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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"
dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/19/the-proud-boys-take-over-the-streets-of-portland-oregon/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/19/the-proud-boys-take-over-the-streets-of-portland-oregon/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">The Proud Boys Take Over the
Streets of Portland, Oregon</h1>
<span class="post_author_intro">by</span> <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/howard-lisnoff/"
rel="nofollow">Howard Lisnoff</a> - August 19, 2019</span></div>
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<p>Antifa marches at Trump’s inauguration and the
condemnation is almost universal, including from
some on the political Left. No one is harmed, but
initially charges are brought against Antifa.</p>
<p>The <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proud_Boys"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Proud
Boys</a>, a neo-fascist, far-right group march in
Portland, Oregon (an “unpermitted” march), although
they have committed acts of violence, and they are
allowed a presence on the streets.</p>
<p>Now, just what part of the First Amendment are
officials in Oregon missing? Hate speech is
permissible, but hate speech leading to violent acts
is not. The Proud Boys marched on and they drew
other far-right hate groups with them as always
happens at these marches.</p>
<p>Look at these “very fine people” as pictured in
the <em>Guardian </em>(<a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/17/portland-oregon-far-right-rally-proud-boys-antifa?CMP=share_btn_link"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Portland
rally: Proud Boys vow to march each month after
biggest protest of Trump era,” </a><em>Guardian</em>,
August 17, 2019). Good pictures are worth a
thousand words and those words are
supplemented because counter-protesters far
outnumbered the Proud Boys, from whom they were
carefully segregated. Horrifying as the rally was,
and crucial to the far-right’s dangerous growth, the
Hater-In-Chief, Trump tweeted on the day of the
right-wing rally that he was considering
categorizing Antifa as a terror group. How many
people have been killed by Antifa?: 0. How many
have been killed by white supremacy and Naziism?
Hundreds of millions, with about <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties">70-85
million</a> killed during World War II alone!</p>
<p>How many anti-fascists who marched against racism
and hate in Oregon were simply against hate and
willing to put themselves on the streets against
that hate and belonged to no group in particular?
Many, many!</p>
<p>Besides hate having its day on the streets once
again, Trump repeats his vicious and
violence-inducing rhetoric that has given violent
groups across the US the chance to not only gain
credibility, but grow their numbers and develop a
sense of empowerment that casts them as rightful
players in the political system. If this isn’t
reminiscent of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany,
with his tens of millions murdered, then what is?</p>
<p>Former FBI agent Michael German, interviewed on <em>NPR </em>following
the far-right Charlottesville, Virginia riot,
accurately depicts those hate groups at that riot
and how police and Trump responded to the
rightwing’s murderous rampage (<a
href="https://www.npr.org/2017/08/15/543583533/hate-groups-core-has-changed-little-over-the-years-ex-fbi-agent-says"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Hate
Groups’ Core Changed Little Over The Years, Ex-FBI
Agent Says,” </a> <em>NPR</em>, August 15, 2017).</p>
<p>Here’s a key segment of the German <em>NPR</em>interview:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>GERMAN: Well, that disavowal [Trump’s] was very
reluctant and late. And the white supremacist
groups got the message from that, that this is
sanctioned. But more important is that the police
in these cases – and Charlottesville isn’t the
first one. They were two in Berkeley. There was
one in Sacramento and in Huntington Beach, Calif.
