PORTLAND, Oregon — While the Proud Boys rally to “End Domestic Terrorism” at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park came and went within a short amount of time, members of antifa continued to stay out in the streets of “Rose City.”
Scheduled to start at 11 a.m. on Saturday, the “End Domestic Terrorism” rally coordinated by former InfoWars staffer Joe Biggs ended at around noon, with a majority of the group choosing to march across the nearby bridge.
One rallygoer, who did not want to be identified out of fear for his safety, told the Washington Examiner he decided to attend because he wants antifa to be recognized as a domestic terrorist group, saying they have “been committing a lot of violence, and nothing is being done about … they have rhetoric thinking ICE members are Nazis, and that’s just not true.”
With the rallygoers gone, antifa and counterprotesters, who vastly outnumbered the right-wing group, stayed in the park and spread out into the downtown area.
Often ignoring police commands to stay on the sidewalks, the antifa members marched around and engaged in small confrontations with individuals who were perceived or proclaimed to be against antifa. One case resulted in police using pepper balls and arresting a man on the counterprotest side who had advocated for fights throughout the day.
Antifa pushes a guy out of the park, don’t know why. As they push him out, antifa uses umbrellas to block reporters cameras.
At one point, the guy in the dog mask briefly turns his attention to me. pic.twitter.com/lN0hXyxKCQ
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 17, 2019
Antifa pushing another person out of the park, calling him a Nazi. pic.twitter.com/kc6FfyRbD4
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 17, 2019
A pepper ball is used by police as they make an arrest, the guy who was threatening me earlier. pic.twitter.com/wEdqWJCdhD
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 17, 2019
? BREKAING ? ANTIFA chases conservative protestors through Portland streets
They sprayed pepper spray, assaulted multiple victims including a young girl, tasered a teenager
Riot police on the scene, protestors on the ground cheered cops to jump off and kill themselves pic.twitter.com/baXhglUIRJ
— Elijah Schaffer S.O. (@ElijahSchaffer) August 17, 2019
No police in sight as antifa mob descends on men. A fight involving weapons breaks out. Video courtesy of @TPostMillennial. #PortlandProtests pic.twitter.com/ddbHB7gwCx
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) August 17, 2019
Protesters also taunted police, with some calling African American officers “Uncle Tom” and shouting, “Where’s your cabin?”
At one point, two buses carrying members of the American Guard, which the Anti-Defamation League describes as a white supremacist group, were stopped in traffic. Noticing their “Antifa = terrorism!” sign, the masked protesters began attacking the bus, throwing objects and banging on the sides. The door to one bus was eventually opened, and fighting broke out.
The buses were able to drive away, but not before multiple windows were smashed.
? BREAKING ? Antifa has major CLASH with Proud Boys on Portland bridge in traffic
A serious assault took place on PB’s after they busted the door of the bus, they also threw a metal hammer at them.
I also got pepper sprayed in the face with many others. Sorry for language pic.twitter.com/UwRsY4qq6G
— Elijah Schaffer S.O. (@ElijahSchaffer) August 17, 2019
When the buses left, antifa chased it down and broke windows. One antifa guy fell down. pic.twitter.com/ySyfIzO7ii
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 17, 2019
With city officials having promised ahead of the events that officers would stop any fighting, Portland Police said more than 1,200 people showed up to the protests, and they have made 13 arrests so far. Around 4:35 p.m., Portland Police declared the protests in the area to be a civil disturbance and ordered people to leave.
