By Roman Mendoza
PORTLAND, OR – On the steps of the Multnomah County Justice Center, a local Black Lives Matter speaker makes a passionate “Thank You” to the Wall of Moms, while surrounded city and county officials, along with estimates of more than 3,000 demonstrators.
The speaker captivated the crowd by thanking the abundance of support given by the WoM. He asked the crowd, “Portland, do you know why your moms are out here?” He then asked, “Do you remember George Floyd?” The crowd cheers at his name. The speaker continues, “They’re out here because when George Floyd died, he called for his mama… And all these Portland mamas heard him.”
I arrived in Portland around 8 p.m. and began making my way to Tom McCall Waterfront Park, where Portland’s Wall of Moms met with Black Lives Matter. These are just two of the organizations and groups who have been protesting police brutality, and now federal police presence in Portland. The federal police are made up of many departments too, like ICE, CBP (Customs and Border Protection), and U.S. Marshals, acting under the Federal Protection Service.
From the waterfront, the crowd marched to meet other groups and an even larger crowd at the Justice Center. The groups met around 9:30 p.m. and took time to acknowledge safety, goals, community, and even more safety. Leaders warned, the police will be out tonight and they will use force. Then, they led a chant renouncing fear and embracing courage.
Between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. most of the crowd marched half a block from the Justice Center to the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building. The federal building was fenced in black steel, and reinforced by concrete “Jersey” barriers. The majority of protesters were peaceful but there were outliers.
A small group of no more than 20 began rocking the fence. After gaining momentum and swaying the fence, federal officers announced that interference with the fence would prompt crowd control measures, including force.
The group persisted, and true to their word, federal officers began shooting tear gas, pepper balls, and flash bangs. The group rocking the fence dispersed but the peaceful protesters had formed a line, using umbrellas as cover. They also had people with leaf blowers, clearing the air.
The leaf blowers are so successful that I recorded an officer with a leaf blower using it in the same fashion.
There were glaring gaps between all these: the federal building and officers, the officers and the fence, as well as between the fence and protesters. The problem with tear gas and pepper is that it is indiscriminate. It affects bad actors and peaceful protectors alike, lumping everyone on the side of criminal activity.
I moved between the front line and areas that were clear of gas because I was affected. Some rounds affected me more than others. After being subjected to crowd control measures for being in the same vicinity, I was disoriented. The gas affects your skin, eyes, and breathing. The best way to describe it is that it is disorienting.
Blinking tears out, heavy breathing in a mask, and irritated skin makes dispersing especially hard. Tens of people moved with their heads down, one arm out, coughing, trying to feel their way to safety. As the people at the front moved back, people from the back moved up. This went on until about midnight.
The Federal Protection Service eventually declared an unlawful assembly and dispersed the crowd even further. At this point most people left the area. There were still hundreds of people but not nearly the thousands had been there moments earlier.
The discretion of the officers changed after they declared the assembly unlawful for the three blocks surrounding the federal building, despite the protest only taking place immediately in front of the federal building.
They began to shoot pepper and tear gas at people for seemingly no reason. The people they targeted were not on federal property, and many from what I observed, were just standing, kneeling, shouting, and speaking.
The holdovers from this dispersal moved to the street intersection near the federal building. They created a phalanx with makeshift shields and umbrellas. Behind the phalanx, they started a small bonfire in the street, using pallets and rubbish. They were also blowing bubbles, and had a dancing drum circle.
As the tension eased, I felt the night was coming to an end, and I got ready to leave the scene. I was three blocks away from the federal building and I heard people shouting. “They’re coming, they’re coming,” they shouted as they ran.
I ran back to the federal building and got back there right after federal officers came out of the fenced area and dispersed the people having a bonfire in the street. What I saw next made me feel I was in a war zone. Multiple lines of federal officers cleared the streets using tear gas and flash bangs. The gas was so thick, I could not go back the way I came.
I circled back to get in front of the gas. With most people dispersed, and finding myself alone, I made my way back to my car. There was a large federal presence on the city blocks. They were lined up in a standoff with a few protesters. And, then they turned around, apparently to go in for the night.
