor to Rose City Antifa and contemporary anti fascist groups. 51 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,359 Speaker 1: For years, the men and women of Anti Racist Action 52 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: or a r A battled fascists in the streets. People 53 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: were sometimes killed and often grievously wounded. Mike Crenshaw grew 54 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: up in Illinois, but moved to Portland in nine He 55 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: quickly got involved in anti racist organizing. At one of 56 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: the high points for fascist violence in Portland, history, however, 57 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: from not really seeing white folks at all unless they 58 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: were in sec of authority to move into white communities 59 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: where white people were definitely the majority. Um and not 60 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: just in authority but also everywhere. So there were there 61 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: were experiences I had when we lived in smaller towns 62 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: in Illinois where we me and my brother would be 63 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: like the only black kids in certain schools, you know, UM, 64 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: and then Minnesota often being in a public ghost restore, 65 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: are being in downtown, you know, you're one of very 66 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: two black folks. So being by the time I was 67 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: a teenager, you know, I remember going down tough like 68 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: to visit people in Alabama and Mississippi and being afraid 69 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: that that the clan was gonna get us, you know, 70 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,039 Speaker 1: being afraid that if we were out in the woods 71 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: at night, that the clan was gonna get us, because 72 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: that the racial terror that was a reality for our 73 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: people in America was something that we had learned about, 74 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: you know, and we had seen pictures of it in magazines, UM, 75 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: and we or we might have even known some people 76 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: directly are indirectly who've been killed, you know, as a 77 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: result of racism and mob violence or or police rutality 78 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: or something. So you know, there's always a sense of 79 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: fear associated with this existing here, you know. And that said, 80 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: being a teenager on the streets in Minneapolis, I understood 81 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: that the clan, you know, since early childhood and being 82 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: scared in the night and stuff like that. I understood 83 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: a violent, racist, racist terror organs. So when I was 84 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: in the hardcore punk scene, you know, as a black 85 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: kid again one of the only people in that social scene, 86 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: in that subculture that was black. UM, when I heard 87 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: that neo Nazis were coming around, I had a very 88 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: visceral reaction to it. I was like, wait a minute, 89 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: these people that hide behind mask and and where she 90 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: you know, to consider there, I just see that have 91 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: been lynching us for hundreds of years. These people feel 92 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: comfortable being part of the community and being out front 93 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: about it. So when I heard that I was I 94 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: had a very like I had almost immediately, I had 95 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: a militant reaction. I was like, oh, hell no, that's 96 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: not that's not acceptable. And you know, being a young 97 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: man um and hanging out on the streets, having already 98 00:05:56,080 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: dealt with physical violence and being ostracized and lead and 99 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,239 Speaker 1: lead up, this is part of being growing up in Chicago. 100 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 1: That's you know, um having the fight all the time 101 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: and stuff I was. There was no way I was 102 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: letting it go out. Mike had moved to town just 103 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: a few years after probably the single most defining moment 104 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: of the modern struggle against white supremacy in Portland, the 105 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,920 Speaker 1: nine eight murder of Mudlghetta Sara. Sara was a twenty 106 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: eight year old Ethiopian immigrant who lived in an apartment 107 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: complex at the intersection of Southeast thirty first Avenue in 108 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 1: Pine Street. His building was adjacent to the building where 109 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: Nick Heis, a member of the racist skinhead group east 110 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 1: Side White Pride, also lived. On the night of November 111 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: Sara returned from a party Nick Heis, Kenneth Miski, and 112 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: a crew of other racist skinheads rolled into the same 113 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 1: parking lot. They were drunk and their blood was up 114 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: from a night of distributing white supremacist propaganda. The propaganda 115 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: Miski and his friends had put up all night belonged 116 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,280 Speaker 1: to a group called White Ariyan Resistance or War, which 117 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: was led by the recently deceased Nazi Tom Metzker. At 118 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: this point, Tom lived in southern California, but over the 119 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: last few years his organization had increasingly propagandized two disaffected 120 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: young white men in Oregon. The goal of Metzger's propaganda 121 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: was to promote racial violence, and on the night of 122 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: November he succeeded. According to eyewitnesses, Miski and two other 123 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: Nazis pulled their vehicle up in front of Sara's parked car. 124 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: The nazis girlfriends were also in the vehicle, and they 125 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: egged their partners on with cries of let's kill him, 126 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: let's kill him, and that's exactly what they did. Miski 127 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: hit Mulugetta from behind with a baseball bat and kept 128 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: beating him after he dropped, while his fellow Nazis kicked 129 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: the prone man with steel toed boots. Mulugetta Sara died 130 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: of his injuries. His killers were convicted of murder. They 131 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: pled guilty and never faced trial. Morris D's, head of 132 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: the Southern Poverty Law Center, sued Tom Metzker in civil 133 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: court and won a landmark judgment against him. The lawsuit 134 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: established the legal precedent that someone like me Skar head 135 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: what's called vicarious responsibility for Sara's death because Metzker had 136 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: good reason to know that his actions and the propaganda 137 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: he put out would lead to violence. The murder of 138 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: Mula get A Sara was a galvanizing moment for the 139 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: Portland anti racist community. By the time Mike Crenshaw showed up, 140 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: everyone knew what the stakes were. I had a group 141 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: of friends that I was hanging with, you know, and 142 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:27,679 Speaker 1: we were all firing with the anti racist skinheads element, 143 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: as that's who we wanted to be. And so when 144 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: we heard these neo Nazis had organized themselves with the 145 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: leadership of the Plans women, into a gang called the 146 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: White Knights, we decided that we were going to confront them, 147 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: and we did it. We confronted him. We gave him 148 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: an opportunity to their abuse. We said, are you guys 149 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: white power? And they said yeah, And we said, look, 150 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: the next time we see you, we're gonna ask you again, 151 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: and if you are still white powers, then we're gonna 152 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: suck you up. You know. That's what happened. Some of 153 00:08:57,600 --> 00:08:59,719 Speaker 1: them change, some of them, some of them denounced it. 154 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: A four of them actually detected. But before the one 155 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: that getting of a long subtect speriod of violence, you know, 156 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: a few years went byve where we were little fighting 157 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: baily Um and it was it was, it was, it 158 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 1: was heavy man. In addition to anti racist action, the 159 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: group's Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice also confronted Nazis in the 160 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: streets of Portland. The podcast series It Did Happen Here, 161 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: not to be confused with my own podcast series It 162 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: Could Happen Here, documents the story in more detail than 163 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: we can afford to do here. But it's fair to 164 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: say that the murder of mulugettas Sarah informs the tactics 165 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: of many anti fascists in Portland to this day. The 166 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,560 Speaker 1: basic idea is that if you allow these people to 167 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: organize and gather unopposed, they will commit murder. It's just 168 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: a matter of time. In two seventeen, after a solid 169 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: year of patriot prayer and proud boy gatherings in the 170 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: attendant street fights they provoked, Jeremy Christian murdered two men 171 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: on a Portland max Light rail train. This had an 172 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: equally galvanizing effect down the city's anti racists. Things, of course, 173 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: escalated further after Charlottesville, and the year two thousand eighteen 174 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,280 Speaker 1: in the city of Portland was one of the bloodiest 175 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,200 Speaker 1: years of fascist violence faced by any city in the 176 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 1: United States. My colleague Garrison is going to take over 177 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: here to give you an overview of how the street 178 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: battles between fascists and anti fascists evolved from two thousand 179 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: seventeen on. As Trump ushered conservative nationalism into the mainstream, 180 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: the vast mega movement brought street battles with their political 181 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: enemies back into vogue. The most prominent of the far 182 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: right groups that gathered in Portland was Patriot Prayer, led 183 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 1: by self described street preacher Joey Gibson. Patriot Prayer formed 184 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: alongside numerous other far right and neo fascist groups in 185 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:04,559 Speaker 1: to support the candidacy of Donald Trump. Throughout ten Patriot 186 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: Prayer put on dozens and dozens of rallies throughout the 187 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: Pacific Northwest, and especially Portland. While Patriot Prayer rarely numbered 188 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: more than a few dozen members, they were capable in 189 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: drawing in hundreds of people By allying with militias like 190 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: the Three per Centers and street games like the Proud Boys, 191 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: and also explicit white nationalist groups like Identity Europa. These 192 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: street demos regularly escalated into violent brawls with police almost 193 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: always taking this side of the far right and carrying 194 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:37,079 Speaker 1: out attacks on anti fascist demonstrators. Here's I was someone 195 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:41,319 Speaker 1: with the Youth Liberation Front explained their entry into activism 196 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,959 Speaker 1: and anti fascism. Reminder, we've redubbed the audio with a 197 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: voice actor because these children are regularly threatened with murder. Yeah. 198 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:51,199 Speaker 1: I think for me, it was definitely what was going 199 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 1: on in my everyday life that kind of pushed me 200 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: to get more involved in politics. I was, I was 201 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: working in school, and then I heard about Jeremy Christian 202 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: killing people on the Max I ride home and fucking 203 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: then not like really consumed me and it was integral 204 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: and to me, becoming like anti fascist and any racist 205 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: and not just kind of pushed my growth into anarchism 206 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 1: and ecology. So I think things happening in my world 207 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 1: around me was the first thing that definitely pushed me here. 208 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: Jeremy Christian attended multiple Patriot prayer rallies before he stabbed 209 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: three people and killed two in a racially motivated attack 210 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: on Portland's Max rail on. While Christian was eventually kicked 211 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: out of a Patriot prayer rally for openly sig hiling 212 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: the fact that Joey Gibson chose to hold a rally 213 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 1: immediately after the murders suggests that many of their members 214 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: may not have disavowed him as much as they claimed. 215 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: The far right rallies that immediately followed Christian's stabbing spree 216 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:51,960 Speaker 1: grew ever more violent. Gibson and company used their new 217 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: found notoriety to hold events in cities throughout the West Coast, 218 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: many of which ended in brawls. Through it all, Gibson 219 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: maintained a close relationship with the Portland Police Bureau, specifically 220 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Jeff Naia, the previous commander of ppb's Rapid Response Team, 221 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: the very same team of quote riot police who would 222 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: be responsible for suppressing BLM rallies. In in text messages 223 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,679 Speaker 1: from Lieutenant Naia to Gibson found via public records requests, 224 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Naia was showcased giving Gibson information about Antifa during 225 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: rallies and instructing Gibson and other Patriot Prayer members on 226 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: how to avoid being arrested themselves. At one point, Naia 227 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: went so far as to tell Gibson that he and 228 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: other officers were trying specifically not to arrest a violent 229 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: right wing straight brawler Tiny Toast, who had outstanding arrest 230 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: warrants at the time. Naia told Gibson, quote, just make 231 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: sure he doesn't do anything which may draw our attention 232 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: if he still has the warrant in our system. I 233 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: don't run you guys, so I don't personally know the 234 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: officers could arrest him. I don't see a need to 235 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: arrest on the warrant unless there is a reason unquote. 