The general rule of thumb for 2020 is to look at who is amplifying what before you freak out. There are foreign operatives and MAGA operatives on social media, spreading certain narratives, amplifying certain half-truths or blatantly lying about everything involving Black Lives Matter, the ongoing protests, the victims of violent cops and on and on. This weekend was full of all kinds of bullsh-t. Trump supporters must have heard on all of their Nazi Facebook groups that they needed to arm themselves with paint ball guns and pepper spray and go head-to-head with social justice protesters in various cities. This kind of thing has been happening for months already – the “outside agitators” are more often than not the white supremacists and violent MAGA types looking to cause issues. And, no surprise, they’re being actively incited by Donald Trump.
For the second time in a tumultuous week, demonstrations in an American city escalated into gunfire—and death. Clashes between Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters intensified on Saturday in Portland, Oregon, where a man was shot and killed. According to the New York Times, a caravan of several hundred trucks full of Trump supporters headed to downtown Portland, where demonstrators have gathered to protest police violence for more than 90 consecutive nights in response to the May killing of George Floyd. Confrontations between those participating in the pro-Trump rally and those countering it quickly ensued, with the president’s supporters firing paintball guns and pepper spray at people from the beds of their pickup trucks and protesters in the street tossing items back at them.
While police have not released details about the victim or a suspected shooter, the Times’ Mike Baker—who documented the event as it unfolded in a Twitter thread—reported the victim was wearing “a hat with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a far-right group based in the Portland area that has clashed with protesters in the past.”
In a Sunday morning tweetstorm, the president only ratcheted up tensions by encouraging supporters to travel into cities to engage with Black Lives Matter protests and threatening to again send troops into Portland. He called Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler a “fool” who “has no idea what he is doing” and continued his “LAW & ORDER!!!” pronouncements. “Bring in the National Guard!”, he wrote, reiterating his Friday Twitter threat to remobilize federal agents into the city if Wheeler is unable to quell the chaos. The same day, the mayor firmly rejected the idea of Trump sending federal law enforcement into Portland as he did in July. “You made the situation far worse,” Wheeler wrote in an open letter to the president. “Your offer to repeat that disaster is a cynical attempt to stoke fear and distract us from the real work of our city.”
Trump also encouraged supporters to go into Portland, praising the participants of the MAGA caravan as “GREAT PATRIOTS” less than a week after one of his supporters, Illinois teenager Kyle Rittenhouse, traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, and allegedly shot and killed two protesters.
Yes. He’s actively inciting violence and physical confrontation. He always has – he’s always been eager to stoke violence. He and the Republican Party believe this is the play, to have cities burning, to have dead Americans in the street, and to say “this is what happens in Joe Biden’s America.” Nevermind that this is all the consequence of four years of Donald Trump’s America. Also: after he stoked the flames of violent white supremacy, this fat orange fascist went golfing all weekend.
Joe Biden’s statement:
The deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable. Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable.
I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right. And I challenge Donald Trump to do the same. https://t.co/JRuI7ya2Wv
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 30, 2020
Donald Trump has been president for almost four years.
The temperature in the country is higher, tensions run stronger, divisions run deeper.
And all of us are less safe because he can’t do the job of the American president.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 30, 2020
The President has spent four years inciting violence that his most radical supporters are once again carrying out. Like they did before the 2018 midterms. Like they did in El Paso. Like they did in Kenosha. Like they did tonight in Portland.
That’s the story. https://t.co/m3YX9VULlu
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) August 30, 2020
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
I am sorry to read what’s happening in the US
🙁
PLEASE VOTE and encourage others to vote
I think Americans deserve better than this.
I hope you will get rid of this dictator.
This is all on trump. But he is never held accountable for anything.
Absolutely! And people are buying it when he is using videos of riots happening ON HIS WATCH and saying this is what will happen if Biden gets in. Unbelievable.
He wants to send the National Guard in to kill Americans. He wants a civil war. If he gets his war, there will be no election
MAGAs found out the hard way they aren’t the only ones with guns. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
I am truly terrified. I have been having panic attacks every day, multiple times a day. I don’t know how much more I can take. We have to get rid of this mad man.
Yep – its becoming clear to him and GOP that they are not going to win, even by rigging the vote. The only way they and that family will stay in the WH is by suspending the constitution and civil war is the only legal way they can do it (from what I understand) AND bypass congress.
Our country actually HELD AN ELECTION DURING THE CIVIL WAR.
FUCK Trump. Inciting violent unrest is NOT an excuse for postponing the election.
It is a shame that peaceful protests are turned into something ugly. With less than 2 months to go, let’s put all our efforts into getting people out to vote and hope that it’s fair. We cannot continue with this chaos and ruination of democracy.
I live in Portland & the protests have been nonviolent for 90 days, until Trumpers came to town. That’s the ingredient that incites violence. And the fact that the Portland Police call every protest an “unlawful assembly” requiring tear gas, but people driving from all around the area to bear mace & shoot citizens with paintballs in the street was somehow a-okay, is crazy making. The only violence we’ve seen in the protests are from Trumpers, the PPB & the National Guard.