Fireworks were sporadically tossed over the fence at federal officers, but officers did not appear to be targeting those who threw them.
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https://nypost.com/2020/07/26/portland-protest-declared-a-riot-sunday-as-federal-building-is-breached/
It’s not a peaceful protest.
Actually as my reporter documented it was a peaceful protest until the police came in with tear gas and broke it up. And that’s part of the problem. The Portland protests were dying down until federal action came in and injected new engery and now anger into them. How do you determine what is and what is not peaceful when there are so many moving parts and each action creates a new outcome? And you’re trying to do it through the lens of very biased right wing sources.
I guess you missed the part where “Throughout the night some people in this crowd spent their time shaking the fence around the building, throwing rocks, bottles, and assorted debris over the fence, shining lasers through the fence, firing explosive fireworks into the area blocked by the fence, and using power tools to try to cut through the fence”
That sounds so peaceful.
That wasn’t our account
Our account was: “A small group of no more than 20 began rocking the fence.”
So they violently cleared out the entire crowd based on the actions of a very small number of people.
It only took a few bad cops to cause destruction in many of our cities.
So you admit that it’s only a few protesters
So you admit that it’s only a few cops
My comeback will be in today’s column
Keith
An estimated 3,000 people gather and 20 of them choose to rattle a fence. Let’s use the terminology used frequently favored by those on the right to justify repeated killings of blacks by the police. Sure sounds like “a few bad apples” to me.
The same George Floyd who put a gun to the stomach of a pregnant mother and his fellow assailants pistol whipped her while Floyd robbed her house. Did the Portland mamas hear her screams?
I don’t think anyone has asserted he was ‘a choir boy’… but for police in the street, to detain, subdue, charge, try, convict, and execute him in a matter of less than 15 minutes? Really?
False equivalence, but it makes a good excuse for those looking to deny unconscionable state action.
[Responding to Keith’s post, not Bill’s.]
And it’s not unconscionable to do what Floyd and his fellow thugs did to the pregnant mother? Are you going to deny that? It just strikes me as so hypocritical for a group calling themselves the Wall of Moms to put Floyd on a pedestal after what he did to that mom.
https://www.mbs.news/en/2020/06/george-floyd-was-a-brutal-marauder-who-put-a-gun-to-a-pregnant-womans-belly-to-documents.html
Keith
No one, literally no one has justified or defended those actions. And you are doing nothing but deflecting from the obvious issue at hand. The egregious taking of black lives by the police. Can you not for one-second address the core issue here? You know, the issue without which none of this would be happening.
WoM, Wall of Mothers, is out cheering for a man who put a gun to a mother’s pregnant belly, so so hypocritical:
What a hero, especially to a group called the Wall of Mothers.
More accurate term: cause celebre
BTW, I looked it up and Floyd never put a gun to a pregnant woman, the person he robbed back in 2007 was not pregnant. I would appreciate you not posting fake news on here.
George Floyd was sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in an armed robbery in 2007.
The woman robbed, Aracely Henriquez, was injured by another man, and there’s no evidence she was pregnant at the time of the incident.
Your source please? Links?
Probable cause report (link) says that the victim and a toddler were home at the time of the incident, floyd was one of several people who forced their way into the home. He did threaten her with a gun. She was not pregnant. (Link)
She was injured, but her injuries were inflicted by another man, not Floyd. (Link).
Alright, I’ve done some more research, no one can say for sure if she was pregnant or not. Some reports say she was, others say not. But Floyd did put a gun to Aracely Henriquez’s abdomen and she was beaten by another assailant as I have posted. There, so Floyd put a gun to a mother’s abdomen and the WoM cheer for him?
Appreciate that. What I would say however is that the incident occurred a long time ago and had nothing to do with why he died. He didn’t deserve to die for what happened in Minneapolis on May 25. And more importantly he’s become a symbol of policing that is unconstitutional.