236 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: The texts were from seventeen to eighteen, but only released 237 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:14,559 Speaker 1: in February of twenty nineteen. Back in June, a rally 238 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: that was originally planned to protest police violence turned into 239 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 1: an anti fascist rally after Patriot Prayer announced they would 240 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: show up to counter the original protest. After some brawling 241 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: in the streets, the Portland Police Bureau arrested multiple anti fascists, 242 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: but failed to arrest anyone on the right. This appears 243 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: to have been done under orders from Lieutenant Naia. In 244 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: live stream footage, officers are seen walking up to and 245 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: telling Gimpson, quote, I just talked to Jeff Naia, and 246 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: he asked me to tell you that he has probably 247 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: cause to arrest a couple of the guys here. They've 248 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: arrested the other side. So it's not singling you guys out, 249 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: but it's time to go. If you guys can go home, 250 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: there won't be any arrests. Two months later, at another 251 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: opposing anti fascist patriot Prayer Slash Proud Boy rally, Portland 252 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: police shot munitions at anti fascists as they ordered them 253 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 1: to disperse. One of these munitions, a flash bang grenade, 254 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: was launched at the head of a self described anti fascist, 255 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: Aaron Anthony can To. The grenade split his skull open 256 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: and embedded all the way through his bike helmet. Kento 257 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: was treated at the scene by several volunteer street medics 258 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 1: and eventually was taken to the hospital. He suffered a 259 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: traumatic brain injury with severe hemorrhaging. Had he not been 260 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: wearing that bike helmet, he would have most certainly died. 261 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: Fast forward to the start of For the first two 262 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: months of BLM protests in Portland, the far right was 263 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: oddly absent. This was seen as strange by everyone on 264 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: the ground. For years, far right demonstrators had shown up 265 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: at every possible event to do violence, but as soon 266 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: as tear gas and beatings started in May, those familiar 267 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: fascist faces were nowhere to be seen. There were, however, 268 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: constant rumors of quote Proud Boys circling the area unquote, 269 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: and every once in a while a random local fascist 270 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: would show up briefly. Also during the day, some would 271 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: wave Blue Lives Matter flags in front of the j C, 272 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: but for the most part, the right wing was mostly 273 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: absent until August. August sixteenth start out like any normal 274 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: day in Portland during the summer of By this point, 275 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: the fed War was over, and there were small gatherings 276 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: of protesters throughout the city at a different location each night. 277 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: On the sixteenth, people were back at the Justice Center. 278 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 1: During the afternoon, there were the standard speeches about police abolition, 279 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: and as the afternoon turned into the evening, people started 280 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: meandering around. At around ten pm, a small group who 281 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: had appointed themselves as quote protest security attempted to aggressively 282 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: escort out someone from the parks around the j C. 283 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 1: For unknown reasons. Quote security led this person over to 284 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: the nearby seven eleven, where they were more or less 285 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: randomly jumped by someone else. We should say a bit 286 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: here about the seven eleven near the Justice Center. Early 287 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: in the summer, it had earned the nickname Comrade seven 288 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 1: eleven because the workers inside repeatedly pulled in protesters to 289 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,640 Speaker 1: rescue them from police bull rushes and clouds of tear gas. Unfortunately, 290 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,159 Speaker 1: as the summer wore on, the seven eleven became a 291 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: gathering place for less savory individuals who coalesced at the 292 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: fringes of the movement. Street fights, some involving people tangentially 293 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: involved in the protests and others involving drunk people who 294 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: just wanted to fight, became an almost nightly occurrence. It 295 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: was not uncommon to see puddles of blood in the 296 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: intersection leading to the seven eleven, so it was not 297 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 1: super surprising that the person Quote Security pulled out of 298 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:47,000 Speaker 1: the protest got jumped near the seven eleven. After getting punched, chased, 299 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: and tackled, he ran away, but Quote Security stayed out 300 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: in front of the seven eleven. A woman nearby approached 301 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: them and asked what was going on. The Quote Security 302 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: then got aggressive with her. Other people near the seven eleven, 303 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 1: whose affiliation is unclear, began stealing her stuff, a backpack 304 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: and skateboard. She then chased people around and tried to 305 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: pepper spray the people stealing from her. Videos filmed at 306 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 1: the time suggests that most of the people involved in 307 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: this fracas were very inebriated. While all this was going on, 308 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 1: another person arrived at the seven eleven. He parked his 309 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 1: truck outside and attempted to de escalate this tricky situation. 310 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: A small crowd of around twenty people formed around the 311 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,400 Speaker 1: woman who had been attacked. Upon hearing this woman had 312 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: quote maced people, the small group got aggressive, a few 313 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: people through water bottles. Someone who had been caught in 314 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: the pepper spray crossfire ran up and began punching this woman. 315 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: Violence waxed and waned for several minutes, and then the 316 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: man with the truck repeatedly tried to de escalate the situation. Eventually, 317 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: he gave up and got into his truck again, which 318 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: made a weird sound and lurched forward after he turned 319 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 1: it on. One of the self appointed security people then 320 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: walked up to the driver and began to hit him 321 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 1: through the open window. A couple of people also began 322 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: hitting the truck driver's girlfriend, who had walked around the 323 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: truck toward the small crowd. While all this was going on, 324 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: a much larger BLM demonstration was occurring a few blocks away. 325 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: I was there at the time, and I didn't even 326 00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,120 Speaker 1: know any of this was going on. But some BLM 327 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: protesters noticed the commotion and wandered over to the seven 328 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 1: eleven and tried to stop people from attacking the truck 329 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: driver and his girlfriend. The driver, still under