Protests in Portland: 'End Domestic Terrorism'
August 17, 2019 10:41 AM Subscribe
Portland prepares for city's largest far-right rally of the Trump era (Guardian, yesterday) Trump stokes tension over far-right rally (Guardian, today).
Live Updates and What you need to know (Oregon Live)
Portland protests: where and when are they (Heavy)
Proud Boys rally in Portland is latest test for police (NBC News)
[Patriot Prayer organizer] Joey Gibson turns himself in for May Day riot charges (Portland Mercury)
As [pre-rally] arrests mount, at least one far-right paramilitary group has bowed out (Willlamette Week)
Riotlandia: Why Portland has become the epicenter of far-right violence (The Intercept)
Counter-protests (Oregon Live) include Love Conquers Hate, Be the Spectacle, and Poop Bloc, and feature marching bands, people in banana suits, and, again, vegan coconut milkshakes.
Meanwhile, in another part of Portland, today marks the 12th annual Corgi Walk.
Live Updates and What you need to know (Oregon Live)
Portland protests: where and when are they (Heavy)
Proud Boys rally in Portland is latest test for police (NBC News)
[Patriot Prayer organizer] Joey Gibson turns himself in for May Day riot charges (Portland Mercury)
As [pre-rally] arrests mount, at least one far-right paramilitary group has bowed out (Willlamette Week)
Riotlandia: Why Portland has become the epicenter of far-right violence (The Intercept)
Counter-protests (Oregon Live) include Love Conquers Hate, Be the Spectacle, and Poop Bloc, and feature marching bands, people in banana suits, and, again, vegan coconut milkshakes.
Meanwhile, in another part of Portland, today marks the 12th annual Corgi Walk.
posted by Ahmad Khani at 10:55 AM on August 17, 2019 [72 favorites]
I’m on mobile. Is that supposed to look like something? I don’t get it.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:57 AM on August 17, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:57 AM on August 17, 2019 [6 favorites]
No, that's the antifascist Iron Front flag and it goes back to WW2.
posted by loquacious at 11:03 AM on August 17, 2019 [22 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 11:03 AM on August 17, 2019 [22 favorites]
Can we take a moment from panicking about this country’s further descent into a fascist hell’s ape to admire the beauty of the phrase “poop emoji costume parade?”
posted by ActionPopulated at 11:14 AM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by ActionPopulated at 11:14 AM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
I assume by "test for police" they mean "test to see how well the police can support the nazis." I mean, last time they let them have a sniper nest on the roof of a downtown building. Maybe this time the cops will lend them one of their tanks?
posted by stet at 11:17 AM on August 17, 2019 [18 favorites]
posted by stet at 11:17 AM on August 17, 2019 [18 favorites]
What feels more worrying than everything else, beyond the general Nazi vibes taking over the country, is just how compliant the police are with the Nazi demonstrators, looking the other way at their violence. Police at the local level, all the way up to the FBI at the federal level.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:20 AM on August 17, 2019 [37 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:20 AM on August 17, 2019 [37 favorites]
the police aren’t compliant with nazis. the police are nazis.
spoiler alert: the police have always been nazis. i know what a twist
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 11:26 AM on August 17, 2019 [66 favorites]
spoiler alert: the police have always been nazis. i know what a twist
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 11:26 AM on August 17, 2019 [66 favorites]
The police and military at every level have been heavily infiltrated by Nazis and Nazi sympathizers. This has been an acknowledged strategy of American white supremacists for a generation. They're compliant because they're on the same side.
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:28 AM on August 17, 2019 [48 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:28 AM on August 17, 2019 [48 favorites]
shame boys
posted by brujita at 11:37 AM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by brujita at 11:37 AM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
Every major metropolitan police department in this country is fascism-ready.
posted by jamjam at 11:39 AM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by jamjam at 11:39 AM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
It’s sad that there is such a vacuum of leadership in my City that has allowed it to become a battleground. I had hope that recent additions on the City Council would be able to start adressing these issues, and hopefully we’ll start to see police and city bureaucrats getting held accountable for the safety of the residents.