Keith
Ok, so you don’t like that emotive description. I bet Breonna Taylor, Stephon Clark, Philando Castile, and Tamir Rice would have cried out too. Oh never, mind about Tamir Rice. He probably had no time to cry out anything.
And none of them had done anything wrong at all.
But you know…a few bad apples.
How about the three cops who were possibly blinded by the lasers used by the Portland rioters, do you think they might be crying out too?
Didn’t happen on Friday
So it still happened. What’s your point?
No one is denying anything… he confessed to those crimes, and in 2009 was sent to prison for 5 years… the crime you refer to is ~ 13 years ‘old’.
Seems to me that these protests are becoming a proxy protest, for those who really don’t like Trump.
That’s really not true.
According to your articles, the Floyd protests were dying down until Trump sent in these agents.
Regardless of what one thinks of all of this, local (Democratic) officials helped frame it that way, as well. (Essentially, a rejection of Trump.)
I’m pretty sure that my comment above is true, to some degree. Seems like the following two comments support that theory.
“I’m pretty sure that my comment above is true, to some degree. ”
Based on what? I think if you better understood the left movement, you wouldn’t make these comments. There is a clear cleavage between the progressive left and the mainstream left.
Based upon what I’ve already noted – including the comments which immediately followed mine (below).
It was an observation and theory, not an “argument”.
It’s actually not an observation. You are observing behavior in Davis on this site not observing behavior in Portland on the ground there. You may have attempted to infer, but you failed to consider a number of factors that make that inference problematic.
Using that definition, you are also not “observing” what’s occurring in Portland.
Here’s a video showing what objects were thrown at the officers last night.
Peaceful my …….
https://www.nbc29.com/2020/07/26/portland-protesters-breach-fence-police-declare-riot/
Ron
They may indeed have become that. But that is entirely of his own making. It was he who chose to call for domination rather than reconciliation. It was he who chose to clear an entirely peaceful march outside the WH for his photo op. It was he who chose to send in unnamed agents neither requested nor wanted by the local authorities or the people ostensibly to protect a building which despite graffiti, broken windows and doors had stood for 50+ days of protest.
And a few days ago the rioters tried to blockade the doors of the court house with officers inside and start the building on fire. Attempted murder.
Keith
I would love to see your evidence that the protesters and the rioters are the same people, or in any way related. Since no one is identified by name, how do we know, for fact, this was not staged by the feds themselves.
I am not saying it was. I am saying we do not know who the assailants were. But some of us are very willing to leap to conclusions based on our own political preference.
Puh-lease….
If we go by that reasoning maybe the rioters staged the officers driving back the protesters.
See how far fetched that sounds?
But the fact is we don’t know who did what, you’re inferring all actions to the protesters.
Yeah, and maybe the blinded officers shined the lasers in their own eyes too. SMH
It doesn’t take ridiculous conspiracies to recognize the possibility that there is a smaller group of people wanting to take advantage of the moment to do acts of mischief or worse and that they likely have nothing to do with and share no goals with the bulk of the protesters. That’s not a far-fetched notion at all and in fact likely.
The fact is we are flying blind on this. But understand there is a difference between someone like Tia, someone like the other organizers, and someone who sees this as an opportunity to throw rocks at the cop. Why is that difficult for you to comprehend?
I doubt that Keith has difficulty comprehending this.
But, it’s also likely that those “throwing rocks” (or engaging in other “mischief”, as you put it) aren’t Trump supporters in this case – don’t you think?
The ones throwing rocks are probably not motivated by politics.
I strongly disagree with that conclusion, regarding those engaging in “mischief” – as you put it.
Maybe ask your reporter to interview them, assuming that some might be willing to participate.
It’s like the people who go to the music festival to get drunk and start a fight. They really weren’t there for the music. When you have a large crowd, there are people who are going to be there wanting to take advantage of the situation.
I think you are grossly miscalculating the motives of those who engage in violence and destruction at protests.
This is no music festival.
How many have you been to? How many people do you personally know and have talked to who have been to a protest that has gotten out of control?
