On Sunday night, antifa rioters in Portland beat up a blonde woman, then followed a truck driver, making him crash. After he crashed, the mob pushed him away from the truck, forced him down on the ground, searched for his keys, and then kicked him in the head, leaving him bleeding on the pavement. The incident involved a man wearing a black bulletproof vest with the word “SECURITY” on the back. Videos showed the same man escorting a man away from an antifa/Black Lives Matter protest, then assaulting a transgender bystander earlier in the night. Rioters indiscriminately referred to their prey with the N-word.
Antifa militants are agitating for the abolition of police. These violent incidents might give some inkling as to what comes afterward. What does antifa policing look like? Does this attack on the truck driver represent an antifa-style traffic stop?
Harassing a transgender bystander
Social media videos that appear to have been filmed earlier in the evening show the antifa “SECURITY” thug escorting a man away from a gathering. Another man with him yells, “Walk! Walk! If you run, we’ll chase you down and beat your a**!”
After one thug hits the man, a transgender person arrives asking, “What’s up?” The bystander, who appears to be a man identifying as a woman, seems intent on calling out an incident of harassment, but the antifa mob turns on him. “Don’t f***in play with me, b**ch!” the antifa “SECURITY” guard says.
As the bystander prepares to protect himself, members of the mob steal his belongings. As he demands his belongings back, another rioter seizes his skateboard from his hands. He uses mace in self-defense, but the mob continues to attack him, stealing his backpack. They harass him, punching him in the face, pulling his hair, and beating him up.
“I’m not fighting back! I’m not fighting back,” he wimpers. “I just want my backpack back.” The bystander explains that he cannot get into his house without his backpack.
More scenes of violence and theft tonight in downtown Portland involving BLM protesters. #PortlandRiots #antifa #BlackLivesMatter Video by @livesmattershow. pic.twitter.com/ndtIHmkycC
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020
A black man comes to defend the transgender bystander, and the mob apparently threatens to assault him, as well.
“We out here for black lives, f*** these white c***s,” a rioter shouts at the black man.
“We out here for black lives matter, fuck these white cunts”
BLM rioters in Portland threaten to beat man who chastises them for assaulting and robbing a suicidal trans woman in downtown. #PortlandRiots Video by @livesmattershow. pic.twitter.com/5ivhejgBGr
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020
After Burning Police Union, Portland Rioters Threaten Nearby House: ‘We’re Gonna Burn Your Building Down’
The antifa traffic stop
The more disturbing incident involving the truck driver appears to have taken place later on during the night. It remains unclear why the antifa rioters attacked the truck driver — the first attack took place in front of a 7-Eleven, and social media rumors suggested the man and the blonde woman were condemning a robbery at that store.
Videos show that as the mob converges on the white pick-up truck, one person shouts, “He didn’t do nothing, bro!” Then the mob punches the blonde woman. She struggles to escape, but another rioter leaps after her, tackling her to the ground.
As the man in the truck tries to drive away, rioters kick the truck and run after it.
“He didn’t do nothing bro”
Video by @livesmattershow shows the altercations that happened in downtown Portland before the car crash. The BLM mob is beating a blonde woman and they tackle her to the ground. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/c0xbTr2Eon
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020
After the man drove away, he crashed into a pole. Videos show the antifa mob harassing him. The mob appears to detain him, blocking him from getting back into the truck and searching for the keys.
“Hey bro, you’re not leavin, bro. You ain’t goin nowhere,” members of the mob shout as they surround him. One man kicks him in the face. “Put your a** down. Put your a** down, n***r,” the mob jeers.
“Stay the f*** down, n****r,” rioters jeer. They tell him to stay down “until the cops come.” The driver, bloodied and sitting on the pavement, asks the mob if he can answer his phone.
Another video shows the antifa “SECURITY” thug kick the driver in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. Others jeer, “Knock that f***in racist! F***in loser. F***ing try and run people over?!”
After the man lies, bleeding and unconscious, on the pavement for some time, the crowd tries to get him out of the street.
GRAPHIC: Rioters in downtown Portland detain man who had a car crash. They force him to sit on the ground while they search his belongings. One of them runs up and kicks him in the head, instantly knocking him out. There are no police. Video by @FromKalen pic.twitter.com/x646QheCV0
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020
‘Antifa Mayor’ Says of Rioters Attempting to Murder Cops: ‘I Understand Why They’re Angry’
When police finally do arrive, the mob yells at them, accusing them of protecting “white supremacists.”
An earlier video shows rioters standing over the man’s body, jeering as he remains nonresponsive. “Black lives matter, n****r!” they jeer as the man lies on the pavement.
Earlier: Rioters stand over the unconscious man’s body after they beat him. They pour water on him and shout in support of Black Lives Matter. Antifa street medics are examining him. He’s not responsive. #PortlandRiots #BlackLiveMatter Video @FromKalen. pic.twitter.com/aI5emSRATI
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2020
Portland Police reported receiving “reports of a group committing assaults.” When they arrived on the scene, cops met “a hostile group, requiring additional officers to safely investigate.”
At about 10:30 p.m., officers responded to the report of the truck driver’s accident. “The report said protesters were chasing the truck before it crashed, and they assaulted the driver after the crash. Officers [encountered] a hostile crowd and a squad from the Rapid Response Team (RRT) responded to help secure the scene while the investigation was underway.”
“The driver was transported to the hospital by ambulance with serious injuries. The incident is under investigation and no arrests have been made,” police noted.
The New York Post caught the words the truck driver said as the antifa mob descended upon him after the crash. “I ain’t tryna hurt no one,” the driver said. “I was trying to get out the way.”
Even so, the antifa rioters jeered, called him the N-word, and punched him in the face. It seems the driver had no intention of driving over the rioters, but they seemed intent on delivering a form of “street” justice based on the idea that he was a white supremacist out to kill them.
If the antifa “SECURITY” thug’s behavior represents the rioters’ vision for a post-police future, that future seems dark indeed. As for “police brutality,” was it not brutal for the “SECURITY” thug to kick the man in the face while he was down? Was it not brutal for him to harass and terrify the transgender bystander, stealing his belongings driving him to contemplate suicide?
If antifa is to replace the police in the name of fighting police brutality, perhaps the rioters should hold themselves to higher standards.
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member