(I don’t count spray painting a statue as violence cuz I’m sane)
Yep, MM2. I’m in Portland, too. It is all crazy-making.
I’m from Portland and co-sign ALL of this.
@ MM2 & salmonpuff, I saw this on the news this morning and the caravan of MAGAt’s had a convoy of 609, about that many or more, descend on Portland after hitting another city. It was organized by a right wing nut job on FB to have all of these MAGAt’s to descend into Portland.
On another note, I live in Bryan/College Station Texas. I have bought all of my Biden/Harris signs, BLM, climate change, and other democratic stances that I believe in. It wasn’t until last night that I found out that my husbands patients that he treats to keep them from going blind, that they had verbally attacked him in the upcoming 2016 election due to my Sanders and Clinton signs. I was mortified that he had been verbally attacked back then and they are attacking him verbally again this year. People who live outside of the city limits know what projects we have going on and they have openly expressed their disgust for the placement of MY signs, yet he never uttered a word as I told him I didn’t give a fuck if they didn’t like it or not. I had the same right as those who posted their stupid Drumpf signs. I now have 11 signs that express my current views and I cannot in good conscience put my signs up. I will not subject my husband to bullying and intimidation by a bunch of neanderthals that have the audacity to bully my husband as they confront him and my daughter. I hate this town as we were only going to live here for 3 years, then move to Austin. I am now stuck in hell as we have been here for 19 years and the chances of him selling his practice and moving anywhere is not an option as he has worked hard to build up his practice. I am furious that I live in a city where people have the audacity to treat my husband this way as he has worked tirelessly to save their eyesight. Once the pandemic hit, he did not close his services because people would lose their eyesight if he did. My husband is truly scared right now and he told me last night that he is fearful for our safety if I put my signs out. This is what we are living with at this time of history. We are Caucasian and my husband will see patients night and day to care for his patients. This is the thanks he gets for being a hardworking doctor. I hate this town, this administration and the audacity that we are living in fear due to these MAGAt’s. I am sorry that I was ranting but I am still upset and we are fearful. So if any of you live in the area, i have some signs if you are driving through this hellhole, for free!
All of you in states where these right wing nuts have invaded your city, beat and attack your people and have killed innocent, non violent protesters, I am thinking of you everyday and I hope that you all remain safe from harm. May your families, friends and loved ones stay safe and suffer no more!
He’s been doing this from the get, and still blaming the Democrats. It’s unbelievable people listen to that xyz let alone see him as a, beacon of freedom.
Not just a beacon of freedom, but of godliness! It disgusts me that he gets support from so many professed “Christians”. If there was ever an argument against organized religion, this is it.
@ Chartreusem, you are absolutely right! Remember the attack against us the people coming in to escape prosecution, death and kidnappings? They were all labeled rapist, drug dealers and killers. He has been spouting this rhetoric since day one, and people buy his hate and racist views. That is why the FBI has seen a triple increase of hate crime attacks against those of race, religion and gender. Over the weekend a mosque or temple was burned to the ground. Everyone that supports this monster is complicit in all of these hate crimes, attacks, murders and burnings of places of worship.
This is all stage setting for November if the vote doesn’t come back in a way he likes. Only it will be even more deadly.
Its setting the stage to NOT have the election period. They know if it goes ahead they will lose BIGLY.
I feel like it open season on Black people. It going to get worse before it get better. Because everybody is on eggshells. People please pray, stay safe, and vote.
@ Just A Thought, you are absolutely right! The fractions have only deepened and the violence has only increased. This is a matter of our lives!! We MUST have people register to vote and get to the polls as we are under attack. Our democracy and many lives are currently under attack and it seems that Drumpf wants to start a civil war and he may get his wish as any dictator would. I am not a religious person but I hope that something happens to oust him in November. I will do my part and vote and have been volunteering my time and making donations. I will not rest.
Honestly? Even if he loses in November, he won’t go quietly. He’ll continue to incite his little brownshirts and f*ck things up, and try to destroy as many institutions as possible in his last few months in office. He’ll have to be dragged out of the White House kicking and screaming. I don’t think this is over until he’s dead.
Sadly, I doubt it will end when he dies.
Exactly. He is already telegraphing his next moves.
No matter what happens, the time between the election and the inauguration is going to be the worst we’ve seen. It’s long past time to prepare ourselves for this.
If this horror show isn’t voted out in November, your democracy will be over and the USA as you know it will be gone forever.I’m not religious in any way, but I’ve literally been praying for you all because the situation is so dire.
Do you think we don’t know what is at stake? Millions of us are working hard to defeat the monster.
Of course I know how desperately so many are working to get this wannabe dictator out of office, but watching this happen to a country like the US, knowing how Russia interfered and is interfering, watching the Republican Party morph into the Trump Party and knowing that the man and his ilk are going to try and cheat, lie and steal their way into another term is horrible to watch from the outside. I can’t imagine the frustration and anxiety you must feel on a daily basis. If it can happen in the US, it can happen anywhere.