Protests, or music festivals?
Either way, the question is irrelevant.
You miss the point – you have no basis for your opinion because you have neither been to a protest nor know anyone who has been to one out of control and therefore have no insight into who is and is not causing the problem. I’ve talked to a lot of organizers and most don’t want people doing this kind of stuff since it causes them problems and hurts the cause. But you guys never seem to get the fact that most of people who organize this stuff are quite smart and politically savvy. The worst thing that can happen is someone throw a rock at a cop. That’s why MLK used to train people so hard for turning the other cheek, one slip up and the movement goes poof.
I guess the conservatives have forgotten about the extremists who latched on to the ‘reopen’ protests.
https://www.inquirer.com/news/white-supremacist-extremists-reopen-rallies-black-lives-matter-protests-20200613.html
Remember this?
So do those extremists who acted out at the ‘reopen protests’ reflect the views of all the protest participants?
I always laugh when David says this, and he often does.
David, you miss the point. You seem to think that only your points count. Guess what, you don’t know it all even though you seem to think so.
You have no idea whether I have, or haven’t.
This is the second time (today, alone) in which you’re claiming knowledge and judgement from “afar”, while suggesting that others cannot do so. The effort to do so is politically-motivated in the first place.
Go interview the people who are engaging in violence, if you want to know “why”.
You’re not going to be able to completely “divorce” those who choose to participate in violence, from those who don’t.
That’s also irrelevant.
Who is “you guys”?
You’re implying that this type of thing is “organized” in the first place.
That is absolutely NOT the worst thing that can happen. And, that’s been demonstrated over-and-over again.
This is very different than the protests that MLK led, including the basic/underlying message.
I think you lack appreciation for the fact that you would not agree with MLK on policies or tactics. He in fact was a disruptor.
Actually, this is the correct/intended order of the sentences above:
You’re not going to be able to completely “divorce” those who choose to participate in violence, from those who don’t.
The effort to do so is politically-motivated in the first place.
You’re not doing too well today, regarding what I might “agree” or “disagree” with.
“Disruption” is quite different from what we’re seeing occur repeatedly, these days.
You actually had one commenter on here recently, who stated that she viewed looting as a form of protest. (At least she was seemingly honest about her views.)
You really think things are that much different from the south in the 1950s or 1960s? This is like kids stuff. But the civil rights movement was most effective when it had a Bull Connor or Jim Clark to play the bad guy. Trump and Wolf are doing nice stand ins. The Civil Rights movement was severely criticized for putting kids into Birmingham to confront Connor – but it worked. Meet the Moms.
I don’t recall MLK commandeering entire neighborhoods for extended periods of time, shutting down freeways night-after-night, smashing windows, burning buildings down, attacking police, or walking off with a looted TV in his hands.
Then again (like “you”) – I wasn’t there to “witness it” first hand.
“shutting down freeways ”
I’m sure the vehicles traveling from Montgomery to Selma have a different recollection.
The 1963 campaign in Birmingham sought to overflow the jails, cripple the downtown, and stop city functions. They understood that injustice would not be changed without disrupting civic and commercial life. They literally ground the city to a halt.
In April 1963, Martin Luther King along with 47 other demonstrators were arrested for kneeling down in prayer across the from the Birmingham City Hall.
Yes that’s where the practice originated.
In response, local ministers wrote, “We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.”
It was out of this arrest that originated the now classic, “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” where King responded, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront an issue.”
I don’t believe he set up “occupancy” on freeways.
By the way, did you see that incident (about a month ago) in Seattle, where a guy (who happened to be black) mowed down two protesters at high speed, on a closed freeway? Killing one person.
And yet, it was apparently not even purposeful, from what I gathered. Betcha if that guy was white, a different conclusion would have arisen.
Didn’t you say earlier that nothing bad could happen, other than “throwing rocks” at police? (As if that isn’t bad enough, on its own.)
“I don’t believe he set up “occupancy” on freeways.”
