It's a peaceful protest.
It's a happening.
It's lawlessness and anarchy.
It is the beginning of a fascist state.
It's a way to say you want change. It's a way to show whose side you are on. It's a dangerous job, protecting life and property. It's an opportunity for Trump to demonstrate competency in a crisis. It 's a shit-show that might get Trump re-elected. It's an opportunity for Biden, if he will take it.
There are many ways to construe what is going on in Portland in the summer of 2020.
There are many ways to construe what is going on in Portland in the summer of 2020.
Two big narratives have arisen.
One of them, nearly universal in the mainstream media, is that the protest demonstrations about racial injustice evolved into more general protests against Trump, which protests included a small minority of people performing illegal acts of violence and destruction. This created conflicts with the police that some people calling themselves anti-fascists, or Antifa, invited, and this brought a counter reaction both from the police and from citizen counter protesters. Trump reacted to the disorder with federal officers that generally exacerbated the problem by triggering exactly the anti-fascist and anti-authoritarian fears of the public and protesters. Trump poured gasoline, not water, on the fire, and did it for obvious political purpose.Therefore: incompetent, dangerous Trump.
The other narrative, nearly universal on Fox and other conservative media, is that peaceful protests immediately got out of control and became disruptive and then violent, but that liberal officeholders, in Portland especially, but also the protesters themselves, tolerated illegal actions taking place under the cover of legitimate protest. Arson, looting, destruction of property grew completely out of hand so Trump, properly, sent in federal officers to do what liberal Democrats were failing to do, protect lives and property. Therefore, competent Trump, protecting us from danger.
As always, people differ on which narrative is more correct. Today this blog will present the first of them, this from a retired teacher and utility company employee, John Flenniken, who in both jobs worked in downtown Portland.
"Living in Portland, Oregon, an eight minute drive to the Federal Court House, you would think I’m bunkered in my basement if you watch Fox News. On the 56th day of protests in my city I experience no disruptions to my daily life and can freely move within the city.
The police and mayor’s office opened conversations with the most aggressive group, the Pacific NW Youth Liberation Front when everything fell apart with the appearance of unidentified Federal paramilitary forces on the city streets snatching suspected protesters, shoving them into unmark vans and spiriting them away to who knows where. That behavior lead to more confrontations early in the morning in front of the Justice Center. The Federal Justice Center is this area of Portland that is seen on TV. It is this area that draws the crowds nightly to peacefully protest. The Wall of Moms and the Dad Pod draw their ranks from affluent suburbia around the city. The push-back is against the unconstitutional use of Federal paramilitary forces overstepping their mission to protect the Federal property.
The broken windows can be replaced, the graffiti erased or painted over, the burn marks on the sidewalks from flares and tear gas canisters washed away, the general litter blowing around can all be cleaned up in front of the Justice Center. What can not be undone is the realization that the police do not treat our Black and brown community members fairly or justly. Worse than the damage to property is the damage done by the Federal forces to the rule of law, States Rights and our very democracy."
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Guest Post by John Flenniken
"Living in Portland, Oregon, an eight minute drive to the Federal Court House, you would think I’m bunkered in my basement if you watch Fox News. On the 56th day of protests in my city I experience no disruptions to my daily life and can freely move within the city.
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| John Flenniken |
When George Floyd was killed on May 25 Portland was still in “Stay Home, Save Lives” order from Governor Kate Brown. Downtown was mostly empty. On May 26 the first protest demonstration took place as a peaceful and spontaneous reaction to the horrific video of the four Minneapolis police officers taking the life of George Floyd. Over subsequent days the demonstrations and silent vigils spread throughout the city to include the suburbs. The demonstrations and peaceful protests were covered initially as expressions of grievance against police abuse and harassment of Black people and systemic racism in general. Something snapped. The scab was ripped off decades upon decades of discriminatory treatment of our Black and brown community.
Demonstrations organized by Rose City Justice, NAACP, and the Albina Ministerial Alliance have been peaceful. Starting in several city parks and marching into town some ending in Pioneer Square for speeches other gatherings along Portland’s Waterfront Park and to ones you’re seeing on the news in front of the Federal Justice Center. The marchers that crossed the Burnside Bridge into Portland city center tried to prevent acts of vandalism and looting telling them to stop their actions. Police were not protecting local businesses to prevent and/or arrest immediately those few committing crimes of arson, looting and vandalism. The actions of these individuals brought the declaration of riot and the use of crowd control munitions assaulting the peaceful protesters as well. These are the scenes we see on our TV and social media not the hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters.
