georgel
Behind Every Blade of Grass
Charter Member
Benefactor
Supporting Member
Multi-Factor Enabled
The push back begins. I mentioned in another thread that the Kennosha Kid incident might be a catalyst for more push back.
The shooting occurred around 8:45 p.m. near the corner of Southwest 3rd Avenue and Alder Street, according to videos posted online.
Portland police secured the entire block as the crime scene. Police said they wouldn’t be releasing suspect information “at this time” and no one was immediately arrested following the shooting.
The shooting happened after tensions gradually escalated throughout Saturday night as the pro-Trump caravan slowly moved through the city. Videos posted online show people in flag-adorned trucks driving through groups of protesters, firing paintball guns at crowds and deploying what appears to be pepper spray.
Earlier in the day, thousandI es of people had gathered for a “Trump cruise rally” at the Clackamas Town Center, from which they drove to Portland where a clash with anti-racist demonstrators seemed certain to await. A post pinned to the Facebook event page, which drew some 2,500 attendees, encouraged concealed carry.
Hordes of trucks flying Trump, Gadsden, American and Thin Blue Line flags had lined the town center parking lot by 4 p.m.
“I know for the most part, everyone here is gonna be pretty civilized. We’re all gonna support the president in safe way,” said Brandon Beck, who was attending his first Trump rally. “Obviously we’re all gonna be in cars, none of us are gonna be burning, looting, or anything. We’re just trying to have fun and stay safe today.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Witnesses at the garage, including independent journalist Laura Jedeed, described a hushed scene as police officers gathered around the body of a young man lying in the street. An ambulance arrived, then drove away without the man inside.
That was a stark contrast to minutes before, when a fleet of pickup trucks waving Trump banners rolled through downtown, horns blaring, with red-shirted young men leaning out the windows to yell racial slurs and deploy pepper spray on pedestrians who blocked the trucks' path.
Video posted to social media shows two gunshots fired along 3rd Avenue several minutes after the caravan passed through. A photo viewed by WW shows the victim was wearing a hat and T-shirt bearing the emblem of Patriot Prayer, a Vancouver, Wash.-based conservative protest group that has regularly sparred with antifascists in Portland streets for the past three years.
Downtown was the final stop on a day-long car caravan to support the president. It started in the early afternoon at Clackamas Town Center mall and drove into Portland, mostly circling the city on interstate highways.
The death appears to be the first killing to result from Portland's political brawls since a Jeremy Christian murdered two people aboard a crowded MAX train car on May 26, 2017. But any motive remains uncertain.
It was not immediately clear tonight what political loyalties were held by the people who committed tonight's shooting. A suspect is still at large.
Correction: This post initially cited descriptions of the victim as a young Black man. His ethnicity remains unclear.
https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/08/...eath-amid-trump-caravan-in-downtown-portland/
Last edited: