This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/04/patriot-prayer-to-carry-guns-at-portland-rally-as-fears-of-violence-rise

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Portland far-right rally: scuffles and arrests as police disperse demonstrators Portland far-right rally: police charge counterprotesters with batons drawn
(about 3 hours later)
Small scuffles broke out Saturday, and a reporter was injured, as police in Portland, Oregon, deployed “flash bang” devices and other means to disperse hundreds of rightwing protesters and anti-fascist counter-protesters. A Patriot Prayer rally in Portland, Oregon has culminated in a police charge on counterprotesters, as a demonstration once again brought disorder and violence to the downtown area.
Fears of violent protest at the rally had been rising. The rightwing group Patriot Prayer went into their rally promising to carry guns in a city park, and to attempt to infiltrate the ranks of counter-protesters. Two hours into the scheduled protest, police moved towards leftwing counterprotesters with batons drawn, and used dozens of “flash bang” stun grenades and rounds containing pepper spray.
On Saturday just before 2pm PT, police in riot gear ordered people to leave an area downtown, saying demonstrators had thrown rocks and bottles at officers. As they moved on the counterprotest, Patriot Prayer marchers chanted “lock them up, lock them up”.
A reporter for the Oregonian/OregonLive was injured when he was struck by a projectile during the rowdy protests. Eder Campuzano was bloodied Saturday afternoon but said in a tweet published on the newspaper’s website that he was “okay” and was going to get evaluated. Portland police sent hundreds of officers in riot gear to the rally, and for most of the day they kept Patriot Prayer, led by Republican US Senate candidate Joey Gibson, separated from their opposition.
There were arrests, but it wasn’t immediately clear how many. “Get out of the street,” police announced via loudspeaker. There was also debris left in the streets by various protesters. One part of the 1,000 strong counterprotest, billed as “PopMob”, included labor groups, a local Democratic Socialists of America chapter, clergy, community groups. There was also a large contingent of anti-fascists clad in “black bloc” clothing.
Demonstrators aligned with Patriot Prayer and an affiliated group, the Proud Boys, gathered around midday in a riverfront park. As the Patriot Prayer group marched, protesters followed at a distance through neighbouring streets. The charge happened on Southwest Columbia Street, several blocks south of Patriot Prayer’s original rallying point. Police claimed that protesters were throwing missiles at their lines.
The hundreds of opposing demonstrators faced them from across the street, holding banners and signs. Many of them yelled out chants such as “Nazis go home”. One journalist, Eder Campuzano, was struck in the head by a full plastic bottle, causing him to bleed from a head wound, which he said “likely came from a counterprotester”.
Officers stood in the middle of the four-lane boulevard, essentially forming a wall to keep the two sides separated. A Portland photographer, Doug Brown, said that “the first missile I saw and heard came from the Patriot Prayer side, across the street, towards the protesters”.
The counter-protesters were made up of a coalition of labor unions, immigrant rights advocates, democratic socialists and other groups. They included people dressed as clowns and a brass band blaring music. “I don’t know who set it off, but it went towards the black bloc. And then the police just swarmed them,” Brown said.
In Facebook videos in the days leading up to the rally, Joey Gibson, a rightwing Senate candidate who founded Patriot Prayer, said that “there’s nothing strange” about the group’s habit of carrying concealed firearms into political protests. Brown’s tweeted video of the police charge shows them confronting protesters en masse, and attacking him and and other reporters filming from a sidewalk.
He also said that the Proud Boy Russell Schultz would be coordinating attempts to infiltrate the ranks of masked “black bloc” anti-fascist protesters. Olivia Kati Smith, co-chair of the Portland Democratic Socialists of America,
Portland police bureau (PPB) announced Friday that there would be a significant law enforcement presence at the site, and that they would carry out weapons checks at the entrances to Tom McCall Waterfront Park. said the police were not provoked.
A PPB spokesman told the Guardian, however, that they would not confiscate firearms from holders of Oregon concealed handgun licenses (CHL). Only CHL holders may carry loaded weapons in public areas in Portland. A Portland woman was later admitted to hospital after being hit with a flash bang round.
