In downtown Portland on Saturday, two right wing rallies were met by “counterprotesters” of the left, and the scene went from tense to all out free-for-all in short order.
Oregon Live reports that “Far-right” groups under the header of “saying no to Marxism” arranged to gather at Terry Schrunk Plaza on Saturday, and the news was out, “drawing multiple plans for counter-protests from left-wing and anti-fascist groups.”
A separate event titled the “Mother of All Back The Blue Rallies” was set for noon at the city’s Justice Center.
Before 1 in the afternoon (4 pm Eastern),”hundreds of people filled the park, streets and sidewalks representing both sides, and throughout the morning and early afternoon, both sides fairly equally used a variety of weapons and tossed numerous objects at each other,” Oregon Live reported.
“After about an hour of the increasingly tense standoff, no police were present on the scene.”
And hell broke lose. The Oregonian has some of the dramatic footage.
Andy Ngo shared video from the scenes.
Mass antifa vs. right-wing brawl at the Justice Center in downtown Portland. Numerous conservative groups held a pro-police rally but it was crashed by #antifa, who threw eggs, rocks, feces & urine. Both sides pepper sprayed each other for more than an hour. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/M7SQy2N1lD
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 22, 2020
Conservatives (on the foreground) chant “USA!” in a stand off with #antifa after multiple brawls broke out at the pro-police rally in downtown Portland. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/qZTjvn4XOf
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 22, 2020
Another mass brawl breaks out in downtown Portland. Proud Boys and other right-wing groups rush in and fight #antifa, who are pushed back. Bats, sticks and pepper spray are used in the brutal melee. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/2BgrE2YmOT
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 22, 2020
People on the right-wing side smash the antifa truck with bats. Others shake the vehicle. A pepper spray battle then occurs. #PortlandRiots #antifa pic.twitter.com/7DnbDj6G2h
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 22, 2020
Antifa reinforcements arrive and they move in, pushing the right wingers back in the street battle outside the Justice Center in Portland. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/elYbeClu4O
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 22, 2020
I’m not entirely sure what happened here but it looked like antifa were trying to throw a firework explosive at the right-wing side but it blew up in their faces instead. #PortlandRiots #antifa pic.twitter.com/BLrmTKodMM
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 22, 2020
MORE
Huge fight has just broken out between Proud boys and ANTIFA in front of Justice Center in Portland pic.twitter.com/zleU0lhOIp
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) August 22, 2020
ANTIFA is losing this battle. pic.twitter.com/ADNAZ0SoVi
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) August 22, 2020
ANTIFA burns American flag as another fight breaks out pic.twitter.com/2sf4l5gBIQ
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) August 22, 2020
Fighting in the streets pic.twitter.com/8EnuhN5V4q
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) August 22, 2020
Trump supporters and BLM protestors mace and fight in the street pic.twitter.com/j1pg71xFDw
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) August 23, 2020
MORE…
The antifa mob chases a right-wing group that got splintered off after the pro-police rally. #Antifa trash the parking garage in the course of the attack. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/gnC6GtxvpB
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 23, 2020
ANTIFA have backed a smaller group of proud boys into a parking garage pic.twitter.com/1e26JQxXNi
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) August 22, 2020
Police are investigating this incident, which was reported by many people.
Alan swinney pulls a gun on the crowd. No shots fired. pic.twitter.com/f0jKX6nmNv
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) August 22, 2020
And there were the human waste condoms and balloons in use today, too.
It is unclear which groups from the right side were there, and which rally they went to at the start, but among them may have been Proud Boys and some militia members. Those details will become more clear as those who were there process and upload their data through the night.
No doubt there will be dozens more photos and videos, if not hundreds. And there can further be no doubt that this is just an early skirmish. The streets are now going to be a war zone between not just Antifa and the cops, but with right wing and conservative groups as well.
This post may be updated with additional photos and video.
Here’s my tweet with some stills I pulled from the above videos.
MASSIVE BRAWLS in Portland as right and left go to WAR with bats, pepper spray, MACE, shields, armor, FIREWORKS, batons, silly string, more… https://t.co/oR3MwX8Rld @trscoop pic.twitter.com/LR5To49fLM
— Fred T. (@FredTScoop) August 23, 2020