Elizabeth Hovde did the unthinkable, she dared to tell her truth in a Progressive city. On October 28th 2018 the Oregonian published her opinion piece titled The Misunderstood Joey Gibson and the backlash was swift and aggressive.
Misunderstood
Elizabeth Hovde’s opinion piece was based off her time spent
with a local activist group known as Patriot Prayer and their leader Joey Gibson.
The rally opposing Washington gun-control Initiative 1639 took place at
Washington State University Vancouver campus.
Ahead of the rally the university chancellor cancelled
classes and advised students to remain off campus fearing violence. The Patriot
Prayer rally was anything but violent. Joey Gibson even set up a question and
answer period so that he could discuss his opinion with those who disagreed.
Hovde wrote what she experienced and submitted it to the
Oregonian editorial board for publication. It was published and immediately
attracted the attention of some powerful people who condemned her, called for
her to be fired and for people to target the Oregonians sponsors in an attempt
to shut down the long standing publication.
Journalists and
Public Officials for Censorship
It is a strange sight to see writers and journalists
offering support for censorship. They of course would deny that is their
ultimate goal. This denial would not be a lie, because they would believe that
they are not supporting censorship. Yet these same people would celebrate if
Hovde's article were taken down and she were fired.
I am reminded of Matthew 7:20 “Therefore by their fruits you
shall know them.” While they may not be calling for censorship directly nor do
they believe they are asking for that, their actions are going to result in
that outcome. As Thomas Sowell once said, “Consequences matter more than
intentions.”
Mayor Ted Wheeler, who has attempted to use his position as
Portland’s Mayor (and police commissioner) to falsely spread public fear in an
attempt to stifle the individual’s first amendments right to freedom of
expression, had this to say about Elizabeth Hovde article.
His statement shows that he clearly does not understand what
Patriot Prayer and Joey Gibson stand for. Joey Gibson has repeatedly called out
white supremacists and neo-Nazi’s and told them they are not welcome at his
rallies. The speakers at Patriot Prayer rallies are from different backgrounds
and ethnicities. At an event
on June 30th 2018 Patriot Prayer had Asian, Black, Hispanic, male,
female, Trans and LGBTQ attendees. Speakers included people of various
ethnicities and even a Trans person.
Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury had this to say.
She is stating that the Oregonian ‘complicit’ in stoking ‘violence
and hatred’ and that it is ‘unforgivable.’ If you were a supporter of Deborah
Kafoury and trust what she has to say, what are you supposed to take away from
this statement? She wants you to be mad at the Oregonian and to believe that
they are spreading hate and violence.
What sort of response should you have to an individual or
organization spreading hate and violence? Naturally you would experience fear
and in order to protect yourself from that fear you must oppose the Oregonian.
People like Ted Wheeler and Deborah Kafoury will tell you
that in order for them to protect you from this boogieman they must be given
more power and authority. Authority over where, when, and how people can protest
in Portland. Power over what can and cannot be published in the press.
Anna Griffin news director for OPB and Samantha Swindler
video producer, editor, and writer for the Oregonian had this to say about
their fellow writer and journalist:
Half Truths and the Weasel
Rhetoric of Alex Zielinski
Alex Zielinski of the Portland Mercury penned a response
to Elizabeth Hovde and the Oregonian. She starts by mentioning the tragedy of
11 people killed in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Why? Because she is trying to
tie two unrelated events together to make one look worse through association.
She even calls Hovde article The Misunderstood Joey Gibson a
‘love letter to the leader of the Portland area’s own far-right extremist
group.’ She even falsely calls Patriot Prayer a ‘militaristic group of
far-right provocateurs.’ Patriot Prayer is in no way militaristic, which means
advocating or pursuing an aggressive military policy.
She also goes on to mislead the reader about violence at
Patriot Prayer rallies. She frames these acts of violence as if they are spontaneous
and happen in a vacuum, when in reality there would be no violence if Antifa
did not show up and attack people, throw mortars, urine and bricks at crowds
peacefully taking part in a permitted march.
