By Matthew Vadum ——Bio and Archives--July 26, 2018
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Joey Gibson and Patriot Prayer have short memories, but our community does not. Rose City Antifa knows now, just as we did last year: Gibson is a magnet for violent white supremacists and bigots. The time between then and now has only reinforced our resolve, and the evidence of Patriot Prayer’s racist ties has accumulated to undeniable quantities. We will not allow racists and fascists to parade through Portland’s streets, threatening activists and targeting at-risk communities. No matter how many times they try to sneak back in, this city will stand united against them. We ask the community to join us at 4:00 pm on June 3rd in Terry Schrunk Plaza, to show Patriot Prayer, just as we showed them last year, that their violence and hatred has no place in Portland.In other words, Antifa believes it has the right to police Portland for any sign of white supremacists and fascists. The problem is, the communists and anarchists of Antifa, who openly reject the First Amendment, promiscuously label many people and groups they consider enemies as “fascists.” Patriot Prayer is a Tea Party-ish group that has been targeted and attacked relentlessly by Antifa and its allies in the mainstream media as a haven for neo-Nazis, white-supremacists, and fascists without a shred of evidence. Joey Gibson, an American citizen of Japanese ancestry, started Patriot Prayer after several supporters of President Trump were beaten in San Jose, California, on the campaign trail. He has said one of his top goals is to “liberate the conservatives on the West Coast,” and that he wants to educate Antifa supporters and “bring them out of the darkness.”
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The clash between the two groups came a year after Patriot Prayer organized a June 4, 2017 “Trump Free Speech Rally” in downtown Portland. As that rally was wrapping up, “police moved into Chapman Square, where a majority of the counter-protesters had been gathered. Police used flash-bang grenades, pepper balls, and other crowd control tactics to clear the park after reporting that some people in the group were throwing things at officers. Police later said they seized several ‘weapons’ like sticks and projectiles.” Rose City Antifa was founded in 2007, according to a Politico profile last year.
- 36-year-old Jonathan D. Feit was arrested near Southwest 2nd Avenue and Southwest Columbia Street on charges of Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree
- 32-year-old Andrew Arbow was arrested at Terry Schrunk Plaza on charges of Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
- 43-year-old Gregory N. Isaacson was detained at Terry Schrunk Plaza, cited and released for Failure to Comply with a Lawful Order.
- 26-year-old Bryan A. Neyman was arrested on four counts of fourth-degree assault and one count of third-degree robbery.
For much of its existence, the group largely relied on shout-downs and public displays of force as their primary tactics. Recently they’ve added the cyber weapon of doxxing—exposing personal information such as addresses, places of employment, and dates of birth and schools, even if it means innocent families mistakenly targeted by antifa begin receiving threats. Such tactics have been “effective because they raise the cost of participation,” Stanislav Vysotsky, who researches political extremism with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, told POLITICO Magazine.The Rose City Antifa group doesn’t care if innocent people get caught in the crossfire or if constitutional rights are trampled in the process. This article by Matthew Vadum first appeared July 25, 2018, at Capital Research Center.
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Matthew Vadum, matthewvadum.blogspot.com, is an investigative reporter.
His new book Subversion Inc. can be bought at Amazon.com (US), Amazon.ca (Canada)
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