![]() Mainstream media attention was then diverted after the apparent resolution of the conflict over the unwanted presence of federal agents. Instead the focus of many protesters was the presence of federal agents in the city – which became a national scandal as local elected officials sought to force the Trump administration to withdraw them. ![]() This year, however, as the Black Lives Matter protests sprang up in Portland, members of far-right groups had not been a significant factor during an unbroken 85-night streak of protests. Throughout this period, PPB were regularly accused by protesters and media outlets of heavy-handed, one-sided enforcement. Photograph: Terray Sylvester/ReutersĪt rallies in 20 hundreds of rightwingers from all around the country descended on Portland, and rightwing media and e-celebrities worked hard to identify the city with “antifa”, a movement that conservatives from Trump down have sought to demonize. It was the worst violence of its kind in the city since an infamous afternoon in 2018, also involving Proud Boys, who came from all over the country to attend a rally that culminated in another vicious street brawl.īut as that precedent indicates, the polarized violence was not so much a new development linked to the massive anti-racism protests that have continued around the US, as a return to the dynamic that has afflicted Portland since the election of Donald Trump.įrom 2017 to 2019, the city was a magnet for street protesters and street fighters from groups like Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys, who were regularly met by antifascist counter-protesters.Ī sign reading ‘Abolish PPB’ is seen on shields held by demonstrators during a protest in Portland, Oregon, at the weekend. Neither the Portland police bureau (PPB) nor the Multnomah county district attorney (MCDA) responded to questions about whether Taylor would be charged or prosecuted over the incident. In a telephone conversation, Evans told the Guardian that the rightwing demonstrators “absolutely came prepared to fight”, were “very aggressive from the jump” and were equipped with “knives, guns, paintball guns with frozen pellets, batons”. That assailant was identified by Bellingcat on Tuesday as Travis Taylor, a Portland-based Proud Boy who has been previously observed attending violent street demonstrations in the city. That reporter, Robert Evans, has been covering the protests since they began, for Bellingcat and other outlets. Near the peak of Saturday’s violence, a reporter’s hand was broken by a rightwing protester with a baton, and video of the incident went viral on social media. Others joined in and destroyed the vehicle. One pro-Trump protester took to a snack van with a baseball bat. Some carried wooden shields with nails driven through them. Others appeared to be armed with firearms and knives. Earlier, he had fired a paintball gun into the crowd, and a local journalist was caught in the crossfire. One rightwing protester drew a firearm on opposing protesters. Much of it came from rally attendees – who included members of far-right groups like the Proud Boys – and was directed not only at leftist counter-protesters, but also reporters. ![]() Last weekend a rightwing “Say no to Marxism in America” rally saw serious, widespread violence. ![]()
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