– are policing these protests very differently,
where they’re allowing violence and these running
street battles to happen. And that is – that,
again, is a state sanctioning of this kind of
violence that gives – that makes them far more
dangerous.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p> <em><strong>Howard Lisnoff</strong> is a freelance
writer. He is the author of Against the Wall: Memoir
of a Vietnam-Era War Resister (2017).</em> </p>
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<font size="-2">________________________________________________________________________________<br>
<a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://theintercept.com/2019/08/16/portland-far-right-rally/">https://theintercept.com/2019/08/16/portland-far-right-rally/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Riotlandia: Why Portland Has Become the
Epicenter of Far-Right Violence</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">Arun Gupta - August 16, 2019</div>
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<p><span><u>Portland, Oregon is</u> bracing for a storm
of far-right violence. In July, Joe Biggs, a </span><a
href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-war-inside-infowars"><span>former
staffer</span></a><span> at the far-right
conspiracist site Infowars announced an “</span><a
href="https://www.facebook.com/events/330882521120737/?active_tab=discussion"><span>End
Domestic Terrorism</span></a><span>” rally in
Portland this Saturday. Its aim: the </span><a
href="https://rosecityantifa.org/articles/2019-8-17/"><span>local
antifa</span></a><span> movement.</span></p>
<p><span>Biggs, who’s </span><a
href="https://www.mediamatters.org/right-side-broadcasting/new-host-unofficial-version-trump-tv-encouraged-date-rape-and-punching"><span>encouraged
date rape and punching transgender people</span></a><span>,
told followers on </span><a
href="https://rosecityantifa.org/articles/2019-8-17/"><span>Twitter</span></a><span>
to bring guns, declared “DEATH TO ANTIFA!!!!!!”,
displayed a </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/Johnnthelefty/status/1157872808707235841"><span>spiked
weapon</span></a><span> saying that it “will be
put to good use,” and posted memes about death
squads murdering leftists before his account was
suspended.</span></p>
<p><span>The “End Antifa” rally organizers include
Enrique Tarrio, </span><a
href="https://heavy.com/news/2018/11/enrique-tarrio/"><span>chair</span></a><span> of
the </span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/nyregion/proud-boys-trial-gavin-mcinnes.html"><span>violence-prone</span></a><span>
Proud Boys, which is designated as a </span><a
href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys"><span>general
hate group</span></a><span> by the Southern
Poverty Law Center, and “Rufio Panman,” the alias of
Ethan Nordean, a brawny street fighter whose
knockout punch of an antifascist in Portland in June
2018 was used as a </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/14/proud-boys-far-right-portland-oregon"><span>recruiting
tool for the Proud Boys</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>This week’s rally was called after right-wing </span><a
href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/andy-ngo-portland-antifa"><span>media
personality and provocateur</span></a><span> Andy
Ngo was attacked in Portland on June 29 while
filming a Patriot Prayer rally heavily outnumbered
by antifa. A </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/Jimryan015/status/1145067852375851008"><span>video</span></a><span>
shows him being punched, kicked, and hit with </span><a
href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/06/30/26731412/portland-police-offer-no-proof-that-protesters-had-milkshakes-with-quick-dry-cement"><span>coconut
milkshakes and silly string</span></a><span> by
masked individuals. </span></p>
</div>
<blockquote data-reactid="208">
<p><span>Portland has joined Berkeley, New York,
Charlottesville, and Seattle </span><span>as liberal
cities that have become flash points for far-right
violence since Donald Trump took office</span>.</p>
</blockquote>
<div data-reactid="210">
<p><span>Since then, social media has erupted with
dozens of graphic, deadly, and specific threats from
the far right to “</span><a
href="https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1146188483339464706"><span>shoot
to kill antifa</span></a><span>.” A gun scope was
superimposed over a </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/egoldmanrevolt/status/1153459971910242306"><span>photo</span></a><span>
of two Portland activists with the words “End
Domestic Terrorist’s.” In another image, a
knife-wielding hand bloodily slashes the throat of
an individual labeled “Rose City Antifa,” one of the
oldest antifascist organizations in the country. </span></p>
<p><span>Portland has joined </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/15/police-pro-trump-berkeley-leftwing-activists-court-case"><span>Berkeley</span></a><span>,
</span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/23/nyregion/gavin-mcinnes-proud-boys-nypd.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes"><span>New
York</span></a><span>, </span><a
href="https://theintercept.com/2017/09/21/gavin-mcinnes-alt-right-proud-boys-richard-spencer-charlottesville/"><span>Charlottesville</span></a><span>,
