Don't look away.
This is history unfolding before our eyes, a scant 200 miles away.
Not in a dusty courtroom, not in a news studio, but on the streets.

Those federal goons sure did restore order in a hurry!

Tear gassing white middle class mothers is going to make from interesting optics that are not going to help 45's narrative about cracking down on violent looters one little bit.

@2: No

That's what I admire most about authoritarians. Everyone from the post office to school teachers represents a threat to the American values they hold dear, but you give some jack boot thugs nightstick and teargas to attacks terrorist groups like "Moms Against Police Brutality" and suddenly those thugs become valorious symbols of the law and order all the values we hold dear.

I guess it's nothing new. 30% of the Colonials supported the British during the war of independence as well.

New motto for the law and order group: "Oh please, PLEASE tread on me master- Lick, lick."

@6: Great theater and fireworks isn't it? The optics are cutting edge. But I think that "Kittens Against Police Brutality" would be way too risky to stage.

@8, for good measure they also trashed corporate hegemon Victrola Coffee and Roasters. Nice to see support for local business.

Interesting how protesters weren't destroying businesses until the fed goons showed up.

Is this what democracy looks like? With federal goons in the streets, history hangs in the balance. Whether the Trump regime's Portland gambit is purely political or an attempted coup, the danger is enormous.

https://www.salon.com/2020/07/19/is-this-what-democracy-looks-like-federal-troops-are-in-the-streets-history-hangs-in-the-balance/

Like we're supposed to pretend that tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters were in Portland peacefully protesting and they were not violent. The link below actually (if you scroll down) includes numerous articles on the peaceful protests and the number of arrests being single digits.

https://dailyhive.com/portland/portland-police-use-no-force?auto=true

Gee, what changed? Oh yeah THE VIOLENCE AMPED UP BY COPS AND THEN THE TRUMP GOON SQUAD. THIS IS A STAGED CRISIS CREATED BY THE COPS AND OTHER PEOPLE CLAIMING THEY ARE POLICE ALL DRESSED LIKE THEY ARE FIGHTING A WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST. REMOVE THE VIOLENT SO-CALLED LAW ENFORCEMENT AND YOU REMOVE THE PROBLEM. PERIOD.

There is plenty of evidence that the protests were non-violent. But hey, let's pretend a bunch of commenters on SLOG know what's REALLY happening in Portland because they have opinions. At least living in Oregon, I follow lots of organizations that have feet on the ground in the middle of it all - including Don't Shoot Portland.

I will say as I have said a number of times already.
What Trump is doing is NOT normal.
What Trump is doing is NOT normal.
What Trump is doing MUST be stopped.

Anyone defending what is happening in Portland blaming it on Black Lives Matter protesters is 100% wrong.

Anyone believing if Trump gets away with this blatant abuse of power in Portland that he won't do it other cities where more Black people will be the targets and the victims (he's already talking Chicago) you are just plain stupid. This is a fucking problem. Wake the fuck up.

Trump's goons are attacking actual members of the military in Portland.

GOPstapo meets a real serviceman in Portland. Go Navy!

Federal police strike protester with baton, use pepper spray and tear gas outside courthouse in Portland pic.twitter.com/VX2xTVaaYq
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) July 19, 2020

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/7/19/1962028/-GOPstapo-meets-a-real-serviceman-in-Portland-Go-Navy?utm_campaign=trending

Seattle protesters are getting jealous now.

Well Donald, looks like Seattle and Portland are all yours. Go for it!

"That oath of office is essentially swearing loyalty to the Constitution of the United States, and what they're doing is not constitutional anymore."

https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/474091-383299-portland-protester-describes-beating-by-federal-officers-

@10: Oh, so the presence of federal officers is permission to destroy. Got it.

Someone who is witnessing (and writing about it) in Portland.
https://twitter.com/alex_zee

Using unmarked security forces is a despot's distinctive tactic, and can be unconstitutional in the United States, especially when done without following proper police procedure. In fact, it is likely a violation of the Department of Justice rules. In 2014, the Civil Rights Division criticized Ferguson, Missouri police for allowing their officers not to display their names on their uniforms, calling it an "almost universal requirement for sound police practice."

Not identifying the agency is much, much worse. There is zero liability; there is no process to track abuse. Everything but guarantees excesses.

It is not the first time that Trump has deployed federal forces against protesters. For his infamous biblical photo shoot near the White House last month, in which peaceful protesters were forcefully dispersed using shock grenades, pepper spray, and swinging batons, he used officers from the Bureau of Prisons, the Park Police and others.

Unexplained and unidentified security operations are a favorite practice of dictators with questionable intent.

https://newsdio.com/anonymous-security-that-forces-citizens-to-get-into-cars-is-a-mark-of-dictatorship-opinion/137929/

“We have dozens, if not hundreds of federal troops descending upon our city. And … they are sharply escalating the situation. Their presence is actually leading to more violence and more vandalism. It’s not helping the situation at all. They’re not wanted here. We haven’t asked them here. In fact, we want them to leave.”