attack from 330 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: his window, reft his engine a few times, and when 331 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: the road was completely clear, he drove away, but he 332 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: crashed about three blocks away from the seven eleven. The 333 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: self appointed security people chased after on foot, and when 334 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 1: they arrived at the crash site, one of the quote 335 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: security people pushed the truck driver onto the ground and 336 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: stopped him from leaving or walking around. The truck driver 337 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: explained that he wasn't trying to hurt anybody, and this 338 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: angered one of these so called security people, who then 339 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 1: began punching and kicking the truck driver, who was already 340 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,119 Speaker 1: on the ground. The two other self appointed secure he 341 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: tried to restrain this one security guy who was repeatedly 342 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 1: hitting the truck driver, but this agitated security dude was 343 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,880 Speaker 1: able to break free and brutally kicked the truck driver 344 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: in the back of the head, briefly knocking him out. 345 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: Volunteer street medics rushed the scene from the protest a 346 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:20,719 Speaker 1: few blocks away to provide aid. This was a terrible, confusing, 347 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: and profoundly avoidable series of events. It had very little 348 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 1: to do with Portland's BLN movement, save that a small 349 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: number of self appointed security had been present at the 350 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: protest before this brawl started. This is not how it 351 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: was presented in right wing media, which portrayed the whole 352 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: situation as a mass BLM gang assault on a white 353 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:44,399 Speaker 1: man for no other reason than his skin color. Much 354 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: of the disinformation came courtesy of the far right blogger 355 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:52,199 Speaker 1: and social media personality Andy No. No had gained popularity 356 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 1: among the right in the past few years by writing 357 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:59,199 Speaker 1: about the dangers of Muslim immigrants and fear mongering about Antifa. 358 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,439 Speaker 1: In the past, No had also selectively live streamed and 359 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: filmed Antifa and Patriot Prayer slashed prowdboy rallies. At one 360 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,360 Speaker 1: of these rallies, he was assaulted with milkshakes and punched 361 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: and shoved several times. This was a little after no 362 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: had been present to selectively film a right wing assault 363 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,439 Speaker 1: at a local left wing hangout that left a woman 364 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: hospitalized with severe injuries. No had presented the scene to 365 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: look like right wingers were defending themselves, but in actuality, 366 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: they initiated this brutal attack, and it was later found 367 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:34,159 Speaker 1: out that No was actually at the planning of this 368 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: violent assault. In some footage secretly filmed, No was seen 369 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: laughing as Patriot Prayer members discussed beating up left wing 370 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,879 Speaker 1: activists and so called communists. After he was beat up, 371 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: No raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and mostly stopped 372 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:53,119 Speaker 1: going to protests himself. Instead, he either embedded footage from 373 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,880 Speaker 1: actual on the ground journalists or used stolen footage from 374 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 1: various far right accounts that download, edit, and repos most 375 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: footage from protests. All the footage Andy No shares about 376 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,359 Speaker 1: this head kicking incident is heavily edited to make it 377 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,560 Speaker 1: unclear to his followers what is actually happening and to 378 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 1: make nose twisted narrative more believable. No started posting about 379 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: the truck driver assault by describing Portland as being quote 380 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: occupied with BLM and Antifa rioters unquote, further saying that 381 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: the man had simply crashed his car and that quote 382 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,119 Speaker 1: the mob had pulled him out of his vehicle and 383 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: quote beat him senseless with No, there are always attempts 384 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:38,360 Speaker 1: to paint Portland as being full of quote Antifa mobs 385 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: roaming the streets looking for anyone to beat up, with 386 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: the police never actually showing up to stop these dangerous Antifa, 387 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:48,800 Speaker 1: which this is, of course, far from the truth. The 388 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: police themselves quickly showed up to this very incident after 389 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: the head kick and arrested the perpetrator as soon as 390 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 1: they identified him. No continued to post other people's clips 391 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:02,160 Speaker 1: while describing quote rioters and quote the mob attacking this man. 392 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,960 Speaker 1: But in the videos he shares, it's almost entirely one 393 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: person doing all of the violence, and other members of 394 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 1: this quote mob trying to physically restrain this main person 395 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 1: from hitting the truck driver. In a clip of people 396 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: trying to provide first aid, and he describes quote rioters 397 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,640 Speaker 1: when no riot was actually declared that night, standing over 398 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: the truck driver's unscious body after quote they beat him up. 399 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 1: No also writes quote they pour water on him, as 400 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,400 Speaker 1: if people are just doing for fun. Now, water isn't 401 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: actually poured on the person in the video No captions 402 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 1: that on but in other videos you can see water 403 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: being poured on his head to both clean out the 404 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,440 Speaker 1: wounds and to attempt to wake him up, and he 405 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: then posts about the altercation that took place prior to 406 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: the crash, saying that quote, the BLM mob is beating 407 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: a blonde woman, referencing the truck driver's girlfriend. And just 408 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,439 Speaker 1: as before, the video actually shows two people from the 409 00:23:57,480 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: crowd and from the seven eleven trying to hit the 410 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,680 Speaker 1: older woman as many of the people from the actual 411 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: protesting crowd tried to protect her. No makes the post 412 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: talking about the man that kicked the truck driver in 413 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: the head, saying, quote, he's part of the marauding BLM 414 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 1: security at the protests in Portland. These are the people 415 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: protesters want to replace the police with. Now, this is 416 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: simply an unverified and false claim. No one in Portland 417 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: has ever talked about replacing the police with the random 418 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: dudes that elected themselves as quote security during protests. In fact, 419 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: many people at protests speak out against these self proclaimed 420 