and </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/04/man-shot-milo-yiannopoulos-protest-seattle-trump-interview"><span>Seattle</span></a><span>
as liberal cities that have become flash points for
far-right violence since Donald Trump took office in
2017. But Portland is unique in that the far right
has turned the city into a regular battleground. </span></p>
<p><span>Why Portland? The city presents a unique mix of
past and present white nationalism; policing that
enables the far right; weak political leaders; and a
legacy of antifascist organizing. Combined, these
elements allow the far right to stage violent
spectacles with few legal consequences against their
ideological enemies — antifa, liberals, so-called PC
culture, cities — while using social media to
glorify the violence as a recruiting tool and proof
of their racial and masculine virility.</span></p>
</div>
<div data-reactid="213">
<p><u>It starts with</u><span> Oregon’s history. The
state was envisioned </span><a
href="https://gizmodo.com/oregon-was-founded-as-a-racist-utopia-1539567040"><span>as
a white utopia</span></a><span> and barred black
people from residency until 1926. To this day,
Portland is the whitest big city in America, with a
</span><a
href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/portlandcityoregon/BZA115216"><span>population</span></a><span>
that is 77 percent white and less then 6 percent
black, and that racial homogeneity has proved for
decades to be fertile recruiting ground for racist
hate groups.</span></p>
<p><span>Joseph Lowndes, associate professor of
political science at University of Oregon and
co-author of “Producers, Parasites, Producers: Race
and the New Right-Wing Politics of Precarity,” said
that “in the 1980s, for groups like Tom Metzger’s
White Aryan Resistance, Portland was a choice spot
for their ‘10 percent strategy.’ That meant if the
city was 10 percent or less people of color, the far
right could organize working-class whites there as
they believed they wouldn’t meet much resistance.” </span></p>
<p><span>Oregon currently has a </span><a
href="https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2018/02/oregon_plays_prominent_role_in.html"><span>disproportionate
number of hate groups</span></a><span> and
militias, while in the broader Pacific Northwest,
many far-right groups participated in and were
energized by the </span><a
href="https://theintercept.com/2017/12/22/cliven-bundy-case-ranch-standoff-fbi/"><span>Bundy
family’s armed takeover</span></a><span> of the
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon
in early 2016.</span><span><br>
</span></p>
<p><span>Speaking of the massive brawls in Portland,
Lowndes said, “There is another legacy of the
anti-authoritarian left, anarchists, and
anti-fascists who also since the 1980s have been a
militant street-oriented left.”</span></p>
</div>
<div data-reactid="224">
<p><span>That’s where the police come in. As the far
right has turned Portland into a battleground nearly
a dozen times since 2017, local journalists have
revealed how police affinity for the far right has
enabled its violence.</span></p>
<p><span>Internal documents obtained by the Willamette
Week, Portland Mercury, and The Guardian reveal that
Portland police see the far right as “</span><a
href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2018/06/27/portland-police-saw-right-wing-protesters-as-much-more-mainstream-than-leftist-ones/"><span>much
more mainstream</span></a><span>” than the left.
Text messages between a police lieutenant and
Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson, who’s been hit
with </span><a
href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/joey-gibson-criminal-charges-cider-riot/"><span>felony
riot charges</span></a><span>, show that the </span><a
href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/02/14/25885836/texts-show-protective-relationship-between-portland-cops-and-patriot-prayer"><span>police
fed him real-time information</span></a><span>
about the movements of antifa during street
skirmishes, and gave him advice on how his most
notorious brawler, Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, could </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/01/exclusive-video-shows-portland-officers-made-deal-with-far-right-group-leader"><span>avoid
being arrested</span></a><span> on two separate
occasions. In June 2017, when </span><a
href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/08/portland-alt-right-milita-police-dhs-arrest-protester/"><span>The
Intercept</span></a><span> asked the police about
Toese, a spokesperson claimed that they didn’t know
who he was and said their real concern was about the
actions of antifascist counterprotesters. </span></p>
<p><span>There’s more. Portland police </span><a
href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/07/31/portland-police-launched-a-criminal-investigation-after-joey-gibson-complained-about-an-antifascist-demonstrator/"><span>launched
a criminal investigation</span></a><span> against
an activist based on material provided by Gibson.
And during an extremist rally on August 4, 2018,
police discovered </span><a
href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2018/10/15/23710274/members-of-patriot-prayer-brought-loaded-firearms-to-roof-before-august-protest"><span>Patriot
Prayer members with loaded guns on a garage
rooftop directly overlooking the protest</span></a><span>.
