Tensions remain high in Portland, Oregon, one of the centres of widespread national civil rights protests last summer, after a far-right rally on Sunday commemorating a past clash turned violent itself.
Hundreds of people, including far-right street fighters from the Proud Boys gang and anti-fascist demonstrators, fought in the streets of Northeast Portland, using mace, pepper spray, paintball guns, clubs and mortar fireworks as weapons.
(Getty Images)
A 65-year-old was arrested on Sunday evening after firing a handgun at what appeared to be a group of anti-fascists, and was charged with unlawful possession and use of a weapon.
Earlier in the week, city officials warned they might not directly intervene in expected clashes.
Members of the Proud Boys (L) clash with anti-fascist activists following a far-right rally on August 22, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. - Far-right groups, including the Proud Boys held a rally in Portland on the anniversary of a violent altercation with anti-fascist activist a year earlier. (AFP via Getty Images)
“We are dedicated to keeping the peace. Our ask is simple: We are asking you to choose love,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said on Friday during a press conference. “People should not necessarily expect to see the police standing in the middle of the crowd trying to keep people apart. People need to keep themselves apart and avoid physical confrontation.”
A mayoral spokesperson told Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) the police were aware of the clashes “within minutes” and planned to make arrests after the fact.
A flipped-over van lies in a parking lot after an altercation between members of the Proud Boys and anti-fascist activists following a far-right rally on August 22, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. - Far-right groups, including the Proud Boys held a rally in Portland on the anniversary of a violent altercation with anti-fascist activist a year earlier. (AFP via Getty Images)
Violence continued into the early evening on Sunday. Proud Boys flipped over and defaced a van that pulled into a parking lot near their event, and ransacked a truck believed to belong to a left-wing protester, who himself received numerous injuries. Anti-fascists also reportedly harassed and attacked local journalists.
“I saw this dude beating a woman,” a witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told OPB of the van. “There was like two ladies that got hit. It was a nightmare, it was f****** terrifying.”
Right-Wing activist Phillip Anderson (L) gives a speech while shrouded in yellow smoke during a far-right rally on August 22, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. - Far-right groups, including the Proud Boys held a rally in Portland on the anniversary of a violent altercation with anti-fascist activist a year earlier. (AFP via Getty Images)
As the chaos continued, Proud Boys appropriated a Black Lives Matter slogan, chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!”
The event began at an ironically named far-right event honouring the “Summer of Love,” last year’s protests in Portland which often featured violent clashes between left- and right-wing groups amid broader, peaceful civil rights activism.
PORTLAND, OR - AUGUST 22: A member of the far-right group Proud Boys aims a paintball gun while leaving a demonstration with a Statue of Liberty replica in the bed of the truck on August 22, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. The Proud Boys and other far-right extremists fought with left-wing activists in Portland on the anniversary of a similar fight in 2020. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
“We’re not going to stand down,” Proud Boy Tusitala “Tiny” Toese told the crowd from a makeshift stage, warning the group was “not playing this time.”
Portland police arrest a man who allegedly exchanged gunfire with two other men near a rally held by the far-right group Proud Boys on August 22, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. A large left-wing crowd gathered in downtown to counter a planned far-right, Proud Boy rally. (Getty Images)
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