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href="https://www.facebook.com/walidah.imarisha.7?__cft__[0]=AZXPox_Rflc4YxbqNx7wrhmScApjIQ0b_BFMFA-ZXPWSz8wU2xkyrb3USAdxY4gHcI_lBn5YBCVw7CARakKnsNTTtEiUOrVYKqOyNFkMZfXna268Qo_cksZ5LRIAD53JuuTp7zSbhaLBbZRSdwOgGRO2hCNP0Qj5efkDP76Jord5ew&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R"
                  role="link" tabindex="0"><strong><span>Walidah
                      Imarisha</span></strong></a></span></h4>
            <p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.facebook.com/walidah.imarisha.7">https://www.facebook.com/walidah.imarisha.7</a></p>
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                  bipmatt0 cebpdrjk qowsmv63 owwhemhu dp1hu0rb dhp61c6y
                  iyyx5f41"><span>February 23, 2022</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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      <div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc ihqw7lf3 dati1w0a"
        data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message"
        id="jsc_c_j7">
        <div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg">
          <div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz
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              <div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">For those who
                  don’t know, or don’t know the whole story, Saturday
                  night Feb. 19, a white supremacist fascist mass
                  shooter opened fire at an anti-police brutality
                  demonstration/vigil here in Portland, murdering one
                  person, seriously injuring four others. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">I want to
                  share info because the story put forward by
                  authorities and the press has been a clear concerted
                  effort to continue the criminalization and targeting
                  of Black communities and those who protest and fight
                  for justice.</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Justice for
                  Patrick Kimmons, the organization that hosted the
                  event, went live on insta Monday night - you can watch
                  here: <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f
                      esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9
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                      hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso
                      i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl gpro0wi8
                      py34i1dx"
href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CaQ9_0nBLSq/?utm_medium=copy_link&fbclid=IwAR2g3JlVNCMf0aFow7YL8OX3pH5gVJViFnRJgFdsxyNCXtB8HtHjVoRXrEs"
                      rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"
                      target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/tv/CaQ9_0nBLSq/...</a></span></div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Keep up with
                  them on fb or Instagram – they said they will be
                  returning to regular demos/vigils soon.</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">If you want
                  to donate to the victims and their families, here is
                  the gofundme link: <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1
                      qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv
                      nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8
                      oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9
                      a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl
                      gpro0wi8 py34i1dx"
href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with-portland?utm_campaign=p_cp%20share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer&fbclid=IwAR3hh_UZrqvSo2wU3K-lwtDQLqsw8dzPy7AOuUcN1bKkd_4wtlHyEYG3qyU"
                      rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"
                      target="_blank">https://www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with-portland...</a><br>
                  </span></div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                  <span></span></div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The event,
                  hosted by Justice for Patrick Kimmons, is part of an
                  ongoing years-long Black-led vigil/demonstration space
                  to get justice for Patrick Kimmons, a 27-year-old
                  Black man murdered by Portland police in 2018. It is
                  led by his mother, Letha Winston, an incredible
                  community organizer and leader. The demo Saturday was
                  to fight for justice for Patrick Kimmons, for Amir
                  Locke, for Daunte Wright, tying together the local
                  history/present of resistance to police murdering
                  Black people with the national movements in support of
                  Black lives. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">All of this
                  is what I know and have learned from eyewitness
                  reports and continuing research (I wasn’t there, but
                  wanted to share as much of a counternarrative to my
                  community as possible):</div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">JFPK is a
                  longstanding march/vigil happening weekly for years
                  started and led by Patrick’s mother. It is a space
                  created and held out of Black love and resistance. It
                  is a space rooted in Portland’s Black community and
                  its continuous and nonstop resistance to the
                  anti-Blackness structural violence here. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Before the
                  march began, 43-year-old Ben Smith approached four
                  unarmed women doing traffic safety (stopping traffic
                  so the march can cross streets safely). They were
                  around the corner and about a block away from where
                  others had gathered. Smith menaced and yelled at them,
                  calling them “violent terrorists,” said they were the
                  reasons for all the violence in Portland, called them
                  c*nts, then within a couple minutes, pulled out a gun
                  and shot multiple times, hitting them in multiple
                  places. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">He murdered
                  June Knightly, a 60 year-old white woman with a cane.
