VIDEOS show Antifa attacking bus, cornering right-wing protesters as Portland rally turns violent
Footage has emerged of several violent attacks by Antifa on right-wing demonstrators in Portland, Oregon. The new clashes come as US President Trump threatened to designated the left-wing movement as an “organization of terror.”
Scuffles have broken out in Portland after left-wing counter protesters gathered in large numbers on Saturday, drawn by the rally of the right-wing Proud Boys, which the Antifa consider neo-fascist.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 Antifa has major CLASH with Proud Boys on Portland bridge in traffic
A serious assault took place on PB’s after they busted the door of the bus, they also threw a metal hammer at them.
I also got pepper sprayed in the face with many others. Sorry for language pic.twitter.com/UwRsY4qq6G
— Elijah Schaffer S.O. (@ElijahSchaffer) August 17, 2019
Videos showed masked protesters attacking two buses with right-wing demostrators. One skirmish saw “antifascists” smashing a door and throwing a hammer into the salon of one of the buses and then chasing away the vehicle with rocks. A hooded man is also seen using a pepper spray on the interior of the bus.
Another disturbing, if less violent attack shows an underage girl and a man sporting a Spartan helmet and white T-shirt emblazoned with words “I hate The Left and racism” being cornered by a crowd of left-wing demonstrators after getting separated from the right-wing rally. A video shows the two being surrounded, doused by water and chased while the crowd chants “Go away.”
Another set of videos showed a middle-age man lying motionless on the ground with a woman kneeling beside him. The woman appears to be shielding the man while trading insults with the left-wing activists, who call her a “crazy b*ch.” She is then seen helping the dazed and apparently injured man walk through the parking lot as riot police watch on, not intervening. The female angrily rejects an offer of help from another man. Reports on social media claim that the man was beaten and maced by Antifa. The footage has been shared by conservative blogger and journalist Andy Ngo, who himself was beaten and doused with milkshakes at a Proud Boys rally in June.
In another unsettling episode, a black-clad man was filmed wresting away a US flag from an elderly protester, whose face and clothes are smeared with what appears to be a milkshake. The masked man then throws away the flag to the cheers and applause from the crowd.
As tensions flared up, Portland police have declared civil disturbance as the crowds were ignoring orders urging them against blocking the streets near Pioneer Courthouse Square. At least 13 people have been arrested so far, police spokeswoman Lt. Tina Jones said.
Five persons have been evaluated by medics, including one who had to be taken to hospital for further checks. All the injuries are believed to be minor, Jones said. An estimated 1,200 people showed up at the rally’s peak, according to the police numbers.
Tensions were running high ahead of the rally, with police saying they confiscated metal poles, bear spray, shields and other weapons. In attempt to prevent the rival groups from squaring off with each other, police erected concert barriers and cordoned off the streets and bridges.
As Portland was bracing itself for the showdown between the rival groups, Donald Trump added fuel to the fire, throwing his weight behind the idea of officially labelling Antifa an “organization of terror.” While the idea is not new, having previously been pushed by Republican lawmakers, the US law lacks a mechanism that would allow it to recognize a domestic entity a terrorist organization. Currently, only foreign groups can be designated as such.
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