The police let them go and didn’t inform anyone for
</span><a
href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2018/10/15/23710274/members-of-patriot-prayer-brought-loaded-firearms-to-roof-before-august-protest"><span>two
months</span></a><span>, </span><a
href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2018/10/armed_protesters_were_on_portl.html"><span>including
Mayor Ted Wheeler</span></a><span>, who serves as
police commissioner. In the Portland metro area,
there are cops who are </span><a
href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/06/27/report-shows-portland-police-officer-had-posted-in-extremist-facebook-groups-promoting-islamophobia-and-anti-government-paramilitary-organizations/"><span>Islamophobes,</span></a><span>
an Immigration and Customs Enforcement private
prison that </span><a
href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/06/25/ice-contractor-cuts-ties-with-vancouver-proud-boy/"><span>employed
a Proud Boy</span></a><span>,</span><span> and a </span><a
href="https://www.columbian.com/news/2018/jul/20/clark-county-sheriffs-deputy-fired-proud-boys-sweatshirt/"><span>sheriff’s
deputy</span></a><span> affiliated with the Proud
Boys as well. All of which fits a national pattern
of </span><a
href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/31/the-fbi-has-quietly-investigated-white-supremacist-infiltration-of-law-enforcement/"><span>white
supremacists infiltrating law enforcement</span></a><span>.</span></p>
</div>
<div data-reactid="227">
<p><u>When it comes</u><span> to left-wing protests, the
bias comes into sharp focus. On June 4, 2017, police
unleashed less lethal weapons on leftists, </span><a
href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2018/05/portland_police_oversight_repo.html"><span>illegally
kettled nearly 400 people</span></a><span>,
recorded their IDs, and </span><a
href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2018/05/31/city-review-reveals-portland-police-did-not-delete-photos-of-protesters-ids-despite-promises-to-do-so/"><span>retained
the information</span></a><span> despite
assurances that they wouldn’t. The </span><a
href="https://www.aclu-or.org/en/sunday%E2%80%99s-protests-portland-were-trial-first-amendment-and-policing"><span>American
Civil Liberties Union of Oregon</span></a><span>
said of the incident, “N</span><span>o other police
force in America uses crowd control weapons with the
regularity of the Portland Police Bureau.”</span></p>
<p><span>Just over a year later, on August 4, 2018, the
police launched an </span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/04/patriot-prayer-to-carry-guns-at-portland-rally-as-fears-of-violence-rise"><span>unprovoked
assault</span></a><span> against peaceful
protesters, </span><a
href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/portland-protester-wounded-by-police-i-thought-i-was-going-to-die?ref=author"><span>nearly
killing one</span></a><span> when a flashbang
grenade punctured his helmet, resulting in a brain
hemorrhage. And on May 1 this year, 20 Patriot
Prayer members led by Gibson and accompanied by Ngo
</span><a
href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/08/07/26934813/portland-police-arrest-right-wing-protester-for-may-day-assault-at-cider-riot"><span>attacked
antifascists at a ba</span></a><span>r, fracturing
the vertebrae of one woman (whose </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/antifada161/status/1145199931902189568"><span>name
was released by Ngo</span></a><span>, leading to
threats of violence against her, according to her
friends). The bar owner claimed that it took police
an </span><a
href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-abram-goldman-armstrong-cider-riot-attorney-patriot-prayer-lawsuit/"><span>hour
to respond</span></a><span> despite numerous
emergency calls. The police released a </span><a
href="https://katu.com/news/local/portland-police-defend-response-time-to-may-day-fight-in-northeast-portland"><span>lengthy
statement</span></a><span> seeking to justify why
they didn’t respond until after the fight had ended
despite knowledge of the attack as it was happening.</span></p>
<p><span>After Ngo was attacked in June, the Portland
police tweeted out </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/portlandpolice/status/1145106839618502656"><span>disinformation</span></a><span>
that coconut milkshakes being handed out by
antifascists were laced with concrete. </span><a
href="https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-ingraham/how-conservative-figures-turned-flimsy-rumor-about-concrete-milkshakes-portland-meme"><span>Conspiracists</span></a><span>
like Jack Posobiec helped the tweet go viral; it was
</span><a
href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/how-a-dubious-claim-of-cement-milkshakes-in-portland-became-a-right-wing-meme/"><span>turned
into fact</span></a><span> by right-wing media,
treated as </span><a
href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/06/30/26731412/portland-police-offer-no-proof-that-protesters-had-milkshakes-with-quick-dry-cement"><span>credible</span></a><span>
by mainstream media, and incited angry right-wingers
to </span><a
href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/07/15/26808599/activists-calls-on-city-to-retract-inflammatory-milkshake-tweet"><span>deluge
antifascists with death threats</span></a><span>.
Days later, Portland City Hall was evacuated after a
</span><a
href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/07/portland-city-hall-evacuated-due-to-report-of-bomb-threat.html"><span>bomb
threat</span></a><span>, possibly related to the
incident.</span></p>
<p><span>Police bias against the left is </span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/nyregion/nypd-proud-boys-protests.html"><span>nothing
unusual</span></a><span> in America. The
difference is that Portland lacks a counterbalance.
Following the June 4, 2017, rally, someone who
worked closely with Wheeler told me, “The mayor’s
office is scared of the police.” The source
explained that inside the police control center that
day, police said not to interfere with tactics even
when members of the mayor’s staff said “that looks
like excessive use of force.”</span></p>
</div>
<blockquote data-reactid="228">
<p>“The mayor’s office is scared of the police.”</p>
</blockquote>
<div data-reactid="230">
<p><span>“There’s fear inside of the mayor’s office
[that] if they pushed on the police, there would be
a police slowdown or strike,” the source said.