Alex also misleads her readers about claims made by Mayor
Ted Wheeler that Patriot Prayer members were ‘lugging rifles and ammunition’ to
a peaceful protest, which she puts in scare quotes. These claims were refuted
by Portland
Police. The men with guns all had legal concealed carry permits and 100%
cooperated with the police. When asked to leave the guns in a locked container
in one truck and the ammunition in a locked container in another truck the men
complied with the request. According to Portland Police “No laws were broken,
and there was not imminent danger to the public.”
Yet Alex and Mayor Ted Wheeler would have you believe they
were on the roof top with sniper rifles. Alex also makes the claim that LGBTQ
friends and Muslim neighbors ‘feel they must stay indoors or leave town
altogether’ when Patriot Prayer plans a protest. She offers no evidence or
proof of these statements but claims them as fact in the hope that you, the
reader, sympathize with these terrified characters that she created out of
whole cloth.
As Christopher Hitchens once said “What can be asserted
without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” She also outright lies
about Jeremy Christian, framing the man accused of fatally stabbing two men and
wounding a third on a MAX train as someone who is a mainstay of Patriot Prayer
rallies.
The fact is he was kicked out of the one Patriot Prayer
event he tried to attend. Here is video evidence of him being
kicked out of the one Patriot Prayer event he attended by Tiny and other
Patriot Prayer members.
She again tries to mislead her readers by saying “Every
single protest in Portland that ended in violence over the past year and a half
was organized by Patriot Prayer.” She makes is sound like Patriot Prayer is
going out and committing these acts of violence, but in reality the only reason
there is violence at these events is because Antifa shows up and attacks,
harasses, threaten and antagonize people who attend.
Antifa even left someone who came to protest
Patriot Prayer bloody laying in the street with a wound on the back of his
head that would require 4 staples to close. They did this because he was
carrying an American flag, a symbol of freedom and liberty. She then goes on to
accuse Hovde of “cropping out hateful rhetoric and violence.” Patriot Prayer
has offered a $2000 reward for video proof of Joey Gibson’s hateful rhetoric
and no one has been able to claim this prize.
Alex ends by condemning the Oregonian editorial board and insinuating
that her fellow citizens, who are part of Patriot Prayer, who could be her
neighbors, the guy pumping her gas or the mechanic working on her car, are not
worth listening to.
Portland Resistance
Demands Action or Else
Portland Resistance offered a condemnation of the Oregonian
claiming that “giving platform to this message is unconscionable, unethical,
and dangerous behavior.” They continue by making a list of demands. The demands
include:
1) Issue
a front-page apology to our community for their callousness and carelessness in
publishing the “The misunderstood Joey Gibson” opinion piece.
2) Fire
Elizabeth Hovde.
3) Discontinue
the practice of lending fascists a platform to recruit and legitimize their
hate.
First they do not represent a community, they were not
elected or selected and simply claiming you stand for someone does not mean you
actually represent them. You are not entitled to an apology for simply reading
an opinion you did not like, grow up.
They then want to destroy the career of Elizabeth Hovde over
an opinion piece they did not like. Lastly they accuse the Oregonian of “lending
fascists a platform to recruit and legitimize their hate.” A baseless accusation
of a paper that has published pieces criticizing Trump, Patriot Prayer, and
Joey Gibson in the past.
If you are on the Oregonian editorial board I offer this one
piece of advice, do NOT apologize. It will only be taken as an admission of
guilt on your part and will make things worse. Stand by your journalistic ethics.
They also threaten that if these demands are not met they “will
result in a strategic boycott of Oregonian advertisers, beginning with local
companies with progressive leanings and proceeding from there.” Essentially they
are threatening to bring financial harm to people who had nothing to do with
this opinion piece in the hope that they can force the newspaper to do what
they want.
This is a naked attempt to hold businesses and charities hostage
so that they can force the press to submit to their will. They justify this use
of force by claiming they are opposing “white supremacists.”
It is okay to disagree and I do not want any of the people
mentioned to be censored or fired, I would rather their ideas be out in the
open for everyone to see. But it is not okay to attempt to shut down, censor,
and suppress through the force of social ostracization. It is not okay to hold
businesses and charity hostage in an attempt to damage a newspaper who
published an opinion piece you disagree with.
I have often disagreed with the Oregonian and probably have
disagreements with Elizabeth Hovde, but I stand with their right to freedom of
speech and freedom of the press.
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