A black-clad Antifa mob in Portland launched smoke bombs, paint, fireworks, and rocks at Republicans supporting an Oregon GOP gubernatorial candidate who was demanding law and order be returned to the crime-plagued city.
Video shows the intimidating group waving black flags and lobbing smoke bombs at the conservative crowd, which included children and elderly people, during the rally near Southwest 3rd Avenue and Southwest Main Street on Saturday, April 30th.
'We're taking the city back. We're funding the police,' one man shouted from a megaphone. 'No longer are we gonna have the crime and the mayhem.'
As the group demonstrated, a mob of close to a dozen Antifa protesters approached them and threw smoke bombs at them.
'Heads up, rocks!' one man shouts.
Two people were injured and no arrests have been made, police said.
The troubling incident came on the heels of another attack by the radical Antifa members who threw rocks from an overpass at People's Convoy truckers.
Crime in Portland has skyrocketed in recent years. There were 91 homicides in the city last year, breaking the record of 66 murders in 1987, according to Oregon Public Radio.
The city also cut $15 million from the police budget during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, but city lawmakers added $5.2 million back into police coffers last year.
A day later, a group of Antifa protesters clad in all black and waving black flags approached a group of Republicans rallying to re-fund the police
The intimidating group lobbed smoke bombs at the conservative demonstrators, a crowd that included children and elderly citizens. Two people were injured and sought medical attention on their own, police say
The conservative demonstrators yelled, 'We're taking the city back. We're funding the police,' as they were quickly shut down by the black-clad Antifa crowd. Police later said 'significant explosions were heard in the area'
Pulliam, the mayor of Sandy, is running on a platform of tripling the size of the Oregon State Police and deploying the Oregon National Guard to end the violence in Portland's streets.
'The culture of criminality that our state has allowed to fester in Oregon’s big cities must come to an end,' his website states. 'We need to back our local law enforcement officers and provide them with proper training and public support.'
Demonstrators on Saturday held signs for Pulliam. The crowd included children and elderly citizens, according to footage shared on social media and on Pulliam's own account.
Police said paint and large fireworks were thrown and 'significant explosions were heard in the area' as Pulliam's supporters rallied.
The conservative protesters later left the scene and met police elsewhere at their request.
'One adult male had an injury to the hand, and an adult female complained of hearing loss. There was also evidence balloons filled with paint and/or other substances were thrown at people and vehicles,' police said.
Later that afternoon, Mayor Pulliam tweeted: 'This is what happens when a Republican dares to hold an event in Portland to talk about funding our police. Antifa shows up. Well, we won't be intimidated and stop speaking the truth.'
Antifa protesters hurled objects, allegedly including 'paint-filled bags,' at a People's Convoy passing through the city on Friday afternoon
Police say one shot was fired. No victims were reported, and it is not clear which side pulled the trigger
On Friday, Antifa protesters allegedly threw paint and other objects at a 'People's Convoy' passing through Portland during what authorities called an 'extremely busy night' for the crime-ridden city.
Portland police said at least five people on the Northeast Glisan Street overpass above Interstate 205 hurled objects at cars and trucks shortly before 7 pm.
Video from that night shows multiple people standing on an overpass and throwing 'paint-filled bags' at the cars below them, according to footage shared on social media.
One-shot was fired, police said. No victims were reported, and it is not clear which side pulled the trigger.
One held a banner whose message was unclear, according to a video shared on social media. They were protesting the 'People's Convoy' - an offshoot of Canada's anti-vaccine mandate 'Freedom Convoy' led by truckers who were protesting the country's vaccine requirements.
At one point, traffic stops as members of the convoy seem to get into a verbal back-and-forth with the protesters above them.
One voice behind the camera says there are 'four or five kids up there with masks on.' One-shot was fired, but no one was injured.
Police said they were 'monitoring a protest "convoy" that was driving through Portland and counterdemonstrators confronting them. Officers determined that the shot fired call was likely related,' according to a statement released the next day.
The Post Millennial reports John Hacker was a member of Friday's violent crowd. Last year, Hacker was charged with robbery in the third degree for stealing journalist Andy Ngo's phone and dumping liquid on him at a 24-Hour Fitness gym in Portland in 2019.
Post Millennial editor Andy Ngo said John Hacker was a member of Friday's violent crowd. Hacker was charged with robbery in the third degree for stealing Ngo's phone and dumping liquid on him at a 24-Hour Fitness gym in Portland in 2019
Friday's overpass incident was part of an 'extremely busy night' that 'strained' the department's resources, police say.
The night's calls included a murder-suicide at 2.06 am in the 14100 block of Southeast Woodward Street.
There was also a stolen ambulance that was seen driving recklessly and going on the sidewalk. The driver was arrested.
Saturday's protesters were rallying for Stan Pulliam, the mayor of Sandy who is running for governor of Oregon
Mayor Pulliam responded to the attack on his supporters on social media Saturday afternoon
Late last year, Portland became yet another city to re-fund its police department after calls to 'defund the police' during last year's Black Lives Matter protests led some municipalities to decimate their safety budgets.
In November, Portland City Council unanimously passed a fall budget bump that added back $5.2 million of the $15 million it cut from police last year.
It comes as the city deals with murder rates not seen since the 1980s and a staffing shortage that has led city leaders to consider hiring back retired cops.
'Many Portlanders no longer feel safe,' Mayor Ted Wheeler said. 'And it is our duty, as leaders of this city, to take action and deliver better results within our crisis response system.'
Night after night, hundreds of people marched the streets of Oregon's largest city demanding racial justice after the murder of George Floyd by a white officer.
Portland is one of a handful of cities to heed calls to 'defund the police' during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and last year. Above, activists march in Portland in April 2021
The city voted to refund the police after 2020's attempt to divert funds from the department led to undesirable results. Above, officers confront protesters at a Portland ICE facility in May 2021
Among the rallying cries were 'defund the police' - a call for elected officials to reallocate some law enforcement funding elsewhere.
In June 2020, the Portland City Council and the mayor answered by cutting $15 million from the police budget. An additional $12 million was cut due to pandemic-caused economic shortfalls.
As a result, school resource officers, transit police, and a gun violence reduction team - which was found to disproportionately target Black Portland residents during traffic stops, according to an audit in March 2018 - were disbanded.