“Within the police department, there are
institutional biases toward Patriot Prayer and white
supremacy.” </span></p>
<p>Eileen Park, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office,
said, “Those allegations are false. The Mayor’s Office
has always respected and supported the work done by
the members of the Portland Police Bureau,” adding
that “they are true professionals and can always be
relied upon to do the right thing to protect our
city.”</p>
<p><span>Contrast this with New York City. When 10 </span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/nyregion/proud-boys-trial-gavin-mcinnes.html"><span>Proud
Boys assaulted</span></a><span> antifascists in
Manhattan last October, police “stood by doing
nothing,” </span><a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/nyregion/nypd-proud-boys-protests.html"><span>according
to the New York Times</span></a><span>, and failed
to arrest any of them. But in a city that is
majority minority and home to more than 3 million
immigrants, politicians were </span><a
href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/nypd-looks-to-charge-9-proud-boys-with-assault-for-manhattan-fight"><span>swift
to blast the police inaction</span></a><span>,
forcing the New York Police Department to start
identifying suspects and making arrests. </span></p>
<p><span>In Portland, however, political cowardice is
the rule. </span><span><a
href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/02/20/portland-police-built-a-convincing-case-against-tusitala-tiny-toese-for-a-june-2018-assault-but-prosecutors-didnt-take-it-to-court/">Evidence
indicates</a> that</span><span> the Multnomah
County District Attorney, which has jurisdiction
over Portland, has been as lax in prosecuting
far-right lawbreakers as police have been in
arresting them. It’s not because the office doesn’t
know who they are: Antifacist researchers in
Portland have </span><a
href="https://twitter.com/identifypdx/status/1160414066696830977"><span>identified
dozens of right-wing extremists</span></a><span>
who instigated and participated in streets fights on
June 30, 2018, including Tarrio, the current Proud
Boys leader. More than a year later, not one of
those identified has been arrested in conjunction
with that rally. And Tarrio appears so unconcerned
about arrest that he is listed as a leader of
Saturday’s rally. </span></p>
</div>
<div data-reactid="240">
<p><span>Media coverage hasn’t helped. Other than the
alternative weeklies and The Guardian, reporting on
the far right has been “both-sidesism” at best and
cringeworthy at worst. The editorial board of The
Oregonian, the main daily newspaper, has castigated
anarchists as “</span><a
href="http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2017/05/is_portland_done_with_punk_fas.html"><span>punk
fascists</span></a><span>” over relatively minor
property damage (revealing that no one there
apparently knows the history or definition of
fascism), while allowing one of its columnists to
act as a </span><a
href="https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2018/10/elizabethhovde_the_misundersto.html"><span>useful
idiot</span></a><span> for Gibson by calling him a
“modern-day prophet” preaching “love” and “unity.”</span><span><br>
</span></p>
<p><span>Lowndes said the problem of silence about the
far right is pervasive in the state. “There has been
nothing coming from the legislature, the governor’s
office, congressional representatives,” he said.
“It’s a white political culture that has a high
tolerance for far-right and white nationalist
organizing, and seems reluctant to address it for
fear of alienating conservative voters.”</span></p>
<p><span>If violence is averted in Portland, it may be
because of the white nationalist who allegedly
massacred 22 people in an anti-Hispanic rampage in
El Paso earlier this month. That appears to have
motivated the FBI to visit </span><a
href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/08/will-proud-boys-antifa-showdown-mark-a-tipping-point-for-portland.html"><span>Biggs</span></a><span>,
who then reportedly said that </span><span>“he wants
a peaceful demonstration and has told his followers
to keep their weapons at home.” </span></p>
<p><a
href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/08/07/far-right-brawler-ian-kramer-arrested-for-felony-assault-and-other-crimes-for-may-day-attack-at-cider-riot/"><span>Days
after the El Paso shooting</span></a><span>,
police began arresting </span><a
href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/08/15/patriot-prayer-leader-joey-gibson-will-face-criminal-charges-in-may-day-riot-his-lawyer-says/"><span>Gibson
and five members</span></a><span> of his band for
attacking antifascists at a bar in May, despite the
fact that their faces and actions had been public
for more than three months. This week, the leader of
the Oath Keepers announced that his </span><a
href="https://oathkeepers.org/2019/08/oath-keepers-will-not-be-participating-in-the-august-17-rally-in-portland-or/"><span>Northwest
militia was quitting the rally,</span></a><span> citing
as one reason the work of antifascist researchers
compiling violent threats.</span></p>
<p><span>Kristian Williams, author of “Our Enemies in
Blue: Police and Power in America,” said, “If this
crackdown is in response to El Paso, this fits a
pattern of police giving latitude to right-wing
violence until a threshold is crossed. The violence
is allowed to go on much longer and cause much
greater damage than would ever be allowed on the
left.”</span></p>
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