                  Knightly was a longstanding member of the Portland
                  activist community. She put her life on the line again
                  and again doing traffic safety, putting her body
                  between people asking for justice and those who would
                  destroy them. And apparently she did so courageously
                  again on Saturday night. One of the survivors said,
                  “Her name was June Knightly. She was a protector of
                  the innocent, an advocate for the vulnerable, a
                  beautiful person, and my dear friend. She died putting
                  herself between a dangerous man and three unarmed
                  women, including me.”</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Two others
                  who were shot are in critical condition, and one is
                  paralyzed. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Multiple
                  reports have said the shooting only stopped when one
                  of the folks doing security for the march shot Smith,
                  stopping him before he could murder and injure anyone
                  else. At the writing of this, Smith is still in the
                  hospital in critical condition. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">This horrific
                  white supremacist mass shooting was followed by a
                  conspiracy of support by the police, city government,
                  and local media (which national media parroted in the
                  scant articles they wrote about it). <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Over and over
                  again it was framed as a “confrontation” between “an
                  armed homeowner” and “armed protestors.” The “both
                  sides” framing allows responsibility to be partially
                  shifted to the people marching, rather than calling it
                  was it was, an unprovoked attack on a peaceful
                  gathering. Calling him a “neighbor” and worse
                  “homeowner” is a racist and classist frame that codes
                  him as a white man protecting his property and
                  neighborhood from invading rabble (Police chief Chuck
                  Lovell later said it was an unintentional “mistake” to
                  mislabel him as a homeowner). Media said Smith had no
                  political affiliation – more on that later but
                  absolutely false, and a blatant attempt to deny the
                  real motivations of this white supremacist. The
                  government and media continue to frame it as part of
                  the “tragic wave of gun violence” happening here in
                  Portland, which is racially coded language, and a
                  clear attempt to blame the Black community for this
                  attack, and to blame the larger defund/abolish police
                  movement when that couldn’t be farther from the truth
                  (the police’s behavior in this instance couldn’t more
                  clearly indicate why they should be immediately
                  defunded and abolished).</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The facts:</div>
                <blockquote>
                  <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">- Ben Smith
                    was not a homeowner at all, and even if he was, that
                    had nothing to do with him leaving his house, going
                    down the street and murdering people who hadn’t
                    engaged with him at all</div>
                  <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">- He
                    collected and owned multiple guns (apparently
                    legally?) so any attempt to shift this to a
                    discussion of unregulated gun violence is a decoy</div>
                  <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">- He
                    attacked and murdered without provocation, even as
                    the traffic volunteers were trying to nonviolently
                    deescalate the situation</div>
                  <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">- He shot
                    people in the neck, in the face – this wasn’t firing
                    into the air to scare people, it was premeditated
                    murder and attempted murder. Smith shot to kill</div>
                  <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">- He has a
                    long history of white supremacist, fascist,
                    anti-gay, anti-Semitic, anti-homeless, anti-mask
                    sentiments as shown by his reddit account: <span><a
                        class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w
                        e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6
                        p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x
                        jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h
                        esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 py34i1dx"
href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FIGD_News%2Fstatus%2F1495956046908735492%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1lCSzxd4qqSXS4a6-BQs-3sW79esJjjDMxl2PxaPDVdXW6BXhd2T2bmqc&h=AT3zwDJYA_9eZkQw4TWtxn6my2LOG0JW3VWic8EYsDGW2899H8rOHuFhjGUekHBmVxMcptHPo-0YYi1nMsNqeOd2_xZmkFD23473rCM0i61H_jAfybv8k3vy6xOPYpee_8YiIWnER6YRWT4hi4ec&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1c0PfXYnAz00aCS9Yx-CpMzvU0PyYPNsYgd5BcznkmQKu9xQcgoz-nikKOvqG2oGnTZ417hKFArGktvLcbFFeLRRpSWoacUzJ14v3-Y3Npl38GJK71db2tMWbOkwIkyx2DccZHuMsqVytqImJdliEFPKQBuzPbZld80uEogIH2k9prGvfxB5Sl"
                        rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"
                        target="_blank">https://twitter.com/IGD_News/status/1495956046908735492</a></span></div>
                  <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">- The march
                    hadn’t even reached Smith’s house at all. It was
                    just the small group of traffic volunteers there in
                    preparation for the march coming by. Organizers of
                    the march said they were around the corner and down
                    the street, that they actually marched for less than
                    a minute before the shots were fired, had barely
                    left the sidewalk and hadn’t even started chanting
                    yet. The idea that Smith felt threatened or was
                    “protecting his home/community” is obviously asinine
                    on any level, but it even more so in this situation</div>
                </blockquote>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">There were so
                  many folks who saved lives that day, but all of them
                  were with the march - not a single one was with police
                  or government. Letha Winston called off the march the
                  minute shots were fired, stopping everyone before they
                  came close to him. The person doing security who
                  immobilized Smith saved countless lives, because who
                  knows how many more guns and bullets Smith would have
                  fired if he had been free to continue walking towards
                  the marchers. And street medics performed life-saving
                  aid for those shot, despite police interference and
                  harassment.</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Of course
                  that’s not the narrative told by Portland Police
                  Bureau (PPB), which from the instant it happened
                  seemed to be more intent on protecting Smith and
                  helping prepare his defense at trial than addressing
                  the people bleeding out on the street. PPB wouldn’t
                  even release his name or confirm if he was under
                  arrest or not. They did not even file charges against
                  until late Tuesday, Feb. 22 after immense outcry.