A comment in the local paper pulled from social media summed it up best. “The single best way to get rid of anti-fascists is to keep the fascists out.”
posted by herda05 at 11:44 AM on August 17, 2019 [25 favorites]
A comment in the local paper pulled from social media summed it up best. “The single best way to get rid of anti-fascists is to keep the fascists out.”
posted by herda05 at 11:44 AM on August 17, 2019 [25 favorites]
Police at the local level, all the way up to the FBI at the federal level.
They've just been waiting for an avatar to achieve enough influence to let them off their self-imposed leash. We've always had fascist conspirators-in-waiting biding their time. They believe their time has come. If Trump's approval rating among his own party and even among the public as a whole is any indication, perhaps it has.
posted by tclark at 11:48 AM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
They've just been waiting for an avatar to achieve enough influence to let them off their self-imposed leash. We've always had fascist conspirators-in-waiting biding their time. They believe their time has come. If Trump's approval rating among his own party and even among the public as a whole is any indication, perhaps it has.
posted by tclark at 11:48 AM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
In a nationwide study, 1 in 5 current police officers, and 2 in 5 retired officers, made public posts or comments of a bigoted/racist nature.
posted by splitpeasoup at 12:01 PM on August 17, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by splitpeasoup at 12:01 PM on August 17, 2019 [19 favorites]
None of this would be happening if Tom Peterson was still alive.
posted by delfin at 12:03 PM on August 17, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by delfin at 12:03 PM on August 17, 2019 [7 favorites]
I thought at first ICE would be Trump's brownshirts, but I see now it's the loose assortment of far right groups and their lone shooter friends.
Trump loves to slyly give them moral support because they're loyal, but he will also love crushing them to gain committed loyalty from the mainstream. Then he's locked in for ever.
posted by CynicalKnight at 12:03 PM on August 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
Trump loves to slyly give them moral support because they're loyal, but he will also love crushing them to gain committed loyalty from the mainstream. Then he's locked in for ever.
posted by CynicalKnight at 12:03 PM on August 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
anyway, good luck out there, portland antifa. we’re all counting on you.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:17 PM on August 17, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:17 PM on August 17, 2019 [12 favorites]
i’ll be out there too the next time the nazis try to demonstrate near my undisclosed location.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:18 PM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:18 PM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
"So, Joe Biggs has told Proud Boys and other far right groups to get in their cars and leave. Some leaving in buses. Said theyll all coordinate where to meet up for a cookout in their private message groups. #Portland"
posted by The Whelk at 12:34 PM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 12:34 PM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
On one hand I hope this means that they're easily intimidated and coward out quickly - on the other hand I am worried they might break into smaller groups , get drunk, get angry and start shit later today
posted by The Whelk at 12:40 PM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 12:40 PM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
“Where to meet up for a cookout” = Vancouver. Today’s over, we won.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 12:41 PM on August 17, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 12:41 PM on August 17, 2019 [8 favorites]
Since it is mentioned in the post I would like to talk about Corgi Walk. We went to it today.
There are few things as entertaining as HUNDREDS OF CORGIS running amok, like a tidal wave of bread loaves wreaking cuteness upon the city. I think Corgi Walk must be every Corgi's favorite day, because they are surrounded by other Corgis and walk en-mass to a giant fountain and then everyone plays in it.
Got lots of good pics of this year's Corgi Walk. It was smaller than usual, and we all know who's fault that is. Normally it's around 1000 Corgis, but this year seemed about half that. Still was a lot of those adorable fuzzbutts
posted by weed donkey at 12:59 PM on August 17, 2019 [43 favorites]
There are few things as entertaining as HUNDREDS OF CORGIS running amok, like a tidal wave of bread loaves wreaking cuteness upon the city. I think Corgi Walk must be every Corgi's favorite day, because they are surrounded by other Corgis and walk en-mass to a giant fountain and then everyone plays in it.
