‘Patriot Prayer’ backer killed in Portland
Protesters clash with Trump supporters
A man fatally shot on a Portland street amid clashes between Trump supporters and protesters was a “good friend” of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, founder Joey Gibson said Sunday.
It was not immediately clear whether the shooting Saturday night was related to the confrontations, police said. Patriot Prayer supporters have frequently clashed with Black Lives Matters protesters in the embattled city since Memorial Day, when the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody prompted protests nationwide.
President Donald Trump responded with a Twitter barrage Sunday aimed at protesters, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and top Democrats in Congress.
Videos of Saturday’s shooting circulated on social media, and Portland police pleaded with the public to aid the investigation.
“If anyone can provide information about this case, I ask them to please reach out to our detectives,” Police Chief Chuck Lovell said. “This violence is completely unacceptable, and we are working diligently to find and apprehend the individual or individuals responsible.”
Police said a caravan of hundreds of vehicles carrying Trump supporters from a rally in nearby Clackamas Saturday slowly rolled through downtown. Officers responded to fights, disturbances and collisions and made some arrests Saturday night. By around 8:30 p.m. local time, the caravan had left downtown. The shooting took place about 15 minutes later.
Photos from the scene showed the victim wearing a Patriot Prayer hat. Gibson said he arrived at the scene shortly after it happened and was briefly corralled in a gas station by protesters.
“All I can do is verify that he was a good friend and a supporter of Patriot Prayer,” Gibson said
Trump took to Twitter on Sunday, again urging local leaders to call in the National Guard. Residents of Portland and other cities led by Democrats are disgusted with their leadership and with top Democrats in Washington, Trump said.
“Wheeler is incompetent, much like Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump tweeted. “This is not what our great Country wants. They want Safety & Security, and do NOT want to Defund our Police!”
Biden on Sunday condemned the “violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right.”
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., national co-chairman for the Biden campaign, said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Trump “keeps talking about what Biden’s America would look like. Well, this is Trump’s America.”
Gov. Kate Brown said Trump has “encouraged division and stoked violence.”
“This could all have been prevented,” said Bobbin Singh, executive director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center. “There were 100 different decisions that could have led us on a different path.”
At the Republican National Convention last week, the president held up Portland as an example of a far-left city drowning in violence – and in need of his law-and-order, get-tough policies.
About 1,000 cheering, flag-waving Trump supporters gathered in Clackamas, Oregon, on Saturday.
“This rally is not a protest,” Alex Kyzik, an organizer, told the crowd before the caravan rolled to Portland. “This rally is a celebration of a great president.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, cited an increase in hate crimes and growing dissatisfaction with social injustice during Trump’s tenure in the White House.