                  However, they did bring charges against the person who
                  stopped Smith’s rampage (though those were dropped
                  Feb. 22). The fact that the police charged the person
                  who stopped a white supremacist mass shooter days
                  before the mass shooter himself says everything you
                  need to know about the daily functioning and purpose
                  of police.</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">It wasn’t
                  police or even journalists who found out Smith’s name.
                  It was diligent and tireless independent researchers
                  and antifa investigators (and folks in the furry
                  community, which Smith had been pushed out of because
                  of his fascist racist statements – they have known he
                  would commit violence for years and tried multiple
                  times to sound the alarm: <span><a class="oajrlxb2
                      g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz
                      rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5
                      cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a
                      qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of
                      lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 py34i1dx"
href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fariadneconill%2Fstatus%2F1496175268179943427%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2vmrB4EfCphMKTpIQ4o0JapHRk7kyt4ib1RzNzgB5JP66Mn0ieopBRiKU&h=AT2Ge3YWqkMu4VFwTN9Owdf8U-MTJOY5qKD7Auo3njEAbkchyGZ1EsF8jVKEXI49Ksx8OERZYQIueqRICvGBT-jponi-eQEO6SVcjvp4xptt1A4oPHtH1XoDUXEreiYv-sIABM8bic8ZTdIBddbR&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1c0PfXYnAz00aCS9Yx-CpMzvU0PyYPNsYgd5BcznkmQKu9xQcgoz-nikKOvqG2oGnTZ417hKFArGktvLcbFFeLRRpSWoacUzJ14v3-Y3Npl38GJK71db2tMWbOkwIkyx2DccZHuMsqVytqImJdliEFPKQBuzPbZld80uEogIH2k9prGvfxB5Sl"
                      rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"
                      target="_blank">https://twitter.com/ariadneconill/status/1496175268179943427</a></span>
                  ) that not only found his name but very quickly found
                  mountains of evidence of his reactionary right wing
                  white supremacist beliefs, and his explicitly stated
                  desire to murder BLM activists and antifa. They even
                  found him speaking out in support of Kyle Rittenhouse,
                  clearly an inspiration for his horrific actions. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The only
                  reporting I’ve seen on this that has been worth
                  anything at all has been in the Portland Mercury, like
                  this story: <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1
                      qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv
                      nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8
                      oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9
                      a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl
                      gpro0wi8 py34i1dx"
href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.portlandmercury.com%2Fblogtown%2F2022%2F02%2F22%2F38645257%2Fsuspected-shooter-in-normandale-park-mass-shooting-identified%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1WCIkH-hjdxz8IcCgrPmy0hWhtwRc46mCiqB9Mnr6hogCU4xBsHsCHnVE&h=AT3RNHX2C-PiDaJksS8oj1uWpbraN6KDr0RIvO_WEwSQBq05Y0uA8dVFlqBVkEy-DoiaJtzFArisso4g5BmTZRxSUpR_c2YEu2Jy5-CJ20JKNN2XXuzF4rh0IKCXLT9YiWiwtKE0nchQzz_Au19C&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1c0PfXYnAz00aCS9Yx-CpMzvU0PyYPNsYgd5BcznkmQKu9xQcgoz-nikKOvqG2oGnTZ417hKFArGktvLcbFFeLRRpSWoacUzJ14v3-Y3Npl38GJK71db2tMWbOkwIkyx2DccZHuMsqVytqImJdliEFPKQBuzPbZld80uEogIH2k9prGvfxB5Sl"
                      rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"
                      target="_blank">https://www.portlandmercury.com/.../suspected-shooter-in...</a></span></div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">In this
                  article, the PPB spokesperson said, "Unfortunately,
                  not all cases are simple. In some, a determination has
                  to be made of who is a suspect and who is a victim.