On 30 June, Gibson’s last rally degenerated into a riot, and the incident became a cause célèbre on the right. Eric Ward, executive director of civil rights organization Western States Center, said that while he believed some counterprotesters made some “bad decisions” by bringing weapons, the police charge “punished every counterprotester for the actions of a few”.
On Saturday, as people gathered they saw a significant police presence that included bomb-sniffing dogs and weapons screening checkpoints. Many of those gathering are expected to be from out of state. This collective punishment, he said “doesn’t align with the treatment of the Proud Boys and Joey Gibson”.
After questioning from the Guardian, the City of Portland released a legal opinion from the city attorney that said that an anti-paramilitary statute was “of limited utility but it is certainly one to keep in mind as facts develop”. Gibson had earlier told the Patriot Prayer group that a deal with police meant that they would not be searched in exchange for confining themselves to a barricaded area. No weapons searches were carried out on the Patriot Prayer group.
The city attorney added that there was no evidence of any group planning or training in the unlawful use of firearms, but that “it is a tool to keep in mind should we in the future have evidence that a group is intending to engage in these behaviors”. Portland police did not respond to requests for comment on weapons searches, or their charge on counterprotesters.
The chair of the Multnomah County GOP, James Buchal, called on Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, to “provide protection” for Gibson and his rally in a press release. The Patriot Prayer rally had attracted people from all over the country - many wearing the colors of the Proud Boys group, others wearing Trump-branded clothing and Infowars merchandise.
Buchal, who last year invited militia groups to protect Republican events in the city, said that the mayor had given Portland over to “leftist mobs”. Patriot Prayer’s events attracted widespread attention in the last month after an event in Portland on 30 June that culminated in some of the worst street violence in the city’s recent history.
Far-right media outlets, such as Alex Jones’s conspiracist Infowars network, descended on Portland on Friday. Infowars videos criticised Portland’s homeless, and demonised “antifa” protesters. Saturday’s crowd of more than 400 was one of Patriot Prayer’s biggest to date in a series of over 30 events held in the Pacific Northwest and northern California during the life of the Trump administration.
Almost a year on from the death of the activist Heather Heyer, as she protested a gathering of white nationalists in Virginia, some groups are warning the protest on Saturday risks turning into “another Charlottesville”. At the conclusion of the march Patriot Prayer members claimed victory, with Gibson saying that it was an “excellent day, excellent”.
Saturday’s rally is the 16th event organised in Portland by the group since April 2017. Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who has been involved in two alleged street assaults outside protests, and who has been arrested at previous protests, told the rally that “today is a big win for America”, that “the cops did their jobs and we’re proud of them”, and that in future, “we’re still gonna come to Portland”.
A Patriot Prayer rally in June was declared a riot by Portland police after counter-protesters and rally-goers exchanged missiles. Officers from the Department of Homeland Security fired nonlethal rounds and the march through downtown Portland degenerated into ugly brawls. Toese wore a T shirt bearing the slogan, “Pinochet Did Nothing Wrong”.
Video from the event shows large groups of rightwing protesters kicking and punching lone, prone counter-protesters. One video, widely shared online by rightwingers, shows the Proud Boy Ethan Nordean flooring an anti-fascist assailant with a single punch. Katbi Smith, the DSA co-chair, said “If it’s a victory for them, it’s a victory won by the cops. We outnumbered them.”
As at previous rallies, Patriot Prayer claimed leftwing provocation. After the rally’s conclusion, many Patriot Prayer supporters left on the group’s private buses. But a small number Proud Boys, including Toese, stayed in downtown Portland and engaged in scuffles, and three way standoffs with police and anti-fascists.
Patriot Prayer had bused in supporters from Vancouver, a town over the Columbia river from Portland in Washington state where Gibson is based. A planned rendezvous in a shopping mall in the town was moved after security guards told early arrivals they were trespassing, and a tow truck stood by waiting to take away offending cars.
Saturday’s rally was, in part, billed as a campaign event for Gibson’s bid to become a senator for Washington.
PortlandPortland
The far rightThe far right
ProtestProtest
OregonOregon
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content