Left Coast Right Watch

Tagged: Portland

  • AUGUST 15: WARWOLVES OF PORTLAND

    EDITOR'S NOTE : James O’Ryan is a Portland-based journalist writes for LCRW on ongoing local issues such as far-right violence and police brutality. You can contribute to his work at @PunchableFace on Venmo. We’re trying to raise $300 for his work on this article.

    An unusual scene began during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. Among the activists manning the western barricade, word rapidly spread that Proud Boys or some other form of alt-right militia was approaching the edge of the action in a limousine with a camera crew. Protesters and press alike couldn’t seem to believe what they were hearing and a decent size crowd formed behind the barricade.

  • PORTLAND, AUGUST 9TH–PROTESTERS COMPLY WITH DISPERSAL ORDER, POLICE ASSAULT THEM ANYWAY

    EDITOR'S NOTE : James O’Ryan is a Portland-based journalist who’s going to be writing for LCRW on ongoing local issues such as far-right violence and police brutality. You can contribute to his work at @PunchableFace on Venmo. We’re trying to raise $300 for his work on this article.

    Kenton Park is a rolling, twelve acre, green-space in this tightly-packed city. People from the neighborhood had begun quietly assembling on Sunday, August 9 2020, in socially-distanced and masked groups at the north end of the park since around 6 PM. Unlike the visually packed spaces in the city center so famous from national and international headlines, this scene is more reminiscent of pastoral, little “a” anarchists on holiday during the plague times. Another stark contrast to what national news shows and talking heads discuss, this crowd is noticeably diverse. Portland is a majority white city in the whitest state in the country. The larger number of BIPOC activists present here is indicative of both the neighborhood and the continuing dedication of activists of color to not only control the narrative but to create it.

  • PORTLAND POLICE PROMISE VIOLENCE, DELIVER

    EDITOR'S NOTE : TJ Partridge is a Portland-based journalist who plans to cover ongoing issues in the city for LCRW. You can help pay for his hard work on CashApp here and Venmo at the address @LABreaux. We’re trying to raise $350 to pay him for this article and his live coverage last night.

    On the heels of a night wherein the Portland Police Bureau beat, flashbanged, and gassed a crowd through the streets of outer Southeast Portland, the teenage-led activist group Youth Liberation Front posted a follow up call to action in the East Portland neighborhood. The announcement, of course, was not unnoticed by the Portland Police Bureau, whose official Twitter account stated unequivocally that “this call for direct action… will not go unanswered,” and that it “[meant] there [was] intent to engage in violent actions.” The interaction would prove to influence both fear in protesters’ minds and anger in the actions of the PPB officers later in the evening.

  • "IT CONSUMES YOUR LIFE". INTERVIEW WITH A PORTLAND PROTESTER

    ‘TRANS RIGHTS’ is, in my opinion, a brilliant alias. That’s what my interviewee chose to call herself for this article.

    Before I even asked a question, there were a few things TRANS RIGHTS wanted to make clear: She’s white. She’s trans. She lives in Portland. Portland is stolen Chinook land. Oregon was founded as a literal ethnostate. While it was founded as a ‘free state’–meaning no slavery–black people couldn’t live there by law. The 14th Amendment wasn’t ratified until 1973.

  • INTERVIEW: ROSA FROM THE WITCHES PDX ON POLICE BRUTALITY, HEXING FASCISTS AND MORE

    At one point during our conversation, Rosa cleared her throat.

    “Excuse me,” she said. “It’s the teargas, not COVID.”

    Rosa is a lead organizer with The Witches PDX. She spoke to LCRW about the group’s mutual aid work, the brutality of the state and federal law enforcement’s response to the now over 50 days of continuous in Portland and the shared experiences both of trauma and kinship during the daily assault by police.

  • Antifascists Allege They Were Chased by Proud Boys with a Knife after Q-anon Rally

    UPDATE MAY 4TH, 2020: This article has been updated to include a brief description from witnesses of the the signs the QAnon ralliers were holding and an explanation of the QAnon beleif in a “Great Awakening.”

  • WASHINGTON QANON CANDIDATE REPORTS PORTLAND MUTUAL AID ORGANIZATION TO FBI FOR GIVING AWAY FLOUR

    UPDATE 4/27/20 7:12 AM: A quote attributed to Patriot Front founder Thomas Rousseau was removed because of doubts as to the authenticity of the Twitter account it came from.
    UPDATE 4/27/20 9:54PM: This article was updated to include a statement from Symbiosis PDX and more information on Amber Krabach’s participation in a far-right rally in January this year.

  • WHEN A PORTLAND TRANS WOMAN WAS ATTACKED, A PATRIOT PRAYER ASSOCIATE APAPRENTLY CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY AND ANOTHER HARASSED HER GOFUNDME

    Tweet Deme Cooper sent out apparently claiming responsibility for the February 10th attack.
    UPDATE 8:06PM: This article has been updated to include breaking news on another attack.
    UPDATE FEBRUARY 22, 12:06PM: This article has been updated to correctly attribute the breaking report on 2/17.