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,479 Speaker 1: security people, both before and after this incident. And of 421 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,359 Speaker 1: course no failed to mention that all this happened some 422 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 1: distance away from the actual BLM protests that night. Like 423 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: I said, I was there and I knew nothing about 424 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: this until I got home. And checked Twitter. But no, 425 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,680 Speaker 1: what have you think that this is the BLM movement itself, 426 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: not a mixture of random men who la past security 427 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: and drunk people at seven eleven. When interviewed by local media, 428 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 1: the truck driver's girlfriend is said that the people who 429 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:22,200 Speaker 1: attacked her and her boyfriend were not real protesters. For 430 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: months leading up to this incident, the far right had 431 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:28,119 Speaker 1: seemed almost afraid to get involved in Portland's protests. Some 432 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,120 Speaker 1: of this was likely due to the terrifying police violence, 433 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: but we suspect the larger factor was that over the weeks, 434 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: Portland's BLM protesters had been hardened by that violence and 435 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,120 Speaker 1: grown skilled at standing up to it as a unit. 436 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,400 Speaker 1: Prior to the sixteenth, there had only been two truly 437 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: noteworthy far right attacks on protests. One came courtesy of 438 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,680 Speaker 1: a former Navy seal who allegedly through an improvised explosive 439 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: device at a small crowd of activists after a demonstration, 440 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:56,920 Speaker 1: and on August fifteen, a group of right wing protesters, 441 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 1: including many former Patriot Prayer members, held a flag wave 442 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: outside the Justice Center. Numerous attendees assaulted and maced left 443 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: wing counter protesters. One attendee longtime far right rally or 444 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 1: Skyler Journegan fired his handgun into the crowd. He failed 445 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:14,680 Speaker 1: to hit anyone and was arrested a few days later, 446 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: but the incident presaged rising tensions that would break out 447 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 1: into mass violence just a week later. Online rage over 448 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 1: the assault outside of the seven eleven and long simmering 449 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,919 Speaker 1: anger over the BLM movement, which had seemed to capture 450 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: the city's entire interest, inspired a coalition of different patriot 451 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: groups to plan a rally for the twenty second. The 452 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: attendees would turn out to be a serried milange of 453 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: far right and outright fascist demonstrators. Members of the Proud 454 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: Boys made up the backbone of the force that showed 455 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: up in front of the j C on the twenty, 456 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: but there were also Neo Nazis and militiamen. The individuals 457 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 1: who showed up were only bound by two things performative 458 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: support for police who assaulted leftists and a desire to 459 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: do similar violence themselves. These men and women showed up 460 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: ready to fight the war. Armor carried paintball guns with 461 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 1: frozen paintballs, cans of bear mace, telescoping batons, knives, and firearms. 462 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,120 Speaker 1: The start of the demonstration was set for twelve noon. 463 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: By the time Garrison and I arrived on scene, several 464 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: dozen right wingers were already present. Standing across the street 465 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,919 Speaker 1: were less than half that number of anti fascists. The 466 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: vibe was immediately tense, but not immediately violent. A pro 467 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: BLM bicycle protests drove through the street in between both groups, 468 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: followed by a crowd of several dozen bikers for Trump 469 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 1: and men in trucks waving Trump and backed the Blue flags. 470 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: While all this happened, more fascists and far right demonstrators 471 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: continued to arrive. Their numbers hit a hundred than two hundred, 472 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,439 Speaker 1: while the forces countering them remained relatively small. At around 473 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: twelve ten PM, a massive street fight broke out, as 474 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: best I could tell, and started when a local activist 475 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 1: in a wheelchair pulled up in front of one pro 476 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: Trump biker. People surrounded both of them. Both sides collided, 477 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,199 Speaker 1: and then there were fist fights, mace and shoving. I 478 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:08,720 Speaker 1: can't even tell you who started it. David Willis, a 479 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: local anti Semitic protester, threatened me in a number of 480 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: other protesters with an a R fifteen style paintball gun. 481 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 1: Loaded with paintballs that he had frozen in order to 482 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:20,200 Speaker 1: cause more damage. Willis had evidently spent quite some time 483 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: listening to Portland protest live streams. He repeatedly threatened people, 484 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: using a tone that I think was a deliberate imitation 485 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: of the police. There was a brief low in the 486 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,640 Speaker 1: action after this initial explosion, but it did not last long. 487 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: A violence commenced soon again. Right wing demonstrators pulled out 488 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 1: tasers and beat sticks. Several of them formed up into 489 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: a shield wall organized by a neo Nazi with a 490 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: baton who attempted to lead them in the battle, and 491 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: around twelve p m. The fighting waned again. Anti fascist 492 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: reinforcement showed up and the two groups neared parody, with 493 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:59,040 Speaker 1: two or three hundred people on each side. There was 494 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: a pause in the viol lens, but everyone in attendance 495 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: knew it would not last. The police opted to stay away, 496 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,200 Speaker 1: although in the distance you could hear the l rat 497 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: asking everyone to please stay nice. For a little over 498 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: a half hour, relative peace reigned. More left wing demonstrators 499 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: continued to show up, including Demitria Hester, who led the crowd, 500 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,960 Speaker 1: and chance of Black Lives Matter. Right wingers responded with 501 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: less cohesive chance of their own, like hey, hey, ho ho, 502 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: these violent rioters have got to go. Finally, a bit 503 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: after one ten pm, a right wing demonstrator hupped a 504 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: jug of o J over his shield wall and into 505 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: the anti fascist ranks. This was followed by improvised flash bangs, 506 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: and soon another general melee broke out. Things got incredibly ugly. 507 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: Much of the violence centered around the BLM snack van, 508 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: a common sight at local protests that did exactly what 509 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: it sounds like. In this video, you can hear a 510 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 1: crowd of several dozen charge a single man standing in 