I believe you are distinguishing tactics. And that is a distinction without a difference. The protesters blocked freeways. He disrupted communities. If you want to say they technically didn’t “occupy” them they only marched on them, fine. Perhaps correct. But what does that difference really mean? I think Occupying came into play later during Vietnam protests when buildings were occupied on college campuses. The park was occupied in Berkeley, etc. Is this really the point you’re hanging your argument on?
If you haven’t seen that video, I’d suggest you watch it. It is beyond shocking.
You’re barking up the wrong tree, in your arguments with me. I don’t like seeing anyone get hurt or killed.
People got hurt and killed in the 1960s INCLUDING King. He knew it was the price to be paid to make a change.
At this point, I don’t think you’re even reading my comments, before responding.
Seems like you’re more interested in arguing.
Disruption is not the same thing as destruction and violence.
MLK didn’t “kill himself”, or engage in violence. The latter being the key to his widespread support (and in the face of rampant discrimination in the south, Jim Crow laws, etc.).
In Portland (and other places), black-owned businesses are being destroyed. These are pretty much white protesters.
By the way, the two protesters in Seattle who were mowed down (by someone who happened to be black) were apparently “white”, though I’m not sure how they identified their gender.
Oh, the sad irony.
Watch that video, and tell me what good is coming out of that. Do you think those two will be remembered in the same way that MLK is?
I honestly think you’re pretty confused regarding your comparisons (and apparent support for what is occurring). But, you’re clearly not alone.
And again, these protests (at this point) are clearly more about Trump (and the deploying of “his” agents), than they are about George Floyd.
Though it’s also pretty clear that those who oppose Trump are usually the same ones who are the most concerned about the George Floyd incident, as well.
But concern about the George Floyd incident crosses party lines. Hell, even Trump denounced it, from what I recall. I don’t remember anyone, anywhere defending it.
Yes Trump did denounce what happened to Floyd. I asked David for examples of things Trump has said or done that makes him a racist towards blacks. David couldn’t come up with anything except the old tired “there were good people on both sides” which was twisted and spun as to what Trump actually meant. David said it didn’t matter because the perception is that Trump is racist towards blacks, not that any proof is needed.
Keith: I would have to say that for whatever reason(s), Trump seems to go out of his way to create division.
Not the kind of leader I’d like to see. I think he’s harmful.
Tried to add:
The division that Trump creates does not always correspond with skin color, though.
Seems to me that he can “turn on a dime” regarding his support (and even friendship), vs. scathing criticism of someone. I’ve never seen anything like it at this level of governance.
He seems like the kind of guy that you don’t want to criticize, publicly (if one wants to maintain any kind of positive relationship). In my opinion, that is probably a lot more important to him, than skin color.
(Excuse me, but i think the secret service might suddenly be knocking on my door.) 😉
I’ve said this before, Trump says and tweets some things that I wish he hadn’t and I wish we had better candidates than Trump, Hillary and Biden. But one thing you can say for Trump, he doesn’t kowtow to the left and that alone gets my vote.
Never mind – it’s just some guys in suits, in an indistinguishable van. I’m sure it’s nothing. 😉
In all seriousness, some of Trump’s strength is related to what you note, in that he’s not afraid to take on anyone – including traditional allies. No other politician does this.
(The guys in the van are suddenly leaving, now! Whew!)
Poor choice of words.
To reaffirm: lasers are a weapon of terror, the use of which should require life imprisonment or whatever the sentence is for releasing biological weapons.
You mean decent, ethical Americans who detest racism, tyranny and treason? Yeah, there is certainly that possibility.
George III made a similar error when the pesky colonists protested the tea tax, stamp tax, etc. So he sent troops to Boston, and required the locals to shelter his troops in their homes… then in a force of strength, tried to capture the munitions stored in Concord… didn’t work out that well for those troops or ultimately the British Empire…
Bill
Yeah, in the back of my mind, I seem to have stored a similar story of our national origins. But of course, our history has painted those “violent thugs” as heroes.
What did someone write earlier? False equivalency.