The police and mayor’s office opened conversations with the most aggressive group, the Pacific NW Youth Liberation Front when everything fell apart with the appearance of unidentified Federal paramilitary forces on the city streets snatching suspected protesters, shoving them into unmark vans and spiriting them away to who knows where. That behavior lead to more confrontations early in the morning in front of the Justice Center. The Federal Justice Center is this area of Portland that is seen on TV. It is this area that draws the crowds nightly to peacefully protest. The Wall of Moms and the Dad Pod draw their ranks from affluent suburbia around the city. The push-back is against the unconstitutional use of Federal paramilitary forces overstepping their mission to protect the Federal property.
The broken windows can be replaced, the graffiti erased or painted over, the burn marks on the sidewalks from flares and tear gas canisters washed away, the general litter blowing around can all be cleaned up in front of the Justice Center. What can not be undone is the realization that the police do not treat our Black and brown community members fairly or justly. Worse than the damage to property is the damage done by the Federal forces to the rule of law, States Rights and our very democracy."
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Coming up:
Tomorrow: a contrary view, from Michael Trigoboff, who also works near the central city but who writes "I am so happy that I live in a suburb, not Portland itself." Insofar as the 2020 election is a battle for the minds and votes of the persuadable suburbs, his is a point of view that may determine the outcome
And then: a political comment from Jim Stodder, with advice for Joe Biden. Biden has an imperative, Stodder says.
7 comments:
Antifa doesn't like limousine liberals like Peter Sage, but they'll allow him to be their useful idiot. In the end, Antifa will eat Peter Sage for breakfast. Antifa wants total anarchy, which will eventually devolve into a communist dictatorship government, in which all of us will lose. You want to be like China? No rights, and no freedoms?
Since when did Mister White Bread or any of you become "woke" about racial issues? Were you discussing them a few years ago. Probably not. It's the new "thing". It's the new "fad". Most of you live in your "white bread worlds" and have only had token exposure to minorities. Have you ever lived in their neighborhoods? Have you ever worked in their neighborhoods where you were the minority? Probably not. Your exposure was superficial. "I met a Black person at school one time". If you lived in their neighborhoods, then you'd know that that they are no different than you are, and they are just as racist as you are (or might be). They are putting the guilt trip now on all you racist elitist White liberals who up until now have only been concerned about minorities at election time, but otherwise you don't give a rip about them, and your guilt is overwhelming because all of you have become nauseatingly woke.
As for the police, they have a difficult job, and they deal with the lowest common denominators in society. They don't target one specific ethnicity for persecution. Most (the majority) of the cops in big cities are either Black or Hispanic, so it's untrue that they are racist targeting their own people. Police target criminals. Blacks and Hispanics are much higher perpetrators of crimes than Whites and Asians are (the stats back that up), so it makes sense that they would have more contact with police. Without the cops, the low-income areas would be much worse. You'd have total anarchy without cops.
All you White liberals are playing with fire by entertaining Antifa. They don't care about you, and in the end they will eat you up like a candy bar. You are their useful idiots.
Finally, notice that these rioters are solely comprised of Democrats who can't beat Trump, so they cry and throw tantrums in the streets instead. At some point Daddy is going to have to give these spoiled Antifa children a good hard spanking, and it ain't gonna be pretty.
Entered by Peter Sage for Thad Guyer
Use this one, since the first video link did not work, I think this one does
Portland’s “White Spectacle” Season 4 is Great!
Despite John Flenniken’s observations about no disruption of his daily life, which clearly does not involve going near Chapman Square in downtown Portland around midnight, these riots are nothing new. It is an absurd exercise in “woke data” to suggest otherwise, or that before Trump’s recent federal task force deployment, everything was calming down. LOL. A friend sent me one of the several nightly Facebook live stream links to watch the riots, but he said I’d have to stay up late because the excitement doesn’t start until midnight, an hour in which old lawyers like me (and old teachers like John) are usually in bed clueless to the outside urban world. For me here in Palm Beach County, it meant joining the “stream” at 3:00 a.m. I decided to do it, and don’t regret it because I was tuned-in to Nott DeAndre’s Facebook stream, who is accepted by rioters to do a video chronicle. If the rioter don’t accept you, they will block your lens, or snatch it from your hands, or if you are a conservative videographer say like Andy Ngo you may get beaten like he was on July 1—July 1, 2019.
