This thread was assembled after the action concluded. For my live-tweets in the moment, go here.
Hi there, I’ve got a tall glass of whiskey and a bunch of videos from tonight’s ICE protest in Portland, OR. Let’s do this
The evening started mellow. Protesters marched to ICE and did a couple of graffitis. Nothing thrown, no permanent damage
Despite the very peaceful nature of the ICE protest, it was declared an unlawful assembly almost immediately
The feds came out the side gate and lit protesters the fuck up with smoke, tear gas, and impact munitions
After pumping the street full of tear gas, they just…kept doing that
For a while
Until the world went white
Then, after the tear gas cleared?
They did it again
(this is going to get real repetitive, it was this forever, just gas and gas and munitions and more gas, but also some arrests, hang in there)
Still more gas. Protesters try to kick the burning cans away. It’s burning too hot
I’m not a scientist, but this looks a lot like what @JuniperLSimonis described re: HC smoke, which is really, REALLY bad for you
Thread here:
A VERY hot chemical weapon
Protesters were driven back down the street, which is surrounded on all sides by very tall condos
Every side street we passed, we saw something like this: a line of feds with horror movie lighting
This is when I realized kettling might be a thing
Eventually the protest reached this line of feds. That’s one of those tear gas guns. He’ll use it later just wait
Meanwhile can we all agree that it’s very funny that the one dude has such a tiny vest? That’s funny, right?
At this point there was one way out, up one side street
As I recall, Portland Police aren’t supposed to work with feds
But police aren’t supposed to do lots of things they do, so who cares!
Anyway, here’s bike cop John Oliphant cosplaying as a fed
So earlier I said there was one way out, up that side street?
Feds started coming down that side street
So that’s a kettle, at this point
And then shit got surreal
The kettle closed in on us, just like I’d feared…but only along the road.
They left the sidewalks alone
So the whole protest just stood on the sidewalk and watched the feds and bike cops going through the motions of kettling
I have no explanation
So the feds sort of walk down the street towards the ICE building, and the protesters follow, like some kind of pied piper situation
Which maybe is what it was, because shortly after this things went from kafkaesque-as-in-funny to kafkaesque-as-in-very-fucking-dystopian
After the feds reached ICE, they formed a perimeter around it. Appeared to be retreating back inside, and then savagely attacked
This clip has footage from before the feds wild the fuck out so you can see how completely unprovoked this assault was
And we’re back to the feds gassing the absolute fuck out of everything in the vicinity of ICE
Also targeting press
This is around when I got hit in the leg. Couldn’t tell you for sure because my arm doesn’t shake for anything, I’m a goddamn professional
(also a little drunk)
(to be clear I am drunk now, I was not drunk whilst on assignment: I am not a Proud Boy, I know whiskey is a sometimes food)
I am running out of clever things to say about the feds filling the streets with gas but I want you to understand just how much gas they used tonight, so here’s another clip of that
You can see the pesticide gun spraying tear gas at the right of the frame at the beginning. Cool
Eventually the feds pushed protesters up the street. A standoff ensued…and then they attacked with more impact munitions and chemical weapons. A protester collapsed. As soon as I heard the call for medics I got the fuck out of the way
@Claudio_Report has better footage of this incident: turns out the feds induced a seizure, then wouldn’t let medics treat the seizing person, then drove people who wanted to help back with crowd control munitions
Why does this feel so normal
I unwisely decided to try and tweet a quick text update during the medical emergency; a terrible mistake, as it turns out, since the feds lunged forward like a cobra striking and made a targeted arrest while using tear gas and munitions to keep everyone back
More gas. Gas forever, gas until we run out. I can’t wait to get cancer in a few years it’s gonna be great
@JuniperLSimonis says HC smoke causes liver cancer and I demand a cop liver to replace my already-metastasizing organs
(I am not getting LESS drunk as this thread goes on)
“OK cool that’s a lot of footage of gas now surely Laura will post something els–” NO, more gas, gas forever, fuck you. This is a gas-only account from now on, nothing but gas from wall to wall
(in all seriousness, can we agree that this is fucked?)
In this clip, we see protesters gassed by cops. Again
Note how they move forward anyway. Resisting the full force of the state with their umbrellas. Inching forward. Refusing to give up
Remember this footage next time someone tells you leftists are cowards
I’ll stop posting footage of protesters getting gassed by feds as soon as feds stop gassing protesters every chance they get
Every clip you’re seeing: that’s human beings breathing in carcinogens that would make the state of California absolutely shit itself
It’s not OK
Eventually the feds stopped filling the streets with gas. Protesters had scattered down side streets at this point; tending wounds, dry-heaving from chemical weapons exposure, the usual
Perfect time for a targeted arrest
After the above targeted arrest, I wandered back to the ICE building, where perhaps 50 protesters waited silent and resigned for whatever horror came next
It came relatively quickly in the form of yet another targeted arrest
This is about when I decided to throw in the towel, as it was clear the rest of the evening would be feds and PPB bike cops mopping up whoever was left
Big thank you to @1StephenSwann for the gas mask that allowed me to capture all this footage
Thanks also to @BashingFash who got this picture of me live-tweeting in the middle of a tear gas cloud shortly before being shot in the leg: I feel this captures my essence and I am going to make it my Twitter banner
I was lucky enough to get away with being shot in the leg with an impact munition: @R3volutionDaddy is at the ER after losing consciousness. Please keep her in your thoughts and also if you have spare cash, please send it her way
This has been Laura Jedeed, your far-right reporter, signing off for the night and finishing off this bottle of whiskey, God help us all, goodnight
(here’s my original live tweet thread if you want that for some reason)
Originally tweeted by Laura Jedeed, Space Professional (@LauraJedeed) on January 21, 2021.
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