“But of course, our history has painted those “violent thugs” as heroes.”
Is there any doubt in your minds what those founders would do if the president was conspiring with foreign autocrats?
Big diff between noting a ‘similar error’, and ‘equating’ the two…
Buy a vowel dude. The true treasonous actors were the people, mostly Democrats, who put out a false narrative in order to try and unseat an elected president. It’s all surfacing now.
They would impeach that President. Oh wait.
So lets be clear, Trump takes political help from Putin, an indisputable fact for which his cronies and “individual one” were indicted and the cronies convicted, as Trump would have been had he not been the sitting president, and Keith is calling Democrats and protesters traitors? You need more than a vowel, dude, you need a conscience.
“If we go by that reasoning maybe the rioters staged the officers driving back the protesters.”
“See how far fetched that sounds?”
Jeb Stuart Magruders, Cointelpro and Kristallnacht. There is even a term for it “Agents Provocateurs.” So I wouldn’t be so sure when assuming the motives of people taking actions that can be construed to be detrimental to a cause until you can actually identify who is doing what.
Article from May 31st:
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/05/portland-black-leaders-decry-pandemic-of-racism-say-destructive-protests-not-they-help-they-need.html
Let’s see…isn’t Oregon where the white supremacist ranchers took over a federal wildlife refuge office, destroyed and damage federal property and had a standoff with federal officials who stood by and did essentially nothing for weeks? If they had been black what might have happened? Maybe because they were white and when white peoples rights are infringed, it’s worth an insurrection and destruction of federal property, but when it’s about the rights of anyone who is not white, it’s about thuggery. This thing in Portland is about racist, white supremacist policies. Those in favor of “law and order” for and by white people are the only ones outraged over the behavior of the Dads and their leaf blowers or the Moms or even just anarchists that want to ‘even the score’.
Not sure if I’d call those guys “white surpremacists”, but they were armed (and in a remote location). Their “issue” had nothing to do with skin color, except that they were all “white” (I think).
One of them ended up getting killed by agents.
I’ve posted articles regarding this incident, before.
I thought the government handled that with a great deal of patience, and I was glad to see those guys leave. (From what I recall, many of those in a nearby town weren’t too pleased with their presence, either. It also drew a very heavy law enforcement presence, for an extended period of time.)
I don’t think leaf blowers had a chance to be used, there. 😉
But if you want to see incidents in which the federal government responded with a much “heavier hand” toward “white” people (I think), you might want to review what occurred in Waco.
Also resulted in significant injury and death for agents, I think.
Or, perhaps Ruby Ridge (though I’m not as familiar with that). That incident was apparently some kind of “rallying cry”, for some.
There’s in-depth PBS programs regarding a lot of these types of incidents.
What are you even talking about, it had nothing to do with race. But nice try anyway.
Here’s something kind of interesting, regarding the leader of the wildlife refuge takeover:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammon_Bundy
So maybe the next time, the Vanguard will send a reporter in “support” of any similar future incident – given this guy’s views. Even if it ultimately comes at the expense of our “BLM” federal lands.
But, the guy doesn’t sound like a “white supremacist” to me, at least.
Those situations aren’t even remotely similar. I’ve been to Mauhler County, and I’ve been to Portland. The two are about as different as the civil war North and South (in different ways). Mauhler is less than 1.7% black, has 30,000 people in 10,000 square miles, so one black person per 20 square miles. Neighborhoods 0f Portland have more people than the whole of Mauhler County.
Having people of whatever race take over a remote area where they aren’t hurting anyone or disrupting businesses requires a very different response than an urban riot. You have them surrounded, and you can wait them out.
And . . . as you recall, this didn’t go so well for one of the Mauhler occupiers who was shot dead by law enforcement after they left the preserve. A very conservative white guy. I’m sure in the same circumstance in your ‘what if they were black’ scenario, that would have been considered a racial killing. The higher per-capita death rate of certain racial groups by law enforcement is real and should be and is – painfully slowly – being dealt with — and sometimes a killing is just a killing.
