Last week, James Fields got life in prison for the 2017 murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville. As far as I’m concerned, he got off light. Considering he committed his crime in a death-penalty state, he should consider himself lucky that he gets to live out the rest of his life on the taxpayer’s dime. I would’ve sentenced him to the needle, but I guess that’s because I’m a fascist.
I don’t know a lot about Heyer’s political views, but I know she didn’t deserve to be hurt or killed for them. Most Americans would agree, or at least I hope so. But a lot of the same people who were rightly outraged by Heyer’s murder are now celebrating another act of political violence.
This weekend there was yet another Antifa protest in Portland, against whoever those idiots think they’re protesting against, and there was yet more violence. This time the victim was journalist Andy Ngo. Ngo has been reporting on Antifa’s activities for several years, and they’ve repeatedly harassed and threatened him. But nothing like this:
First skirmish I’ve seen. Didn’t see how this started, but @MrAndyNgo got roughed up. pic.twitter.com/hDkfQchRhG
— Jim Ryan (@Jimryan015) June 29, 2019
There’s a video with a different angle of the brutal assault of Andy Ngo. (via @michellemalkin)
Antifa pummeled him with carbon fiber-knuckled gloves (Oakley Assault Gloves).
Timestamps:
:15 Robber steals camera equipment
:17 Assailant with assault gloves
:21 Second assailant pic.twitter.com/yOuWExqYge— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 30, 2019
.@MrAndyNgo just punched and hit several times, chemically sprayed by protesters while live-streaming antifa protest in Portland pic.twitter.com/UuCzBHPOrX
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) June 29, 2019
Attacked by antifa. Bleeding. They stole my camera equipment. No police until after. waiting for ambulance . If you have evidence Of attack please help
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) June 29, 2019
What you just saw was a pack of privileged white dudes in masks beating up a smaller guy who’s a minority (Ngo is Vietnamese-American) and a member of the LGBTQ community (he’s gay). These cowards punched him and threw things at him in the middle of the street, in broad daylight, because they knew the cops wouldn’t stop them. It might as well be Alabama in the ’50s. The only difference between Antifa and the Klan is fashion.
Before that, Ngo was the target of the utterly depressing, infuriating phenomenon known as “milkshaking”:
“Peaceful” protest pic.twitter.com/u2gaMYOHF5
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) June 29, 2019
Or possibly worse:
Police have received information that some of the milkshakes thrown today during the demonstration contained quick-drying cement. We are encouraging anyone hit with a substance today to report it to police.
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) June 29, 2019
Apparently, in liquid form this cement can cause severe chemical burns because of the quicklime in it. If this is true, then this was basically an acid attack.
And even if it was just a regular syrupy semi-frozen drink, this demonstrates why milkshaking isn’t just harmless fun to humiliate your enemies. Ngo got milkshaked twice as he was livestreaming:
This is a grainy photo of the back of Andy’s first milkshake attacker. I chased him all over the park trying to get a good photo but was purposefully blocked by Antifa supporters. @MrAndyNgo @michellemalkin @Sean_Medlock @Timcast pic.twitter.com/EgQN0FWMxm
— ckferrache (@ckferrache) June 30, 2019
I managed to get this picture of one of Andy’s milkshake attackers right after. I don’t know if there is anything to there being quick dry concrete in the shakes but it wouldn’t surprise me. Andy had done nothing. Said nothing. @MrAndyNgo @michellemalkin @clairlemon pic.twitter.com/sWrxf24op9
— ckferrache (@ckferrache) June 30, 2019
But it didn’t stop him from recording what was happening. It didn’t make him do what they wanted. So they escalated. It’s broken windows theory: If you allow people to push the boundaries of acceptable behavior, they’re not going to stop with relatively minor offenses. If they see that they can get away with something small, they’ll try to get away with something bigger. Lawlessness encourages greater lawlessness.
And on top of the attack itself, now Ngo is dealing with all the alleged “journalists” who are mocking and/or dismissing it. They hate Ngo because he wrote some stories they didn’t like, or he expressed some opinions they think are bad. They say he should’ve known that Antifa, who are considered the good guys by lefty journos,* are feral savages and would turn on him. They say the gay, 5’5″ Asian guy tricked those black-clad heroes into putting him in the hospital because he wanted attention. Any excuse will do for these Democratic Party operatives with press passes.
Jim Acosta gets a microphone taken away by a female White House aide, and they make a martyr of him. Andy Ngo gets beaten up by a mob of leftists, and they shrug. It all depends on how useful you are to the #Resistance. You will say the things you’re supposed to say, or you’re on your own.
This attack reminds me of Eric Clanton, the anarchist and community-college professor who was caught on film at a protest in April 2017 hitting a guy over the head with a bike lock. He was identified even though he was masked up. When everybody is recording every second of these protests and putting it up on the Internet, it’s a lot tougher to hide your identity while you’re breaking the law. Guess what, geniuses? You’re not Batman.
Ngo is currently in the hospital, being treated for brain hemorrhaging. I hope he makes a full recovery, identifies the masked cowards who did this to him, and then sues the hell out of the city of Portland for allowing roaming bands of thugs to beat people in the street.
Political violence is wrong, whether it’s committed by Antifa, or the Proud Boys, or the Daughters of the American Revolution, or whoever loses their minds next. As Richard Fernandez notes, this isn’t going to stop with Andy Ngo. It’s only going to escalate. Once you normalize milkshaking, and spitting on people in restaurants, and standing outside a guy’s house with a bullhorn because he said something on TV that hurt your feelings, that’s not going to be enough anymore. Anyone who refuses to submit, refuses to do what he’s told, will be fair game.
And they wonder why people want guns.
It’s all just so disgusting and exhausting. I will never submit to these lunatics. Any of them. If my only choices are the alt-right or Antifa, I declare independence.
*I won’t hold my breath waiting for apologies from these imbeciles:
Flashback montage: The media’s history supporting #Antifa, an anti-free press, domestic terror group #AndyNgo pic.twitter.com/RzBFXUM6QB
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 30, 2019