511 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 1: front of the van. They mace him repeatedly and beat 512 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: his arms and legs with batons. Brawls continued to break out, 513 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: and a little after one twenty pm, as I rushed 514 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: over to where a crowd of Proud Boys and other 515 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,800 Speaker 1: bright wingers were assaulting a person on the ground, beating 516 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: them with sticks, a proud boy swung a baton at 517 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: my camera hand, breaking it in two places. Numerous other 518 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: people had bones broken by violent fascists that day. Most 519 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: of these individuals will never make their names public. They 520 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 1: showed up in black block to confront dangerous Nazis and 521 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 1: other extremists who intended to harm people. Violence occurred throughout 522 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: the next hour, with mass shield charges from the right 523 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 1: wing that were repulsed only after significant injuries. The whole 524 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: ugly event culminated around two pm, when an anti fascist 525 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: old wall finally squared off with a fascist shield wall. 526 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: This was the first time that both groups had confronted 527 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,440 Speaker 1: each other in a mass, unified way, as opposed to 528 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,800 Speaker 1: the dozens of scattered brawls and to be fair conversations 529 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,600 Speaker 1: that had characterized the early part of the day. The 530 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 1: right hooped fireworks and insults at their opponents. Both groups 531 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,719 Speaker 1: kept their distance, throwing things and opposing each other with 532 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: lines of shields. This stalemate lasted for a few minutes 533 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: and was broken when a group of unarmed and unmasked 534 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: BIPOC activists marched up to the right wing shield wall. 535 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,800 Speaker 1: Despite being unarmed, they were assaulted en masked by the 536 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,479 Speaker 1: crowd and repeatedly maced. Anti fascists had to run up 537 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: and pull them back into the line in order to 538 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: protect them. The sheer volume of mace deployed by the 539 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: right wing worked against them, though unlike their opponents, who 540 00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: had spent the summer getting tear gassed. The right wing 541 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 1: had very you gas masks your respirators. They blinded themselves 542 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 1: with their own poisoned. Then one anti fascist hucked a 543 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: firework into the middle of the half blind shield wall, 544 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,479 Speaker 1: and the entire line panicked and eventually broke and fled. 545 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: They briefly ran to the nearby I. R. S Building, 546 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: begging the federal agents inside for help. When they were 547 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: denied help, the right wing crowd retreated and gradually dissipated. 548 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: August would mark the largest confrontation between right and left 549 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: in Portland during the summer, but it was not the deadliest. 550 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,040 Speaker 1: That title would be earned the next weekend, when a 551 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:37,280 Speaker 1: Trump cruise, which consisted of several thousand pickup trucks and 552 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 1: other vehicles flying Trump and thin Blue line flags, rolled 553 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: through the city of Portland and eventually through downtown Portland. 554 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: There was violence at this event, but it was much 555 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: less cohesive. Several groups of Trump supporters fired paintball guns 556 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 1: and mason to crowds from moving vehicles. The crowd this day, however, 557 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: was less extreme than the smaller crowd on the Some 558 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,520 Speaker 1: Trump supporters even went to the aid of people who 559 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:04,000 Speaker 1: were injured by other Trump supporters, and in general the 560 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 1: overall group was much less ready to fight, at least 561 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 1: in an organized way. But the site of thousands of 562 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: pickup trucks blaring flags, and of course the assaults from 563 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: a number of members of the Trump crews meant that 564 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: anxiety was extremely high among Portland protesters, and of course 565 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:22,840 Speaker 1: contributing to this was the fact that the previous two 566 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 1: weekends had involved heavy violence and gunfire. One individual had 567 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: fired a handgun in warning during the protest on the 568 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,960 Speaker 1: twenty swod in addition to Skyler Journegan's shots into a 569 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 1: crowd the week before. So understandably everyone was very amped up, 570 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: and while the train of mounted Trump supporters eventually passed 571 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: through town without serious life threatening violence, events at the 572 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 1: periphery of the caravan would shortly lead to the first 573 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:52,080 Speaker 1: fatality of Portland's protests. The conflict occurred as two right 574 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: wing demonstrators, both of whom had been present at the 575 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 1: two were walking home. J Danielson and Chandler Pappas were 576 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:04,240 Speaker 1: regular Patriot marchers. Both carried handguns, batons, and mace. The 577 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: exact sequence of events is unclear, but as best we 578 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,160 Speaker 1: can tell. From since released surveillance footage, Pappas and Danielson 579 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 1: seemed to have attacked a pro BLM and anti fascist 580 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:18,880 Speaker 1: demonstrator named Michael Reinhold. Reinhold responded to their mace with gunfire, 581 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: killing Danielson in nearly hitting Pappas. Renald ran and fled 582 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:27,359 Speaker 1: the scene, immediately disappearing into the city. For several days, 583 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,319 Speaker 1: his identity was unknown, and details around the shooting were 584 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 1: completely obscured. This did not stop the right wing media 585 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,320 Speaker 1: and President Trump himself from turning Danielson into a martyr. 586 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,759 Speaker 1: Calls to brand Antifa a terrorist group reached a fever 587 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 1: pitch when Reinold's identity was revealed. Much was made of 588 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 1: the fact that he identified with both BLM and Antifa. 589 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: The right wing disinformation ecosystem took this as evidence that 590 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:54,400 Speaker 1: Antifa and b l M were both part of some shadowy, 591 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 1: organized plot to overthrow the United States government. The reality 592 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,840 Speaker 1: is that anti fascist act is UM and the goals 593 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 1: of Black Lives Matter have always been deeply tied. As 594 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,399 Speaker 1: Max Smith attests, does that mean I'm part of an 595 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 1: Antifa group? No? Am I an anti THI fascist? Absolutely, 596 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,840 Speaker 1: because how how can you not be right, that the 597 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:16,040 Speaker 1: only that only makes sense, um, And so I think 598 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,880 Speaker 1: it's it's it's again one of those things that gets 599 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 1: like thrown into the media as a buzzword that doesn't 600 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:26,080 Speaker 1: actually mean anything, and that's only doubled down on by 601 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: like our president and people like that who just continue 602 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 1: to use words they don't understand because they think that 603 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: they're explosive what in reality. In reality, the Antifa guys, 604 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:41,080 Speaker 1: you know, the Antifa, the Rose the City Antifa or whatever, 605 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:43,560 Speaker 1: are really like a bunch of like guys that do 606 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:46,840 Speaker 1: like research and stuff for the most part, against information. 