Protest violence again thrusts city into spotlight

Death of civility dismays proudly liberal Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. — Viral videos of bloody skirmishes between rightwing activists and self-described anti-fascists have drawn national attention to Portland, Oregon, a city of storied political activism that has struggled to keep the peace at dueling rallies.

It offers a microcosm of the nation’s political division.

Tensions erupted most recently this month when members of the “antifa” movement showed up at a march organized by a right-wing group called Patriot Prayer.

Videos from the conflict on social media show one man being knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly as he covers his head with his hands. In another, a man lying on the ground is dragged away from a group of attackers, his face bloodied. In a third, two men take swings at a third man who is backed against a wall with his arms raised.

Police made four arrests June 3 in and around the parks, which have become gathering places for dissent in this liberal city already known for near-weekly protests.

And residents wondered how free speech had turned so violent.

Protesters here traditionally have demonstrated together for their causes. But over the past year, a different type of political activism has shattered the unanimity normally seen among demonstrators, said longtime Portland resident Jon Baldivieso.

“It obscures better forms of political speech,” he said. “It feels different when protests are more one-sided and not skirmishes between ideological factions . ... I’ve got very low patience for physical confrontation.”

While Patriot Prayer isn’t considered a white supremacist or hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, its members march alongside right-wing groups promoting free speech rights by rejecting political correctness, said Ryan Lenz, a Southern Poverty Law Center spokesman.

Those marches have drawn a forceful reaction from a left-wing movement known as the antifa, which is dedicated to rooting out neo-Nazis and white supremacists, he said.

Patriot Prayer has held marches and rallies in many other cities that have drawn violent reactions. But the Portland events have taken on outsized significance because of the stabbing deaths a year ago of two men who came to the defense of two young black women, one in a hijab, who were being harassed on a lightrail train by a Patriot Prayer sympathizer.

In the aftermath, Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson organized a rally that attracted thousands from both sides to downtown Portland.

The ensuing chaos shut down much of the city’s core, and police arrested more than a dozen people amid widespread fighting.

Kristena Hansen The Associated Press file Protesters gather in Portland, Ore., in 2017 for competing rallies after the fatal stabbing of two men on a light-rail train.