Portland: protesters' outrage grows over federal officers' 'blatant abuse'
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/19/portland-police-federal-agents-protest?CMP=share_btn_fb

For those who do not understand English or the concept of sarcasm: The protesters are not the ones destroying property in Portland. Please drive through.

And here we go:

Trump may deploy federal agents to Chicago this week: Portland-style response an option? If Trump sends a Portland-style military action to Chicago, it would represent a dramatic escalation between Trump and Mayor Lightfoot.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/7/19/21330653/trump-may-deploy-federal-agents-to-chicago-this-week-portland-style-response-an-option

oregon’s government is taking legal action against the federal government, and for good f’n reason. this is not about a few out-of-line protestors. always proud of my roots.

separately but possibly related, like @10 insinuates, i have a hard time imagining any sane seattleite smashing up any victrola location. who knows who it was, but seems near to obvious they’re not from around here.

whoops.

@6: Indeed. These are the people who claim that it's tyranny to deny bigoted evangelical bakers the right to ruin somebody's wedding by sanctimoniously refusing to bake a cake for the reception-even when they're the only bakery in town, and even when it's none of their business who the couple getting married is.

Kate Brown needs to mobilize the Oregon National Guard to get the Fed thugs the hell out of town.

@8: "Meanwhile in downtown Seattle, protestors trashed a Starbucks, a Walgreens, and the Amazon Go store. Just a little preview of the cop free future that awaits us!"

Typical cop no accountability gas lighting. The police created this mess and continue to escalate it, then tell us how bad it would be if they were not round to incite the rioters in the first place.

Just a partial list (400 + and counting) of the violent abuses of their authority police have perpetrated against the American public since they set all this off with the execution of George Floyd:

https://nitter.net/greg_doucette

The police are never accountable when they break the law, so instead meticulously document every minor crime committed by a tiny minority of rioters. This is all an effort to distract from the overwhelming number of peaceful protests out there along with the majority of Americans they have convinced that police are racist, gratuitously violent and rarely if ever accountable for their actions. Being a cop means it's always someone else's fault. If you have a 6 year old has home, pretty much that with a badge a gun and impulse control problems.

This is why the police cannot be reformed despite calls to do so for over 100 years now. Police will callously murder a handcuffed defenseless black man one minute, then tell you should be focused on a jay walker instead the next.

You cannot reform a sociopath because they have no accountability for their actions. With fewer cops, we would see less police criminality that inspires the civilian criminality in response to it.

Defund, defund, defund!

So protesters on Capitol Hill were throwing fireworks at cops tonight, injuring 12, one severely.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle-downtown-protesters-marching-property-damage/281-fd0279c7-25e0-4caf-9cbd-286332f427f0

Sad that we mourn the passing of John Lewis, and then we cheer on those people who ignore his instructions about non-violent protest. America deserves better. John Lewis' legacy deserves better.

@27 So sad that people pretend that John Lewis would not be totally outraged by the feds sending goons to arrest protesters. So sad that trolls whitewash Civil Rights icons. So sad @27 thinks he can speak for John Lewis when he obviously has no clue the violence he experienced at the hands of cops in this country. So sad concern trolls pretend to know about people whom they know nothing. So sad doing the same thing to John Lewis done to Martin Luther King, Jr. Saddest of all is that concern trolls believe their bullshit.

The Long, Painful History of Police Brutality in the U.S.
A 1963 protest placard in the Smithsonian collections could almost be mistaken for any of the Black Lives Matter marches of today

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-painful-history-police-brutality-in-the-us-180964098/

John Lewis: 'Serious mistake' for Trump to use military to quash protests
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/501126-john-lewis-serious-mistake-for-trump-to-use-military-to-quash-protests

How White Backlash Controls American Progress
Backlash dynamics are one of the defining patterns of the country’s history.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/white-backlash-nothing-new/611914/

The Part About MLK White People Don’t Like to Talk About
https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2019/01/22/the-part-about-mlk-white-people-don2019t-like-to-talk-about/

Meanwhile:
A Group Of Moms Formed A Human Wall To Protect Portland Protesters From Federal Officers
"We’ll be out until no protester needs protecting”

We know from the timeline that they showed restraint,” Barnum said, comparing the way federal authorities dispersed the mothers to the way they have been treating protesters on previous nights.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/moms-human-wall-portland-protest-federal-officers

From Antifa to Mothers in Helmets, Diverse Elements Fuel Portland Protests

Protesters have been in the streets for more than 50 consecutive days. Federal agents deployed to Portland have hardened their resolve to stay there.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/19/us/portland-protests.html

House Dems Demand Abuse of Power Investigation After Federal Agents Storm Portland
“The Attorney General of the United States does not have unfettered authority.”

“The legal basis for this use of force has never been explained—and, frankly, it is not at all clear that the Attorney General and the Acting Secretary are authorized to deploy federal law enforcement officers in this manner,” the congressional committee chairs wrote in their letter Sunday. “The Attorney General of the United States does not have unfettered authority to direct thousands of federal law enforcement personnel to arrest and detain American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.”

