Originally tweeted by Laura Jedeed (Misanthrophile) (@1misanthrophile) on October 4, 2020.
Looks like we have a small Back the Blue rally (10-15 people) in front of the Justice Center happening now. At least one gentleman is open carrying
This may be a preamble to a 2A rally this afternoon at 2:00
Rally has grown to maybe 20 people. The only reason I’m bothering to hang out is because of that threatened 2A rally this afternoon. I always worry that the chuds will find an enemy when they go looking for one
God this looks boring. Right wing rallies are not fun
What is this music?
I hate it
(I’ll update if anything happens. Otherwise I’ll gonna sit under this glorious tree and work on a video script. The weather is perfect for some outdoor productivity)
Rally has a photo op in front of Nightmare Elk
Please observe the absolute champion on the Elk behind them
God bless and keep this man
Rally seems to be on the move, probably to 3rd and Alder where the 2A rally is supposed to be held
I’m seeing the older folks and women leaving, while the men seem to be staying. This is not a great sign safety-wise
On the bright side, there are only 5 of them and I’m not seeing any super blatant 2A activity
3rd and Alder: maybe avoid this intersection
Protest is about 10 people now. Looks like a lot of the women from the earlier protest joined after all
This shows every sign of staying real chill so far
They are playing “Seasons in the Sun” and now I’m real mad because that’s a super good song and also is not protest music
Why are they so bad at this
The rally continues apace. Lots of press here. A Black Lives Matter peotester is currently arguing with one of the far right demonstrators while press looks on
Having some trouble uploading video for some reason but Chandler Pappas did me the courtesy of taking my picture in case I turn out to be Antifa so he can doxx me
I should have told him my name is like, right here on my page
Then he did me the courtesy of giving me and another journalist a 6-minute interview that went pretty well. I’ll throw it up on YouTube when I get home
I am pleased to inform you that @2lesslegs has arrived to heckle the Blue Lives Matter rally
This looks like kind of a pain in the ass to haul around but what do I know. Rifle AND a gun, Lordie, he can play Dirty Harry AND go deer-hunting all in one day
I’ve been called fake press a whole lot by these silly boys but do you know what I’ve never done?
Brought a large can of mace to a protest
(I’ve also never worn a political hat, except to infiltrate and I don’t think that should count)
@MildlyAutistic just arrived, we have the fucking A-team out here
“Jesus is like the 3rd best deity. Biden said inshallah and Trump got Covid, just saying”
I do love an ariel shot
Antifascists and Black Lives Matter supporters exchanging words and chants with the far right
This feels like the old days. Like I woke up in 2018 this morning
I’m more than fine with it
Maybe 30 far right, 30 counter-protesters here right now
A Sick Burn, sound on
It’s that awkward period where the rally isn’t over exactly but people are maybe kinda ready for it to be but there’s no good way to leave without making it look like your side loses
Traditionally if violence occurs it’s about this time. I have a good feeling about today though
Right on time 🤦
Counter-protesters deescalate
Richard got real heated, counterprotesters deescalated
Things seem to be mellowing out now. Still dudes with guns here so, you know, not out of the woods yet. But things are definitely winding down
@2lesslegs debating with far-right demonstrators
My favorite thing to do on a Sunday, personally, is debate with an angry dude whose hand rests decisively on his rifle whilst he tells me to fuck off
Always nice to see civil discourse
He does at least have trigger discipline but come on bro what the fuck stop that
A counterprotester steals a cross and stomps on it
He then attempts to piss on it, but it’s real hard to do that while everyone’s watching
I have cut that part of the video because there is a dick in it
He then attempts to light the cross on fire
This is, in my opinion, kind of a bad look
I mean, it’s free speech, absolutely. Protected under the constitution
But a bad look nonetheless
The far right certainly is not into it
The protest takes off down the block
I get down and film conflicts that are almost conflicts but do not, thankfully, become violent
Meanwhile, the protest takes off around the block
I have been told that a far-right demonstrator maced someone and then got maced in the face but cannot confirm first-hand
The far right forms a cordon so no one can film them treating their friend for mace
The journalist with the Trump hat and can of mace goes to talk to the cops parked a block away. Comes back with a bottle of what I assume is eyewash solution for mace
How the fuck are you gonna bring mace but not eyewash?! Poor planning. Lucky their friends were here to help
A dialogue between the maced dude and @2lesslegs
Someone above keeps dumping water on the far right to uproarious cheers
They are leaving. The counter-protesters serenade them as they go
Sorry, out of order: just before they left the water-throwers dropped a smoke bomb
The far right has left some of their buddies behind. Scattered escalations that don’t quite erupt into violence. Nothing worth posting
The people above drop more smoke bombs. Water bottles also starting to drop
There are like 3 people left and it would be super cool if they left so I could also go. I’m craving orange chicken something fierce
They’re getting periodically pelted with stuff
Well everything just went to shit. A counter-protester snuck up to try and steal a can of mace off the belt of a far right protester. Huge hairball of a fight. I’ll post but I need to blur faces
Now the cops are coming. Cool
The far right leaves past the cop barricade. Now they’re hanging out/hiding behind them
The BLM protesters observe that two of the police are wearing that P hat the Proud Boys also like to wear
A rare daytime performance of DJ LRAD. Get out of the street or face arrest
It’s a little confusing since the cops are blocking the whole street
The cops stop blocking the street and hang out on the side so the counter-protesters can yell at the remnant of the far right rally and can we all just go home maybe?
A truck with a speaker straped to it exposes the George Soros-Mike Schmidt connection
The far right protest escorted out piecemeal. Various fights. Macing. Shit thrown
My battery is at 5%, I’ll upload footage at home. But I gotta tell you this is real depressing. Today is not a PR victory for the left
And yeah, that matters
At least no one got shot?
Currently following behind the last few far-right protesters as counter-protesters shout NAZIS GO HOME!!
They finally climb into the back of a pickup and leave in a rain or water bottles
I think it’s over!
Nope
The journalist with the mace and the Trump hat drives by to pick someone up. A counter-protester breaks his driver-side mirror
Shouts for a medic. Not sure what happened there
I am home. Footage eventually
First, I will eat my body weight in Orange Chicken
Far be it from me to suggest that someone might be fake press, but I have questions:
(Still working on footage but HUGE shout-out to everyone who just donated to my orange chicken experience, all of you are beautiful and I love you very much)
There may be less footage than originally promised. Unfortunately most of my rolling-fight footage has just…so many faces. I could blur them manually but it would take all day and probably all night too.
To get an idea of what the last bit of the rally was like, imagine a 10-minute walk through downtown Portland with the far-right and counter-protesters screaming back and forth at each other
Doing that thing where confrontations almost but don’t quite become fights
At one point, a confrontation threatened to turn violent and a counter-protester sprayed mace at a far-right demonstrator. The demonstrator was not hit, though a counter-protester did walk through the cloud of mace and required some medical attention
The far right piled into trucks and drove away. Well, they tried. One man nearly gets left behind here:
As another group left, one of these self-proclaimed first amendment activists informed the press that they should, like, stop exercising their constitutional rights. Or something
That outburst is especially interesting since I’m pretty sure that’s the same guy I interviewed at the start of this rally
Currently uploading that to this thread:
That’s about it for me!
What a silly day this turned into
Have an excellent evening
EPILOGUE: I made a video of the interview I referenced, you can watch it here:
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