Anyway, back to the show! The few blacks among the hundreds of white “tourism” protestors are ebbing away at the witching hour, just as the armed antifa and “liberation front” dudes move in. They are almost all white, all young and clearly the cousins of the “Yellow Vests” rioters in Paris who gave us so much entertainment from 2018 to the present. But that is a foreign riot show, and you have to watch it with subtitles which diminishes the viewing experience. Subtitles, give me a break! But Nott DeAndre’s Facebook stream, now you get glued to that holding the phone in your hand as you lay in bed, no chance of falling asleep.
This of course is “Portland Riots Season 4”, the franchise began in earnest after Trump’s inauguration. We have all seen it, I recall it has been discussed in this blog, it is nothing new except the historical context—George Floyd and the watershed opportunity to finally get America to address systemic racism. Except that angry young leftist white guys, indistinguishable from angry rightist white guys (except antifa loves wrinkle resistant black polyester), have seized the cameras. Yesterday NPR aired a compelling interview with Portland NAACP president E.D. Mondaine as he described the hijacking of the BLM movement by non-black rioters clad in riot gear, gas masks, clubs and shields putting on their nightly “White Spectacle”—his title, not mine. Yes, whites making the historic moment of the murdered black man a story about, well, angry white Trump haters.
This has driven up three-fold the cost of stock “riot video” from ShutterStock, VideoVo, and GettyImages (30 second clips selling for $495, ridiculous), although Walmart is still selling their popular “Riot Girl” tee shirts for $12.99. Worse, there is almost no “free” riot video on the web, you have look online for a long time until you find some. I needed some for a Zoom video background and got one for free at long last. Here is the link to it entitled “Riot Fun Zoom Video Background” https://youtu.be/TtrbyrCQ0O4. You wouldn’t believe what a audience catcher it was during my first Zoom meeting!
Note to John: If you could go shoot some riot video for me (60 seconds is good), please just go down to S.W. Main and 3rd-- any night after midnight, any day of the week—and I will buy it from you. And don’t let Trump steal Portland’s years long riot culture—it is your culture and Portlanders should be proud of it.
Website: www.GuyerAyers.com
Thad Guyer's video link. Copy then paste into URL:
https://youtu.be/TtrbyrCQ0O4
responding to John Flenniken:
... unidentified Federal paramilitary forces on the city streets snatching suspected protesters, shoving them into unmarked vans and spiriting them away to who knows where.
To my knowledge, there was one incident like this. The federal officers thought they found someone who had committed violent acts. When they discovered that was incorrect, they released the person.
The use of unmarked vehicles by police is common. Given the number of burned-out police vehicles we have seen recently, it's probably a good idea to use unmarked ones.
... unconstitutional use of Federal paramilitary forces overstepping their mission to protect the Federal property.
Unconstitutional? Really?
Think back to federal troops enforcing the orders that allowed black children to attend schools in the South in the 1950s.
I think we should all wait to see what the courts actually say about this.
The broken windows can be replaced, the graffiti erased or painted over, the burn marks on the sidewalks from flares and tear gas canisters washed away, the general litter blowing around can all be cleaned up in front of the Justice Center.
And the businesses that were looted and trashed? What about the damage to those innocent store owners? You're way too cavalier about the consequences of these violent protests.
Thad Guyer's video link looks to be something that happened a number of years ago in a park near the Lloyd Center. Some moron decided he was opposed to electricity. Too bad he wasn't using a metal bat.
Curt,
You said: "Most (the majority) of the cops in big cities are either Black or Hispanic, so it's untrue that they are racist targeting their own people." Maybe not racist...but maybe fascists, eh?
There may be some truth to your stereotyped accusations on woke white folk who may have a black friend or two, however, this guy hails from New York...and your accusation belies your own limited experience with the marginalized. We're all racists; we just don't realize it and it takes more than having a "person of color friend" or electing a black president to acknowledge that; it takes work to peel back the layers of prejudice, intolerance, and entitlements we have simply based on skin tone. (Watch the movie "The Color of Fear")
Read Jeff Golden's Op.Ed. in today's Mail Tribune/Ashland Tidings; we can argue facts til the cows come home, but the bottom line is individual, state and local sovereignty and the violation of Amendment IV of the constitution. Then watch how these jackboots treat a real hero here: https://twitter.com/EndSoundtrack/status/1287477889953222656
Andy Seles
Michael: Unconstitutional - really! Here’s the analysis from a Harvard law professor:
https://www.lawfareblog.com/unpacking-dhss-troubling-explanation-portland-van-video
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