The Attack on Andy Ngo and Portland's Rule of Mob

Last weekend we saw the first major event of the protest season in Portland Oregon. Antifa showed up in force and marched down the streets hand in hand with violence and hated.

Double speak chants issued from the black clad crowd. “No Hate, No Fear, Proud Boys are not welcome here.” Were these chants to protest hatred and fear or were they an attempt to purge this feeling from their own hearts?

Andy Ngo

Andy Ngo is a Portland based independent journalist who has worked extensively covering the protests in Portland Oregon. He documents what happens and shares the video on social media as well as writes articles for publications such as Quillette and the Wall Street Journal.

Saturday he was covering several of the events in downtown Portland, excited about his new GoPro camera. Sadly that excitement was short lived when a large group of Antifa protesters, dressed in all black and in masks to obscure their identities, descended on him.

It started with someone pointing him out specifically and telling the crowd he was a ‘bad person.’ This singling out was all that was needed to provide the incentive for the mob to unleash their fury.

First it was someone throwing a drink, probably a milkshake, on Andy. This action was met with cheers and applause. Bolstered by this reaction other members of the crowd quickly stepped up to escalate the violence.

Andy, with his hands up covering himself, was struck several times. Fists, gloves with hardened knuckles, and silly string repeatedly struck Andy. The chaos emboldened Antifa members took the opportunity to rob Andy, stealing his new GoPro and the camera he had been using to document the protest.

Attempting to escape this hate, Andy stumbled across the park, unaware of the extent of his injuries. He felt dizzy and sat down, unknowing that the cause of this feeling was due to a bleed in the brain caused by the attack.

The police, having been ordered to stand down in the face of Antifa by Mayor Ted Wheeler, arrived at Andy’s location and offered medical aid. Andy eventually made it to a hospital later that night to discover the seriousness of his injuries.

Other Attacks

Another man alone, filming Antifa marching the wrong way down the middle of a one way street was pepper sprayed by Antifa and chased off.

An elderly man was confronted by Antifa only to be left with blood running down his face as the violent mob beat him, kicked him while he was down and threw objects at him. When another man tried to intervene to break up the fight he was struck over the head from behind with what appeared to be a crowbar.

This man later went to the hospital and received over 20 stitches in his head. These attacks were just the ones that got reported.

Rule of Mob

The Portland Police is taking a lot of heat for these violent protests. People wonder why they can be seen watching nearby as black clad Antifa violently assault people and destroy property. This is not due to the laziness of the individual officers, or the lack of a desire to perform their duty.

Instead this is due to orders they have been given. These orders come directly from the police commissioner, Mayor Ted Wheeler. Mayor Wheeler justifies these orders by saying he is bound by the first amendment to allow people to protest.

While people have the right to free speech and freedom of assembly, this right must be exercised peacefully. Mayor Wheeler, with the help of some members of the media, tries to pin all the violence on Conservative and Right Wing groups.

If you dig a little and observe other events these groups hold outside of the city of Portland (across the river in Vancouver for example) they are peaceful, people are allowed to speak and counter protesters are allowed to protest. As soon as Antifa shows up things get violent.

The media love to weasel headline these stories. A weasel headline is when you state something that is not false (which is different than something that is true) and frame it in the opposite direction. For example ‘Violence breaks out at Patriot Prayer rally.’ Makes it seem like violence follows the group Patriot Prayer and their rallies.

When you watch the video of the rally you can clearly see it is Antifa attacking the group they do not like. Mayor Wheeler, instead of condemning this sort of behavior actually applauds it. He thanked Antifa for their harassment of ICE personnel saying that he is glad that they are bringing national attention to this problem.

Mayor Wheeler also says that if the police enforce the law it will just cause more protests and Antifa riots. Instead of upholding the rule of law and protecting the liberty of the citizens, we now see a violent aggressive group being allowed to assault who they want, disrupt and direct traffic, and damage property.

When the police do make an arrest these people are often let out on bail or given a fine and turned lose. The city of Portland used to be a beautiful city, full of weird and interesting people peacefully pursuing their American dream. Now it has turned into a graffiti covered homeless camp soaked in urine and littered with used needles.

Where angry black clad mobs rule the street, imposing their ‘woke’ justice through violence and intimidation, backed by city council members and the mayor. Where the police force, whenever they are allowed to enforce the law, are thrown under the bus for political gain. Where business owners keep boards the size of their windows in their stock rooms ready for the destruction of the next round of violence.

The line between civilization and anarchy has worn thin in Portland. Responsibility and authority have been abdicated and the group filling that vacuum believe they are justified in violently enforcing their beliefs on the citizens. With the 2020 elections on the horizon I can only see this downward spiral getting worse. For the citizens of Portland I hope that I am wrong.