                  Cases can be fluid, and as additional facts are
                  learned, who is a victim and who is a suspect can also
                  change."</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">I can’t
                  imagine a more blatantly brazen statement in light of
                  what has happened. In fact, the only people the police
                  have expressly blamed at this point are the person who
                  stopped Smith and the witnesses who refused to speak
                  to them and give information after the shooting. They
                  refused because they understood that the police are
                  there to provide cover and support for street level
                  white supremacist fascist violence, and that it is
                  inextricably linked to their institutional white
                  supremacist fascist violence. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">PPB’s false
                  narrative and the media’s perpetuation of it was so
                  awful, it apparently prompted one of the shooting
                  survivors to share their name and identity in a New
                  York Times article (which said without them, the story
                  would only include the PPB version, which is just
                  awful and abusive journalism) so the survivor could
                  tell the real story. They did this knowing it would
                  make them a target of reactionary right wing violence
                  and doxing. But telling the truth was more important
                  to them than their safety:</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><span><a
                      class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w
                      e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6
                      p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x
                      jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h
                      esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 py34i1dx"
href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fdontgetkettled%2Fstatus%2F1496389446605881344%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3hh_UZrqvSo2wU3K-lwtDQLqsw8dzPy7AOuUcN1bKkd_4wtlHyEYG3qyU&h=AT1-iJszAuzzhHiUppy6d6TA_yg0t5xjUdqQnAkGDdnmd-h-sgh7gTt7JFUhDSZqPML2rJrn6Sb5RVfeKYATQAIZwDVHnj7e1aQ-BRd_XYz4j0zFd6C6U8Lon2xLPh2VdS9371P27XQ4cGOy4Iaj&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1c0PfXYnAz00aCS9Yx-CpMzvU0PyYPNsYgd5BcznkmQKu9xQcgoz-nikKOvqG2oGnTZ417hKFArGktvLcbFFeLRRpSWoacUzJ14v3-Y3Npl38GJK71db2tMWbOkwIkyx2DccZHuMsqVytqImJdliEFPKQBuzPbZld80uEogIH2k9prGvfxB5Sl"
                      rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"
                      target="_blank">https://twitter.com/dontgetket.../status/1496389446605881344</a><br>
                  </span></div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                  <span></span></div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">And, of
                  course, Portland mayor Ted Wheeler has done nothing
                  but further the “both sides” lie and the racist “gun
                  violence” false narrative. Wheeler has spent years
                  providing cover for the brutal and continual police
                  attacks against protests, against communities of
                  color, against the houseless community, and more. He
                  has spent years criminalizing dissent. He, in fact,
                  explicitly refused to take accountability for inciting
                  violence during last year’s Black Lives Matter/anti
                  police brutality protests when he said, “let’s make
                  them hurt a little” about folks fighting for justice.
                  At a press conference after the mass shooting, Wheeler
                  was unapologetic and said he did not regret saying it.
                  Wheeler has spent years providing first tacit support
                  for reactionary right wing violence from groups like
                  the Proud Boys, and has time and time again given them
                  free reign to terrorize and brutalize Black and Brown
                  working class communities and the entire city. (This
                  is a more general thread of right wing violence
                  allowed in Portland: <span><a class="oajrlxb2
                      g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz
                      rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5
                      cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a
                      qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of
                      lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 py34i1dx"
href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FRoseCityAntifa%2Fstatus%2F1496250392916938754%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1x4ltzRJuciX8MChTnDqSBkSG8M5zQmLnmRIgqaRSXM9YmpFMVtxAhvy4&h=AT3Hjc7dagMGRwDHw-vXdOAPTArP1XELZoxta4CHci4YDgKWFHV23ZgGSehjRWWWg4lQStqtBkfGfi_JNc10mGt_jgwM5bkPo9HmUP-L9sSlfTPEZWbvXJr9VBAgHIOQ2kxnwBL0wQLgYQYZaj6_&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1c0PfXYnAz00aCS9Yx-CpMzvU0PyYPNsYgd5BcznkmQKu9xQcgoz-nikKOvqG2oGnTZ417hKFArGktvLcbFFeLRRpSWoacUzJ14v3-Y3Npl38GJK71db2tMWbOkwIkyx2DccZHuMsqVytqImJdliEFPKQBuzPbZld80uEogIH2k9prGvfxB5Sl"
                      rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0"
                      target="_blank">https://twitter.com/RoseCityAn.../status/1496250392916938754</a></span>)</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Wheeler’s
                  statements on the shooting didn’t even mention the
                  victims, didn’t offer condolences at all, didn’t even
                  acknowledge the murder and maiming. At his press
                  conference Tuesday, Feb. 22 (3 days after the
                  shooting), he said he had not spoken to any of the
                  victims or the victims’ families. He had already gone
                  into planning how to weaponize this attack against
                  protestors, against people fighting for justice,
                  against Black communities. Other city council members
                  and government officials, by and large, have just
                  continued these same racist narratives. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Tuesday Feb.
