Left Coast Right Watch

Portland

  • EYEWITNESSES & VICTIM DESCRIBE SHOOTING & PROUD BOY VIOLENCE IN PORTLAND

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    by ABNER HAUGE & SEAN BECKNER-CARMITCHEL

    EDITOR'S NOTE : Sean Beckner-Carmitchel is an independent videographer, stringer, journalist and wine-and-cheese boyfriend local to the Los Angeles area. He wrote the section in this article titled ‘THE GUNFIGHT.’ You can see his work at @ACatWithNews on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. His Venmo is @ACatWithNews.

    All indications were that antifascists already won before the day even started.

    Richard, a beloved Portland local who shows up to nearly every damn protest, sat down next to me. I asked him how he’s been and he sat down on the bench next to me and started explaining, out of the blue, something I think is called a ‘short rush game’ in American football. The idea, if I’m remembering it right, is you make a bunch of short, quick pushes forward in the first one or two quarters to exhaust the other team and then really go for it in the last half of the game while they’re worn out.

    “Sort of like Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope strategy right?” I asked Richard.

    “Yeah,” he said, before getting up to join a bunch of others yelling at some passerby to stop taking pictures of the 300 or so kids decked out in black bloc.

    It was all downhill from there.

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  • PORTLAND FASCISTS TERRORIZE DOWNTOWN UNDER GUISE OF ‘PROTECTING’ COVID-SPREADING PREACHER

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    by CHIP NOOO

    EDITOR'S NOTE : Chip_nooo (he/him) is a full time video editor and freelance photographer residing in the Pacific North West. When not working or on the ground documenting political activism, he can usually be found napping or designing, shooting and 3D printing firearms. You can tip him for his work at $chipsneed on cashapp and @chip-sneed on Venmo.

    The weather was pristine on Sunday as I walked down Jefferson Street towards Tom McCall Water Front Park in downtown Portland. The sun was out and it couldn’t have been more than 75 degrees. Even though it was only 6 o’clock, I could already hear the familiar sound of gospel music drifting through the city. Along the way, I passed several families toting lawn chairs and sporting Jesus paraphernalia ranging from t-shirts to flags, hats and poster board signs. As someone that grew up in the church, none of this was new to me, although the flags were a slight surprise. Throughout the night I continued to see worshippers waving multicolored flags while dancing to the music played by Sean Feucht and his band.

    “This must be some new wave Christian shit,” I thought to myself.

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  • GROUNDHOG DAY IN PORTLAND: PEACE POLICE, LEAFBLOWERS, BLACK UNITY AND A WHOLE LOT OF STANDING AROUND

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    by GRIFFIN MALONE

    EDITOR'S NOTE : Griffin Malone is an independent journalist covering Portland protests, far right, local politics, and the justice system. They can be found on twitter, @griffinmalone6, and can be reached via Signal at 781-670-7233. Their Patreon is www.patreon.com/griffins and their cashapp is $griffinmalone

    A busy day in Portland was seemingly going to end in broken windows, graffiti, and a tear gas fight with the feds. A confusing night unfolded with Black Unity showing up, Peace Police, and whole lot of infighting.

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  • AUGUST 15: WARWOLVES OF PORTLAND

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    by JAMES O'RYAN

    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.

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

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    by JAMES O'RYAN

    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.

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  • PORTLAND POLICE PROMISE VIOLENCE, DELIVER

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    by TJ PARTRIDGE

    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.

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

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    by ABNER HÄUGE

    ‘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.

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

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    by ABNER HÄUGE

    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.

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

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    by ABNER HÄUGE

    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.”

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

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    by ABNER HÄUGE | Left Coast Right Watch

    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.

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