We had a Trump car “rally” tear through my RI village center this weekend. Like Trump, they were loud, obnoxious, ignored the law with no repercussions (speeding through our touristy downtown, came close to hitting several people as they did not stop for people in crosswalks, ignored yield/stop signs, ran red lights), and overinflated the number of participants, who seemed to be a lot of white people driving white cars and trucks. Based on comments on the town FB page, most people were pretty disgusted and unamused by the whole thing. God, please let Biden win, and VOTE!
Same here. They had their rally up on Ventura blvd yesterday, doing a so called parade between Woodland Hills and Studio City. They weren’t from here, some of them came in a big army truck and illegally paraded down the street to try to incite violence. It was a violation. They know Los Angeles is blue and they did this on purpose. This wasn’t about free speech, this was about causing trouble.
He’s garbage and so are his most ardent supporters, but some people on the left really need to recognize a political tactic when they see one. Nazis did this the 1930s, too – they would purposefully incite fights in protest areas, then portray themselves as the victims in order to drum up public support. People need to be very careful going in November not to play right into their hands where it can be avoided.
They started an entire world war like this with their invasion of Poland. Which they sold as a defence move. This is why history is so important, people don’t always recognize this sh*t.
Yep. For the past 4 years, anyone who has tried to bring up the parallels between this and Nazi Germany has been accused of hyperbole. They’ll say “it’s not that bad yet,” apparently oblivious to the fact that the whole point is to stop this shit BEFORE it gets that bad! We missed a lot of opportunities because people didn’t take history’s warnings seriously, and now look where we are.
It’s painful for me to watch and follow. I see heroes in protesters who wish to do so with a voice and with peace. And then we have Trump. I finished reading Mary Trump’s book, good read. A reminder of how DT, “thrives on cruelty.” Thank you to one of our poster’s who mentioned following Tom Joseph on Twitter. He offers a symptomatic time frame with dementia, behavior and physical deterioration. We are watching him worsen day by day with dementia and sociopathy.
Tom Joseph has spent the reign of Donald Drumpf accurately tracking Cheeto’s mental health. He doesn’t think Cheeto will make it to the election. I’d say fingers crossed, but I am scared about what Cheeto’s handlers will do about it. I mean, why was he allowed to send a hundred tweets yesterday morning?
Also, what was Robert Trump’s cause of death please?
Cause of Robert Trump’s death is speculative. Dementia, advanced alcohol abuse, Covid-19. I’m in hopes Donald is hospitalized before the election.
Per Noel Casler who worked on Celebrity Apprentice Donald is still consuming Adderall and Benzodiazipines. Drug use could be reasons for the manic tweets.
I’m from Portland, and it’s infuriating to see the city portrayed as some violence-ridden hellscape. I live two miles from the main protest zone and about a mile from one of the ancillary sites, and I still let my kids go walking at night without fear. But the propaganda is so strong that I have had friends/family from the PDX suburbs contact me to make sure we’re not living in a war zone.
I am starting to wonder if it’s time to temporarily take the protests off the streets and online — at least at night when most of the violence starts to happen. I’m old and don’t know how to actually do any of this, but I’m betting that protesters could create a lot of disruption by swarming social media, etc. without providing Trump and his goons with photo ops and opportunities for violence. The Tulsa TikTok thing should be a first step, not a one-off. It’s very hard for old white people to counter, and it has a mocking tone/humor that is also hard to respond to.
I live in Eugene and have been traumatized by the attacks on peaceful protesters up there in Portland. There’s been a little of that here, too, but not as much or as often. I’m wondering if curfews should be imposed?
Your idea of taking the protests online isn’t a bad one!
We had curfews for the first week or so of the protests. They were largely ineffective and seen as the city taking away the right to protest. And I don’t think we want police enforcing them. As it is, the cops announce protests as unlawful gatherings right around midnight every night, give people like one minute to disperse, then declare a riot. And that is the point at which most violence occurs. It feels an awful lot like a setup.
Another Portlander here. I went out to dinner downtown about 6-7 blocks from the Justice Center on a Friday night a few weeks ago and it was a lovely meal on the plaza next to the Oregon History Museum. It’s most definitely NOT a violence-ridden city. We do protest, but it usually doesn’t get ugly. I haven’t been out there since George W was in office, but clearly the big difference now is that Trump is inciting his followers.
He incites violence and then blames it on “Biden’s America.” If it weren’t so dangerous, it would be hilarious. On some level, it is because it’s such a pathetic projection. His followers are the real sheep. He lies to their faces about the most verifiable of facts and they lap it up.
I am genuinely concerned for this country. If we don’t vote this clown out we might be looking at a second Civil War and if you think that’s an exaggeration think again.
Please VOTE.
Everybody, this creature-feature is turning the USA into a damned 3rd Reich, especially since his Idol For Life is Hitler. Anyone and everyone who believes in TRUE DEMOCRACY HAS TO VOTE FOR BIDEN/ HARRIS IN NOVEMBER! GOD ALMIGHTY, PLEASE TAKE THE TRASH OUT! 🙏