The Trump administration appeared to double down on Sunday, announcing that this week, the president plans to roll out a new directive aimed at expanding federal police power in cities across the country.

https://www.motherjones.com/anti-racism-police-protest/2020/07/house-dems-demand-abuse-of-power-investigation-after-federal-agents-storm-portland/

Portland Moms took on the GOPstapo tonight. too. Hundreds of them. Bye Bye Trump Goons!
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23portlandmoms&src=trend_click

If messing with a temporary fence requires tear gas, when somebody breaks a window they'll be calling in air strikes.

If messing with a temporary fence requires tear gas, then don't mess with it.

@41 I thought your theory was that these protesters were looking for a thrill. If that's the case, then giving them tear gas is giving them exactly what they want. These role-play Anarchists are having as much fun with this as Trump's role-play Sturmabteilung.

Fran Klutz and the anti-Antifacists want us to use the far "right's" politically-correct term "Antifa" and never ever to use the term Anti-Fascist because, whoft Loves Fascism/fascists anyway?

Anti-antifascists, that's who.

43, cont'd: and you're either With the Fascists
or you're Against them. Hard to Remember
but WE the People Fought* a Fucking WAR
against them -- pretty recently.

*and WON!
which is why we're (Most of us're)
N O T SPEAKING GERMAN right now.

can you say "trumpf"?

When an abbreviation of a term that describes a movement becomes unacceptable, then maybe it's time to question the integrity and sincerity of the movement itself.

right as the Rain, rainy, as per usual:

If we cannot (comfortably) say 'antifa'
it's Time for them all to go Home.

Let us try 'Fuck the Fascists,' instead.

@48: Works for me. But then don't go complaining about "fuckfa".

@49 -- your innate desire
to Control others is
unsurprising.

@50 - fair point - then consider it guidance.

@51
well, there you go
again.

@26: "So protesters on Capitol Hill were throwing fireworks at cops tonight, injuring 12, one severely."

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle-downtown-protesters-marching-property-damage/281-fd0279c7-25e0-4caf-9cbd-286332f427f0

You left out the most important part of this news account:

"SEATTLE POLICE SAID"

With every video surveillance from George Floyd on we have the police lying about what actually happened, the news repeating that lie, the video coming out, then the policing changing their story to reflect what actually happen and the news regurgitating that.

You're welcome to continue believing the statements of a group that has consistently been caught lying to us since they killed George Floyd, but integrity would dictate you include "police said" in your statement so the rest of who are keeping track know we are once again being lied to.

Doing what KING 5 would never think to do, I checked the SPD blotter today and see no charges, or evidence of anyone being charged with assaulting a single police officer, let alone 12. The KOMO picture included with the story shows a Starbucks they claimed was "trashed" with the window in tact and no visible damage.

Why if I were cynical, I might suspect this was one of many self serving lies the SPD has been caught making over the past several months that KOMO then repeats as click bait with the legal protection "according to police."

@55: Because the assailants have yet to be identified.

I wasn't drunk or high (as I do partake of either alcohol or drugs), I was WIDE AWAKE and it was happening in real time (the protest in Portland with the moms facing off with the wanna be gestapo goons Trump deployed). I live in Oregon. I find this entire shit show extremely disturbing. Thanks for playing. Please drive through.

*do NOT partake.

@56: Only of the "cops job" is to do nothing to actually stop those doing the property damage, then run to the media and complain about the destruction. If that's the job of policing, they certainly don't need guns or body army. I feel like not doing their job to stop property crime, then reporting that property damage to the media could be done in short and T's.

@57 "once again, "according to police." It's like a nervous tick with you to always leave that out.

There are plenty of photographers taking photographs of what the ACTUAL protesters look like and are doing in Portland vs. the bullshit stories being told here about bored, violent, white people. They include the cops and fed goons tear gassing people, including the wall of moms (even pregnant women).

https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2020/06/4-portland-photographers-on-covering-the-blm-protests

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wall-moms-stand-between-portland-black-lives-matter-protesters-federal-n1234323

https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/the-world-needs-to-see-this-the-story-behind-the-iconic-photo-of-the-burnside-bridge-protest-in-portland.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/19/us/portland-protests.html

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/07/black-photographers-capture-history-at-portland-protests.html

There are many more, easily found via a simple internet search. The violence is being instigated by the so-called law enforcement. They beat a Navy vet with a bat and pepper sprayed him in the face. They are physically harming people who are simply exercising their First Amendment rights.

All people defending these actions and vilifying protesters as bored, privileged white people really have no fucking idea what is going on. Look around the country. Look what has been happening since the day George Floyd was murdered. This movement is huge and it is much larger than any one person.

@39,

Plagiarism? Seriously.... What the fuck are you even talking about? She wrote the piece for The Mercury and it was cross posted here I'm honestly at a complete loss to even figure out who you're accusing of what.

You're the stupidest mother fucker on the slog these days, which is quite the accomplishment. Congratulations. Honey.

Riots aren't endearing. Why does this only happen during night-time? If it is a peaceful protest, do it during the day. And get a permit.

@42: "If messing with a temporary fence requires tear gas, then don't mess with it."

In other words:

"Well if you don't want to get raped, stop dressing like a floozy"

There, did I do that right?

@28~ So breaking windows is somehow going to advance your cause? Good grief. Grow up.