Got lots of good pics of this year's Corgi Walk. It was smaller than usual, and we all know who's fault that is. Normally it's around 1000 Corgis, but this year seemed about half that. Still was a lot of those adorable fuzzbutts
posted by weed donkey at 12:59 PM on August 17, 2019 [43 favorites]
I'm pretty sure that was the largest crowd of corgis ever. Massive corgis. Big, big crowd of dogs. Certainly larger than when Obama was in town. [j/k]
posted by glonous keming at 1:11 PM on August 17, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by glonous keming at 1:11 PM on August 17, 2019 [6 favorites]
On one hand I hope this means that they're easily intimidated and coward out quickly - on the other hand I am worried they might break into smaller groups , get drunk, get angry and start shit later today.
This has been a pattern in previous alt right rallies. And surprise surprise, it mirrors history.
posted by loquacious at 1:13 PM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
This has been a pattern in previous alt right rallies. And surprise surprise, it mirrors history.
posted by loquacious at 1:13 PM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
The police and military at every level have been heavily infiltrated by Nazis and Nazi sympathizers.
You say infiltrated, I say reupped as the ongoing self-selection wasn't quite hateful enough.
posted by avalonian at 1:16 PM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
You say infiltrated, I say reupped as the ongoing self-selection wasn't quite hateful enough.
posted by avalonian at 1:16 PM on August 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
I really know nothing about Portland, except what I've seen of the fascist marching, and "Portlandia."
But Corgi Walk erases all that, and makes me wish I was there.
posted by Marky at 1:18 PM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
But Corgi Walk erases all that, and makes me wish I was there.
posted by Marky at 1:18 PM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
Shit, I assumed that an "End Domestic Terrorism" rally would be a bunch of people rallying for gun control.
posted by heatherlogan at 1:36 PM on August 17, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by heatherlogan at 1:36 PM on August 17, 2019 [9 favorites]
The "Antifa" trend on Twitter, naturally, is full of HORRIBLE ANTIFA VIOLENCE directed at innocents.
(cue video of a fat kid flailing at a short bus full of Proud Boys and falling down)
posted by delfin at 2:16 PM on August 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
(cue video of a fat kid flailing at a short bus full of Proud Boys and falling down)
posted by delfin at 2:16 PM on August 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
In other downtown Portland news I'd like to report that a squad of hundreds of people on razor scooters just scooted by. Blocking intersections a full 3 blocks deep.
These were old-school analog scooters, no batteries to be found. Just a bunch of people scooting around en masse. Lots of sick tricks as everyone hopped the train tracks. Thanks scooter kids for Keeping Portland Normal.
posted by weed donkey at 2:35 PM on August 17, 2019 [12 favorites]
These were old-school analog scooters, no batteries to be found. Just a bunch of people scooting around en masse. Lots of sick tricks as everyone hopped the train tracks. Thanks scooter kids for Keeping Portland Normal.
posted by weed donkey at 2:35 PM on August 17, 2019 [12 favorites]
Portland police Capt. Mark Kruger's past discipline to be erased -- including for tribute to Nazi-era soldiers -- under city settlement
posted by adamvasco at 3:03 PM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by adamvasco at 3:03 PM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
It's also the adult soapbox derby in Portland, if you want to see art cars crash on the side of an extinct volcano.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 3:28 PM on August 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 3:28 PM on August 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
They should close off 26 and run those bad boys down from Mt. Hood. That'd be pretty nuts.
Edit, and if then... "Extinct". Didn't know about Mt. Tabor
posted by Windopaene at 3:51 PM on August 17, 2019
Edit, and if then... "Extinct". Didn't know about Mt. Tabor
posted by Windopaene at 3:51 PM on August 17, 2019
This also the weekend to enjoy a steamed ham sandwich.
posted by gamera at 3:51 PM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by gamera at 3:51 PM on August 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
So the dream of the 1930s is alive in Portland?