607 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 1: I've long used contacts to get like information like who 608 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,360 Speaker 1: is this gang? Who you know? What is this tattoo 609 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 1: on this white supremacis I've been seeing over here. That's 610 00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,600 Speaker 1: really what I've used them for. Um, you know the 611 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: people that I know that identify as Antifa. But other 612 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,799 Speaker 1: than that, I mean, it's it's it's just an ideology. 613 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,719 Speaker 1: So it's it's weird to see people ask questions like 614 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,239 Speaker 1: are you Antifa? And I'm like, what does that mean? 615 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,600 Speaker 1: Or is BLM has been taken over by Antifa? And 616 00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:18,279 Speaker 1: BLM even is one of those statements that again kind 617 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:21,080 Speaker 1: of like Antifa, it doesn't actually mean anything. You know, 618 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 1: there's no a Black Lives Matter a chapter here, like 619 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:28,959 Speaker 1: like national chapter here that I'm aware of. And people 620 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:31,759 Speaker 1: always say, you know, like this stuff takes away from 621 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: the spirit of a Black Lives Matter. But then they 622 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,279 Speaker 1: also turn around and say a Black Lives Matter as 623 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:40,759 Speaker 1: a Marxist organization run by you know, the g B 624 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,839 Speaker 1: t Q so and say that it's itself is you know, 625 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,759 Speaker 1: is a swoop. So there seems like there's like a 626 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:48,919 Speaker 1: lot of things that people have their ideas about these 627 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: factions or groups or whatever, but in reality, these people 628 00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:54,319 Speaker 1: aren't a part of any of that. We I mean, 629 00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: most of us are not a part of any actual 630 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:00,759 Speaker 1: a group of anything. We're just out here, you know, 631 00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:03,920 Speaker 1: fighting for our rights and for the rights of our 632 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:09,880 Speaker 1: of our friends and neighbors. So all those labels are 633 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:13,840 Speaker 1: are kind of funny, like, you know, we're not in 634 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,720 Speaker 1: a gang. We aren't the proud Boys of the Patriot Prayers. 635 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,920 Speaker 1: They all have their names and clicks and groups and 636 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,719 Speaker 1: and and and and and nonprofits and all that that's 637 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:25,600 Speaker 1: not really our thing. So I think that they have 638 00:37:25,719 --> 00:37:28,719 Speaker 1: a hard time. I think that people have a hard 639 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,600 Speaker 1: time of processing that in general, that's not the way 640 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:33,879 Speaker 1: that we're trained to think. We're kind of a train 641 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:38,080 Speaker 1: to think in the in the in the way of 642 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 1: of clicks and groups and brands. You know, it's all 643 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,000 Speaker 1: about branding and how are you branding? And do you 644 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,160 Speaker 1: wear matching outfits and that kind of stuff. So people 645 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:48,279 Speaker 1: just see black block and they see a brand, and 646 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:51,040 Speaker 1: then they hear Antifa and they think of a brand, 647 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:52,839 Speaker 1: and then they just put it all together and they 648 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: have this idea in their heads, but it's it's just 649 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:59,040 Speaker 1: not based in reality. Also had some complicated thoughts on 650 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:01,680 Speaker 1: the intersection of the anti fascism in the Black Lives 651 00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:06,080 Speaker 1: Matter movement. Um. It's complicated in the source of a 652 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: lot of tension, uh, for sure in the city right 653 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:14,920 Speaker 1: now and kind of throughout this entire thing, um because 654 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:21,880 Speaker 1: you do have you know, marches and actions that claims 655 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:25,120 Speaker 1: to be you know, black Lives Matter, when a lot 656 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:29,440 Speaker 1: of the people there um are there for like quote 657 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:34,480 Speaker 1: unquote anti fascists, for purely anti copias ands. Um. And 658 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: it's hard because you need bodies. But I don't know, 659 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:44,200 Speaker 1: because that's like that's some like person to days thinking, 660 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:47,560 Speaker 1: I feel like I know um, I feel like there's 661 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:51,359 Speaker 1: a lot you've learned about that and about I think 662 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:55,000 Speaker 1: direct action in general and protests in general. I think 663 00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 1: it actually is extremely important. Now It's always make really important, 664 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:01,840 Speaker 1: but now all I think it's really important, and a 665 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:05,320 Speaker 1: lot of people are more aware of that. Disrect action 666 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:11,359 Speaker 1: or the protest or like the mutual aid UH reach out. 667 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:17,120 Speaker 1: I don't know has a defined like role or defines 668 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:21,040 Speaker 1: like this is you know, anti Baptist marks, this is 669 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:24,640 Speaker 1: Black Lives Matter d A, this is you know, anti 670 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:27,120 Speaker 1: cop sweep or whatever. I don't think it has to 671 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:32,239 Speaker 1: be you know that always spelled out, but it needs 672 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:34,560 Speaker 1: to be clear and it needs to be you know, 673 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:39,000 Speaker 1: leadership in position that knows that role. And you know, 674 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:42,279 Speaker 1: like I said earlier, kind of that like thinking we 675 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:46,640 Speaker 1: need numbers of the person presented as and it kind 676 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:50,360 Speaker 1: of is that there's yeah, as you kind of learned, 677 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 1: bigger d A and bigger actions. When she gets out 678 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: of the tay wire, it's it's gonna be chaotic because 679 00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: there are so many people there who maybe they're there 680 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:03,359 Speaker 1: for the right reasons, but they're not like on the 681 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,720 Speaker 1: same age. And when everyone's not on the same age, 682 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,439 Speaker 1: it's really hard for an action or evidentially easy people. 683 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 1: So like yeah, smaller, more concides, more focused. Now just 684 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:23,080 Speaker 1: talking about strategy, Um, but with the h the focus 685 00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:27,360 Speaker 1: is important and you know all these all these things, 686 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,439 Speaker 1: I guess in terms of the relationship between I guess 687 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:36,040 Speaker 1: those two things. My perspective is black liberations, liberation for everybody. 