Which thing are you talking about? Lots of things up there.
And there is where you go off the rails, over the bridge, and into the canyon: “Even just the anarchists”. I have no problem with the peaceful protestors, support them 100%. But your conflating attitude belies the fact that ‘even just the anarchists’ are “OK” to you, when in fact that dismissiveness is the very error that forgives what is vile, violent and divisive. This attitude is far too common amongst the progressive left, and makes them as much the problem as Trump, who is also a huge part of the problem.
The civil rights movement worked for its time partially because they were led by a man of peace. He may have been an imperfect man (as are we all), but he was the perfect leader for the time. Today, we have the great leader Mob Men Tality. Mr. Tality contains within all imperfections of the species, including forgiving by proxy such groups as the anarchists, teens out to break things, and Antifa.
The outer fringe of this movement has become so warped, and this warping is forgiven by the moderate lefties, that I half expect the Mr. Luther King statues to fall and the MLK Boulevards in the bluer cities to be renamed. I say this as someone very heartened that the confederate statues fell and are being removed from public spaces. Symbolic as that may be, it is symbolic of OK’ing a group of people as second-class human beings and that has no place in 2020 America.
Alan
“This attitude is far too common amongst the progressive left, and makes them as much the problem as Trump, who is also a huge part of the problem.”
I agree with most of your post. But this sentence ignores a major difference. They cannot be “as much of the problem” when Trump holds the power. The power of money to the affected states, the power of control of much of the media, the power to recruit from within and possibly independent of our security agencies, the power over the current DOJ. While we are discussing false equivalencies, I think we should consider this power differential to be amongst them.
So let’s get this straight, Tia makes the claim that Trump has “the power of control of much of the media” and her post remains but I post a link that shows that the media is 90% negative towards Trump and my post is being moderated? What gives?
WE all know WHAT gives . . . and WHO taketh away 😐
What has basically happened is that things which had calmed down after the first week or two of June have ratched back up because of the federal agents in Portland.
From the NY Times:
“The latest catalyst was the deployment of federal law enforcement agents in Portland, Ore., whose militarized efforts to subdue protests around the federal courthouse have sparked mass demonstrations and nightly clashes there. They have also inspired new protests of solidarity in other cities, where people have expressed deep concern about the federal government exercising such extensive authority in a city that has made it clear it opposes the presence of federal agents.”
So in addition to not quelling the problems in Portland – which by all accounts were dying down before the federal intervention, not it has caused the problem to actually spread.
Disclaimer: Please view the pictures and note that no Corona Virus was spread during the making of these protests, because the progressive God, Chris, protects the righteous.
Two of the biggest liberal lies, “peaceful” protests and COVID does not spread at BLM protests/riots.
If they don’t wear masks, they will spread covid. I have never made any claim otherwise. I’m not exactly sure why you continue to post this stuff.
If they don’t wear masks, they may spread covid if someone in the group has it, or if they are an asymptomatic carrier. No virus, no exposure, no problem.
Covid is not as ubiquitous as one may think. That said, mask, separation, hygiene are very important to minimize the risk.
Given the numbers – I wouldn’t put odds on that not hapenning if they aren’t wearing masks. My statement has been completely misappropriated. I never made any claim other than the protests hadn’t spread a lot of covid because most had been wearing masks. The photos here show a bit of a different story.
Look at the pics above, absolutely no separation, in many cases the protesters /rioters are actually touching one another shoulder to shoulder. Yup, but somehow they magically don’t spread Covid.
Who said that?
Keith
Do you deny any of these protests are peaceful? Do you deny any of the protesters at any of these events are peaceful? Because there is plenty of video evidence to demonstrate these are not lies. As for your second claim of a lie, literally no one has said COVID-19 does not spread at protests, only that it is less likely to spread at outdoor gatherings than indoors. If you do not believe that, show me the quote.
Also, lies are not unique to individuals by political philosophy. I would appreciate you not smearing those whose ideas differ from yours.
