A massive caravan of about 600 trucks drove by Portland on Saturday night as supporters of President Donald Trump protested against the antifa and Black Lives Matter riots on the streets of the Rose City. As some of the Trump supporters drove through downtown Portland, an unidentified suspect shot and killed a man likely connected to the protest. After the man’s death, antifa rioters appeared to celebrate. One woman even declared, “I am not sad that a f***ing Fascist died tonight!”
“Our community can hold its own without the police. We can take out the trash on our own!” a woman holding a bullhorn shouted at an antifa gathering.
“I am not sad that a f***ing Fascist died tonight,” she added, to loud cheers and applause.
The deceased man’s identity remains unknown, but rioters found Patriot Prayer insignia on his clothing, along with a Thin Blue Line patch. As Andy Ngo, editor-at-large at The Post Millennial, tweeted, the victim is believed to have been a Trump and Blue Lives Matter supporter.
“I am not sad that a f—ing fascist died tonight,” says a woman at the antifa gathering in downtown Portland. The crowd laughs and cheers. The ID of the deceased is not confirmed but he is believed to be a Trump & blue lives supporter. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/XV6471FSuF
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 30, 2020
“And tonight, I just got word, the person who died was a Patriot Prayer truck person. He was a f***ing Nazi,” the woman added.
“He was a f—ing Nazi! Our community held its own.”
Antifa & BLM in Portland celebrate the homicide of a purported Trump supporter who was affiliated with Patriot Prayer, a Portland-area conservative group. pic.twitter.com/xjIWk0KHN2
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 30, 2020
Trump Demands Wheeler Ask for Guard After Antifa Counter-Protester Murdered In Portland
Footage of the shooting appears to catch a man shouting, “Here, we got one over here! We got a Trump supporter here,” seconds before the gunman opens fire.
It sounds like someone is shouting, “We got a Trumper right here” just before the shots are fired and the man is killed. pic.twitter.com/MMCnp5iwtj
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 30, 2020
“Portland Police officers heard sounds of gunfire from the area of Southeast 3rd Avenue and Southwest Alder Street. They responded and located a victim with a gunshot wound to the chest. Medical responded and determined that the victim was deceased,” the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement.
Ngo noted that after antifa rioters found out “that it was a ‘blue lives matter’ supporter who was killed, antifa in Portland are very happy. They’re dancing and chanting now.”
After finding out that it was a "blue lives matter" supporter who was killed, antifa in Portland are very happy. They're dancing and chanting now. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/PeqyVUXfNE
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 30, 2020
The gunman opened fire after antifa rioters lobbed items at the trucks of Trump supporters as they drove through Portland. The Trump supporters reportedly responded with mace and paintballs.
As for accusations of “Fascist” and “Nazi,” antifa rioters appear to assign these labels almost at random in order to harass anyone who might stand in their way. One video seems to show a man blocking rioters from entering a store, ostensibly to loot it. Rioters mob him, and one person shouts, “He’s a Nazi!” as justification for attacking him.
“He’s a Nazi!”
Antifa mob assault a man who tried to stop them from breaking inside the petrol station in downtown Portland. They randomly call him a Nazi to incite the mob to violence. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/gbjxsqYvkK
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 30, 2020
Chickens Coming Home to Roost? Portland Mob Shines Strobe Lights Into Ted Wheeler’s Condo at Night
Last week, Mayor Ted Wheeler (D-Portland) released an open letter to President Donald Trump, declining the president’s offer to send federal law enforcement to help protect Portland from rioters. He proceeded to blame Trump for the looting, vandalism, and arson.
“There is no place for looting, arson, or vandalism in our city. There is no room here for racist violence or those who wish to bring their ideology of hate into our community. Those who commit criminal acts will be apprehended and prosecuted under the law,” he wrote, as if violent riots had not continued for 92 nights under his watch and as if federal law enforcement, not antifa, were the cause of violence on the streets of Portland.
As PJ Media’s Rick Moran reported, Trump called on Wheeler to reverse course after the Trump supporter died on Saturday night.
Antifa activists also apparently spread a false report that a black man had been shot. False reports of police shootings of black men inspired riots in Chicago and Minneapolis last week.
During the Black Lives Matter looting and riots in Kenosha, Wisc., 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot three rioters, killing two, apparently in self-defense. Rittenhouse appears to have gone to Kenosha heavily armed with the intent to protect property, and he reportedly provided medical aid to rioters who had gotten hit with pepper spray earlier in the night. Left-leaning journalists and politicians have branded him a white supremacist, even though there was no evidence to support such a charge.
Rittenhouse should not have gone looking for trouble and the deaths of the rioters are tragic. It does not appear that Rittenhouse targeted his victims for their political affiliation, however, as seems to have happened in Portland last night.
These shootings should serve as a wake-up call for America, reminding citizens that violent rioting is dangerous and that law and order must be maintained. Americans broadly support police reforms to prevent horrific deaths like those of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The most effective police reforms are local, and both conservatives and liberals should work to make them a reality. Defunding or abolishing police will only make this lawlessness worse.
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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