Must Watch: Portland Antifa violence against journalist goes national

By Taxpayer Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The Portland Antifa attack on local journalist Andy Ngo made CNN and Foxnews and other news outlets.  Andy Ngo was beaten by a crowd and hospitalized with brain injuries.  Michelle Malkin set up a Go Fund Me page to support him.  The Mayor is facing criticism for this for allowing anarchy in our streets during these violent protests.  Senator Ted Cruz has called for a federal investigation.

It made the Wall Street Journal Editorial today (excerpt):

“The far-right group Proud Boys and other men’s-rights activists planned a rally in downtown Portland. Left-wing groups associated with the extremist Antifa movement such as PopMob and Rose City Antifa organized a counterprotest. Mr. Ngo, a freelance writer from the area, showed up to cover the protests.

Mr. Ngo says that while he was recording with his GoPro he was hit in the back of the head, then beaten by several Antifa activists. Footage filmed by an Oregonian reporter shows someone in a black hoodie punching and kicking Mr. Ngo, and others surrounding him and throwing things at him.

After escaping the mob, Mr. Ngo went to the hospital and was treated for head injuries including a subarachnoid hemorrhage, or brain bleed. A photo on Twitter shows his bloody face and battered eye.

Mr. Ngo was also hit with milk shakes, which have become a common Antifa projectile. Portland police on Saturday tweeted that they had received a tip that some milk shakes contained quick-drying cement.

“PopMob is not a militant anti-fascist group, though it supports a diversity of tactics,” PopMob spokeswoman Effie Baum told us in a phone call. She said the group organized a “queer dance party as counterprotest” Saturday and provided participants with about 750 milk shakes, adding that “the vast majority of milk shakes we handed out were consumed.” Nice to know.

Yet Ms. Baum repeatedly declined to denounce the assault on Mr. Ngo. “He’s not a journalist,” she said, and “he was clearly courting that kind of behavior.” She said Mr. Ngo “antagonizes leftist activists” by filming them and selectively editing his footage. So filming now justifies violent assault?

Mr. Ngo says “those claims are baseless.” He has often criticized Antifa as dangerous and militant, and last July he also denounced far-right online mobs in this newspaper. He has a free-speech right to film demonstrations and publish his own conclusions like other journalists no matter his political views.

The more important question for public order is what happens to those who assaulted Mr. Ngo. Police attended the protest scene to prevent violence but failed to stop the attack on Mr. Ngo. Mr. Ngo says he isn’t aware of any arrests for assaulting him, and police didn’t respond to our request for comment.