688 00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:43,000 Speaker 1: And I guess from my perspective the goal I don't 689 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:47,719 Speaker 1: know if it's gold, but the the through line from 690 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: me personally is black lives matter, at least, like from 691 00:40:56,360 --> 00:41:01,960 Speaker 1: looking at it linearly standpoint, if if we really are 692 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,680 Speaker 1: considering black lives matter, if we get to the point 693 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:09,239 Speaker 1: in our country where black lives are mattering, then there 694 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:12,200 Speaker 1: will probably be less fascists or we will have done something, 695 00:41:12,239 --> 00:41:14,840 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. If the entire country is 696 00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:17,640 Speaker 1: like that black, that's a country where at least fascists 697 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:23,480 Speaker 1: aren't in government. And that's a country where at least, um, 698 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:27,800 Speaker 1: there's probably if not abolish police, less police presidents or 699 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:31,360 Speaker 1: police starts spects black people and police sent their respect 700 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:33,640 Speaker 1: black people. Clearly at least if there are steck black 701 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:37,759 Speaker 1: people their respect everybody. So for me throughline and like 702 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:42,400 Speaker 1: that's also an evidence, But that's what started all this. 703 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:46,759 Speaker 1: Um is black livesn't matter. And I don't know. I'm 704 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:52,520 Speaker 1: not happy. There's like sub factions or there's kind of 705 00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:57,040 Speaker 1: these multiple ideas existing within a movement about the goals. 706 00:41:57,080 --> 00:41:59,680 Speaker 1: But that is the reality of the we live in 707 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:04,600 Speaker 1: and I can only work together because we do all 708 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:09,400 Speaker 1: have common rules. Um. Yeah. The actual nuance in the 709 00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:12,959 Speaker 1: discussion was lost in the national reaction to Jay Danielson's death. 710 00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:15,960 Speaker 1: As soon as Michael Ryanal admitted to the shooting, claiming 711 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,040 Speaker 1: self defense and a Vice video, a man hunt ensued 712 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:21,680 Speaker 1: to bring him down. The U. S. Marshals caught him 713 00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:24,520 Speaker 1: in early September, and Michael was gunned down near where 714 00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:27,759 Speaker 1: he'd been hiding in Washington. Initial reports spoke of an 715 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:31,160 Speaker 1: exchange of gunfire, but later evidence revealed that Michael had 716 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:33,880 Speaker 1: not fired while officers shot dozens of times at the 717 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:37,240 Speaker 1: vehicle he was in. In mid October, at a campaign 718 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,560 Speaker 1: rally ahead of the November election, President Trump bragged that 719 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:43,080 Speaker 1: he had used the U. S. Marshals as more or 720 00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:46,560 Speaker 1: less a death squad, saying we sent in the U. S. 721 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:51,200 Speaker 1: Marshals the fifteen minutes it was over fifteen minutes it 722 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:56,080 Speaker 1: was over. We got him. I knew who he was 723 00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:58,600 Speaker 1: and didn't want to arrest him. In fifteen minutes. That 724 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:03,320 Speaker 1: ended at all, But then they called themselves peaceful product 725 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:06,320 Speaker 1: right wing rallies and violence would continue throughout the remainder 726 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:09,520 Speaker 1: of the year. It was, however, notably lower key than 727 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,719 Speaker 1: it had been before. Several hundred Proud Boys rallied on 728 00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:15,400 Speaker 1: the weekend of September twenty six, but both sides were 729 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:18,600 Speaker 1: kept largely apart. Less than a week before the event, 730 00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:21,560 Speaker 1: Eugene ANTIFA had released a set of leaked chat logs 731 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,239 Speaker 1: from a group called Patriot Coalition who would help plan 732 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:28,280 Speaker 1: events on August as well. The chats, which I reported 733 00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:31,480 Speaker 1: on alongside Jason Wilson for Bellancat and the UK Guardian, 734 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:34,239 Speaker 1: included threats to shoot members of the a c l 735 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,239 Speaker 1: U and legal observers, as well as embryonic plans to 736 00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:40,680 Speaker 1: kidnap the governor of Oregon over the state's COVID nineteen lockdown. 737 00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:44,000 Speaker 1: The governor convened a press conference after these reports and 738 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:47,399 Speaker 1: threatened to use the state's long dormant anti paramilitary laws 739 00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:51,200 Speaker 1: if there was mass violence by the Proud Boys on September. 740 00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:55,400 Speaker 1: Police kept anti fascists and fascists apart. A number of 741 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,360 Speaker 1: Proud Boys did do violence, assaulting several members of the 742 00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:01,479 Speaker 1: press who came to cover their event, but no mass 743 00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:04,920 Speaker 1: thousand person street fight ensued this time. In fact, after 744 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:08,160 Speaker 1: the six far right street activities seemed to ebb for 745 00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:11,480 Speaker 1: several months. There were small back the Blue rallies which 746 00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:15,480 Speaker 1: often involved right wingers masonencounter protesters and threatening them with firearms, 747 00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:18,560 Speaker 1: and of course involved anti fascists doing things like breaking 748 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:22,000 Speaker 1: the windows on their cars, but mass violence failed to ensue. 749 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:24,560 Speaker 1: It seemed for a while as if the far right 750 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:28,520 Speaker 1: had spent itself in August of This would turn out 751 00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:31,640 Speaker 1: to be untrue. Of course, we're recording this episode just 752 00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:34,080 Speaker 1: two weeks after the capital of the United States was 753 00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:37,400 Speaker 1: sieged and occupied briefly by hundreds of far right, fascist, 754 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:42,960 Speaker 1: and white nationalist demonstrators on January six. This event was 755 00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:46,040 Speaker 1: signposted by an attack by far right insurrectionists on the 756 00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:49,760 Speaker 1: city of Salem, Oregon's capital, just a few days earlier. 757 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:53,719 Speaker 1: The whole chain of events further reinforced Oregan's reputation as 758 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:56,520 Speaker 1: something of a national bell weather for far right violence, 759 00:44:57,160 --> 00:44:59,759 Speaker 1: with the anti fascists of the Rose City endured in 760 00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:03,080 Speaker 1: the late summer, came home to the capital of the 761 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:09,719 Speaker 1: entire country just a few months later. Uh where the 762 00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:13,240 Speaker 1: grandpops and couldn't fathom the obamasis, I don't hate America, 763 00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:16,160 Speaker 1: just to me, And she keeps the promises tens looking 764 00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:19,480 Speaker 1: like the sixties. It's crazy, a nationwide deja pu. What 765 00:45:19,560 --> 00:45:22,560 Speaker 1: my people post to do? Go to schools named after 766 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:25,480 Speaker 1: the clan founder. We're around town, isa, I don't see 767 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:28,760 Speaker 1: why we're frowning Native American students forced to learn about 768 00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:32,960 Speaker 1: when o'pella Sarah, How is that fair? Bro? Some Euros 769 00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:36,080 Speaker 1: unsung in some monster's getting monuments built for them. But 770 00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:38,160 Speaker 1: it ain't be all a little bit of monster. We 771 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:39,040 Speaker 1: crooking him