Wednesday night marked the 61st straight night of violent antifa riots outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Ore. Rioters threw the first mortar firework just before 11 p.m., and federal law enforcement cleared the area in the wee hours of the morning.
KGW News photojournalist Eric Patterson toured the area just in front of the federal courthouse and captured a video of the graffiti, burnt trash, and various signs of violence from the night before.
Let’s just say this wasn’t exactly a “peaceful protest.”
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Thanks to the hard work of federal agents who have defended this courthouse every night, facing lasers in their eyes, mortar firework attacks, and getting pelted by various projectiles, the federal courthouse in Portland has not yet burned down.
Andy Ngo, editor-at-large at The Post Millennial, argued that rioters “were more quickly repelled” on Wednesday night “because they lacked the huge crowds that gave them better cover to commit acts of violence.”
Violent protests continued overnight outside the Portland federal courthouse. Rioters were more quickly repelled because they lacked the huge crowds that gave them better cover to commit acts of violence. #antifa #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/Syam0T53Oz
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 30, 2020
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U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams condemned a journalist for refusing to call the violent attacks what they are.
“These aren’t late-night demonstrations. This is criminal activity. There’s a difference,” he said. “You seem unwilling to call people engaged in criminal conduct as criminals, as opposed to lawful protesting. There needs to be a distinction made between lawful, constitutionally-protected protest, and this. This is unlawful.”
U.S Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams gets irritated by biased media who refuse to accurately describe the criminal behavior of rioters trying to burn down the Portland federal courthouse. #PortlandRiots https://t.co/byBbGTaK1I pic.twitter.com/w2XnezbX86
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 30, 2020
For Thursday night, Gov. Kate Brown (D-Ore.) finally allowed Oregon State Police to join federal officers to protect the federal courthouse. As Ngo tweeted, “This should have been the arrangement months ago but the state & city governments hate Trump so much they refused to protect federal property.”
Per an agreement between @OregonGovBrown & @DHS_Wolf, there are OR State Police visibly protecting the federal courthouse starting now. This should have been the arrangement months ago but the state & city governments hate Trump so much they refused to protect federal property.
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 31, 2020
The new arrangement should weaken the antifa rioters, but the violence is likely to continue.
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.