I left the Pacific Northwest after I ran into nazi and aligned militants one too many times. I mean they are everywhere. I lived in the South for a long time, and it’s the vibe just seemed even worse in WA and Oregon. They’d see a white guy with short hair and just assume I was a shitbird loser too. I do not want to hear about your rifle “training” weekend, and I hope you Accidentally put a round through any part of your own body, you turd.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:50 PM on August 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
I left the Pacific Northwest after I ran into nazi and aligned militants one too many times. I mean they are everywhere. I lived in the South for a long time, and it’s the vibe just seemed even worse in WA and Oregon. They’d see a white guy with short hair and just assume I was a shitbird loser too. I do not want to hear about your rifle “training” weekend, and I hope you Accidentally put a round through any part of your own body, you turd.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:50 PM on August 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
The fascists are mostly flown and bussed in actually, not to say we don't have a few of the more old fashioned kind locally as well.
posted by idiopath at 10:15 PM on August 17, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by idiopath at 10:15 PM on August 17, 2019 [6 favorites]
I don't know how it's going to work out, this slow-moving conflict between rural and urban Americas. The Proud Boys have made some forays in Philly. A Trump US attorney lackey took the opportunity of the recent shooting of cops to wildy and in a massively unprecedented way tear into our progressive DA, claiming that that Philly has created an anti-law enforcement attitude.
It's like the Proud Boys and their ilk know that the biggest way to bring about the apocalyptic firestorm they seem to want is to kick at the anthills of America's cities until the residents come boiling out.
I'm glad at least Portland brought out the silly in a major way. Yeah, there's some videos of people fighting but then you have people in banana costumes and giant flower puppets.
I'm afraid if the Proud Boys come to Philly in some major way, there will be much less silly and more rage.
posted by angrycat at 3:00 AM on August 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
It's like the Proud Boys and their ilk know that the biggest way to bring about the apocalyptic firestorm they seem to want is to kick at the anthills of America's cities until the residents come boiling out.
I'm glad at least Portland brought out the silly in a major way. Yeah, there's some videos of people fighting but then you have people in banana costumes and giant flower puppets.
I'm afraid if the Proud Boys come to Philly in some major way, there will be much less silly and more rage.
posted by angrycat at 3:00 AM on August 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Angrycat that pretty much is the strategy outlined in the Turner Diaries, and by most terrorist groups in some sense, so you're not wrong.
posted by postel's law at 3:23 AM on August 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by postel's law at 3:23 AM on August 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
You gotta stop fascist cops before they try for higher office: Former Minnesota police officer wears Oathkeeper patch to file his application to be on the city council, claims he doesn't know what it means.
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:29 AM on August 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:29 AM on August 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
I'm glad at least Portland brought out the silly in a major way. Yeah, there's some videos of people fighting but then you have people in banana costumes and giant flower puppets.
The Mel Brooks system applies.
When Nazis are pointing guns, you stop them with guns.
When Nazis are not yet pointing guns, you stop them with ridicule, showing them to everyone as the ridiculous creatures that they are.
posted by delfin at 7:35 AM on August 18, 2019 [21 favorites]
The Mel Brooks system applies.
When Nazis are pointing guns, you stop them with guns.
When Nazis are not yet pointing guns, you stop them with ridicule, showing them to everyone as the ridiculous creatures that they are.
posted by delfin at 7:35 AM on August 18, 2019 [21 favorites]
In my experience counter protesting the proud boys in philly, they tried rather hard and got more or less shutdown completely. The cops were, of course, more concerned for their safety than anyone else’s. But we came out in such force that the cops couldn't guarantee their safety and didn’t let them proceed with their planned march.