                  22 the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office
                  filed charges against Smith: one count of second
                  degree murder, four counts of attempted first degree
                  murder with a firearm, as well as four counts of
                  assault with a firearm. This is almost certainly and
                  almost solely because of footage shot by one of the
                  survivors that documented the attack. But the news
                  stories coming out after the charges are being filed
                  are slanted, with almost none mentioning his white
                  supremacist or fascist connections, or his previously
                  stated intent to murder BLM activists. They downplay
                  his aggressive threats, his verbal assaults, and
                  instead want to make sure we know that when Smith
                  physically attacked one of the volunteers, they pushed
                  him back, and then he started firing. Facts are not
                  objective, and when you leave out facts and include
                  others that skew the information, facts turn into
                  lies.</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">As someone
                  who has been in movements for decades, as someone who
                  helps to organize another monthly vigil in honor of a
                  young Black man murdered by Portland police (Justice
                  for Keaton Otis: <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1
                      qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv
                      nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8
                      oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9
                      a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl
                      gpro0wi8 q66pz984 b1v8xokw"
href="https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForKeatonOtis/?__cft__[0]=AZXPox_Rflc4YxbqNx7wrhmScApjIQ0b_BFMFA-ZXPWSz8wU2xkyrb3USAdxY4gHcI_lBn5YBCVw7CARakKnsNTTtEiUOrVYKqOyNFkMZfXna268Qo_cksZ5LRIAD53JuuTp7zSbhaLBbZRSdwOgGRO2hCNP0Qj5efkDP76Jord5ew&__tn__=kK-R"
                      role="link" tabindex="0"><span class="nc684nl6"><span>https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForKeatonOtis/</span></span></a></span>),
                  as someone who studies and teaches the racist history
                  of Oregon and the northwest, how we frame all of this
                  matters. It is literally life or death. This mass
                  shooting at a Black Lives Matter space, a space where
                  people gather to mourn the theft of precious Black
                  lives from our communities and demand there be no
                  more, could have happened anywhere. This collaboration
                  of individual white supremacist fascists working with
                  and being protected by police and government is
                  unfortunately not new and not geographic-specific. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">And also, the
                  fact that it happened here in Portland, in Oregon,
                  grows out of the history of this place’s founding as a
                  racist white utopia, out of its brutal exclusion of
                  Black people, out of its theft and destruction of
                  indigenous land and indigenous lives. Please don’t
                  ask, “How can this happen in a liberal place like
                  Portland?” That is the same question people across the
                  country asked me in 2017 when Jeremy Christian
                  attacked two teenaged Black young women, and then
                  murdered two people and seriously injured the third
                  who tried to stop him. This is the culmination of
                  everything this place was built on. And it is the
                  culmination of the neo-liberal racist response of the
                  current Portland/Oregon government. This is not an
                  aberration, this is business as usual. This is the
                  system working exactly as it was intended.</div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The fact that
                  people gathered peacefully to say, “Give us justice
                  for our stolen loved one,” to demand, “Stop murdering
                  Black people,” only to be targeted and murdered and
                  maimed, and to have the police applaud and the
                  government shift blame to them – that is absolutely
                  unsurprising and that doesn’t make it any less
                  devastating or traumatizing. <br>
                </div>
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle
                ii04i59q">
                <div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">But the fact
                  that Justice for Patrick Kimmons exists as a weekly
                  space, an ongoing demand, for years, led by his
                  courageous and tireless mother Letha Winston, that is
                  also born of this place. Black communities in
                  Portland, in Oregon, have fought just as tirelessly
                  for justice as Letha fights for her son, as she fights
                  for Amir Locke and Daunte Wright and everyone else who
                  has been stolen from our communities. The fact that
                  JFPK is planning to continue their gatherings even
                  after this horrific and painful attack shows the
                  unending commitment to justice that exists here. That
                  commitment, the courage of June Knightly and all
                  others who found themselves in a hail of bullets and
                  their first and only instinct was to protect others –
                  that must be at the heart of how we tell this story,
                  and all the work we do from here on out. In the name
                  of all of those stolen from us.</div>
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