Bill
“Covid is not as ubiquitous as one may think”
I think this is a rather ambiguous and potentially dangerous statement. Would that not depend entirely on just how “ubiquitous” one thought it was, a clear point of dispute, and how “ubiquitous” it actually is…something we have no way of measuring. Would you like to substantiate or clarify this comment?
Well, the statement,
“They” is not defined… left wing protestors in Portland? Right wing supporters of the president in Tulsa?
A married/co-habitating couple? Their children who live at home?
The statement I responded to, was absolute. Little in this world is absolute.
Covid is something to be leery of, indoors, near people for substantial periods of time. Near folk who are at risk from you, if you are asymptomatic and exposed. High use touched surfaces. Many have by their actions and statements seem to believe it is “everywhere”… that is untrue. I know of no reputable scientist who says it is.
They = anyone regardless of ideology or purpose
Thank you… answers 1 of my 3 questions…
Adding, “it is a matter of risk, and expecting all to act to minimize the risk. No one knows, or likely will ever know, hat additional exposures took place.
The Feds are gone but the riots still rage. So much for the fake narrative that the Feds were the cause of the riots.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/rioters-attack-police-station-in-portland-suburb-try-to-burn-it-down-attempt-to-run-over-police-with-truck?fbclid=IwAR1dwE6zBhYEWxzSFBlIkV1sgVu89U_0fPT7ba90l9H8b1Ksk1wYWG-7QAk
Interesting source… purely “true news”, no spin nor editorial bias… compared to Fox, Fox is flaming liberal…
“Mayor Wheeler on rioters setting fire at Portland police building: ‘You are attempting to commit murder”
https://www.kptv.com/news/mayor-wheeler-on-rioters-setting-fire-at-portland-police-building-you-are-attempting-to-commit/article_8e01541e-d839-11ea-8736-4b746b521476.html
Yeah… another Fox station…
https://www.kptv.com/news/portland-police-declare-riot-at-east-precinct-tear-gas-used/article_96dcfea2-d7a4-11ea-ac47-bff4551cda79.html
https://www.foxnews.com/media/kennedy-portland-violence-oregon-governor-leadership-failed
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/24/donald-trump-mocks-ted-wheeler-portland-mayor-tear/
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/portland-officials-warn-non-violent-demonstrators-to-avoid-protests-that-veer-toward-destruction.html
probably the latter is a truer, more accurate story, rather than ‘cherry-picking’ of quotes… and, apparently, most recent…
I leave others to judge…
https://www.ibtimes.sg/shocking-portland-protesters-throw-paint-elderly-woman-harass-another-using-walker-video-49718
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Business_Times
For folk to judge the source, as they choose…
Oh thank you, I’m so flattered that you shadow my every comment.
There’s an actual video with this story as with my other link above so people can see and judge with their own eyes.
Obviously the riots haven’t died down after the Feds left as was the theme that liberals and the Vanguard tried to push.
I’m still trying to get Roman to tell this story but he sent Fox News some of his video for reasons we won’t get into and they ended up misrepresenting it in their coverage. So just because there is actual video, doesn’t necessarily make it accurate. The main point is that none of this was happening prior to intervention by the feds – they caused a much bigger problem than what existed previously. Okay, go back to posting video from right wing sources.
I guess the old lady poured the paint on her own head?
Okay, you too, go back to writing your stories using left wing sources as you normally do.
That is factually incorrect.
That may be true, though a differentiation is not made between peaceful, vs. non-peaceful protesters regarding that claim.
Regardless, the problem is continuing. I did not “search” for this article, but just happened upon it earlier today:
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/protesters-rally-in-portland-as-mayor-decries-violence/
The incident that Keith is reporting is also mentioned via the link to the article posted above.
Some actually believe that if the liberal mainstream media doesn’t report on an incident then it must not have happened.
Seemed like David was doubting it, even though it is appearing in what you might describe as the “liberal mainstream media”. That’s why I posted the comment / link.
Here’s another link regarding the ongoing problems:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/07/portland-mayor-blasts-protesters-you-are-attempting-to-commit-murder/