If they actually grow the guts needed to turn up in force (even their fash leaded Gavin backed out of showing his face in philly at the last second) I feel confident we will rise to the occasion with our own numbers and commitment, and they will back down again. Philly antifa do not fuck around. And beyond antifa, we also have a rather large quantity of non-masked up regular civvies that are quite comfortable putting our bodies in the march with antifa and in front of the fash.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:36 AM on August 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
If they actually grow the guts needed to turn up in force (even their fash leaded Gavin backed out of showing his face in philly at the last second) I feel confident we will rise to the occasion with our own numbers and commitment, and they will back down again. Philly antifa do not fuck around. And beyond antifa, we also have a rather large quantity of non-masked up regular civvies that are quite comfortable putting our bodies in the march with antifa and in front of the fash.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:36 AM on August 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
I would barter an organ to see the Philie Phanatic go full steamed ham on some fash.
posted by loquacious at 10:10 AM on August 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 10:10 AM on August 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
Phillie Phanatic. Sorry, typo, missed edit window. Please don't hurt me.
posted by loquacious at 10:28 AM on August 18, 2019
posted by loquacious at 10:28 AM on August 18, 2019
I'm glad at least Portland brought out the silly in a major way. Yeah, there's some videos of people fighting but then you have people in banana costumes and giant flower puppets.
Somehow found myself watching one of the national news broadcasts (I think it was NBC) where this was the top news story. Unfortunately you wouldn't have know there was any "protest-by-silliness/satire" going on by watching the segment. Instead they framed it as "far right protesters vs. far left" protesters with the Proud Boys made to look like the more reasonable of the two. (Of course Trump's tweet of possibly naming antifa as "an organization of terror" was touched on0.
posted by gtrwolf at 11:26 AM on August 18, 2019
Somehow found myself watching one of the national news broadcasts (I think it was NBC) where this was the top news story. Unfortunately you wouldn't have know there was any "protest-by-silliness/satire" going on by watching the segment. Instead they framed it as "far right protesters vs. far left" protesters with the Proud Boys made to look like the more reasonable of the two. (Of course Trump's tweet of possibly naming antifa as "an organization of terror" was touched on0.
posted by gtrwolf at 11:26 AM on August 18, 2019
The "both sides" narrative is why we can't have nice things.
A bunch of racists fly into start shit in Portland and are met with a banana band and puppets. The racists are protected from the mean bananas by the cops, who let them cross a bridge that was shut down all day so they could meet their Nazi friends. When they didn't get their clash, they mostly went home.
But some idiot said that milkshakes are dangerous last time and the press ran with it, and the word "antifa" sounds foreign, so oooooooooooh scary both sides.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:31 PM on August 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
A bunch of racists fly into start shit in Portland and are met with a banana band and puppets. The racists are protected from the mean bananas by the cops, who let them cross a bridge that was shut down all day so they could meet their Nazi friends. When they didn't get their clash, they mostly went home.
But some idiot said that milkshakes are dangerous last time and the press ran with it, and the word "antifa" sounds foreign, so oooooooooooh scary both sides.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:31 PM on August 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
Here's a Twitter thread explaining the photos of the guy with the hammer and the bus.
https://twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1162972206147743744?s=09
posted by bink at 9:06 PM on August 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
https://twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1162972206147743744?s=09
posted by bink at 9:06 PM on August 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
this slow-moving conflict between rural and urban Americas
This is very much not what's happening, however exigent that narrative may be for the atavistic GOP. The Trumpies are coming from the suburbs.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:41 AM on August 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
This is very much not what's happening, however exigent that narrative may be for the atavistic GOP. The Trumpies are coming from the suburbs.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:41 AM on August 19, 2019 [5 favorites]
Trump tweeted that he's looking into making Antifa an official terrorist organization, which is as good as saying he's with the white supremacists. It's not subtle. The Proud Boys are claiming a victory because of this tweet. The mayor said the tweet could lead to violence and make a volatile situation worse. This is all right after a national shooting, so clearly Trump is not changing his behavior. Like it or not, white supremacy has gone mainstream.
posted by xammerboy at 7:36 AM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by xammerboy at 7:36 AM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Episode 68: Sh!tpost, What went down in Portland and an extended discussion of the white nationalist at State and what it means
posted by The Whelk at 3:05 PM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 3:05 PM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
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