The New York Times reports Tuesday that ongoing unrest in Portland, Oregon, has moved from the city center to “white residential neighborhoods, where activists demand that people choose a side,” but many demonstrators are conflicted about the approach, as well as whether their objectives should include harm to police officers.
The piece recounts the protesters’ change in tactic, ending their long-term assault on a federal courthouse in downtown Portland and moving their nightly protests to residential neighborhoods, many centered around police outposts.
“Demonstrators with bullhorns shout for people to come ‘out of your house and into the street’ and demonstrate their support,” the NY Times notes. “These more aggressive protests target ordinary people going about their lives, especially those who decline to demonstrate allegiance to the cause.”
If the incidents sound scary, it is because they are, though the NY Times doesn’t acknowledge that outright. Instead, it speaks to a neighbor — a black man, business owner, and veteran — who’s been targeted by the nightly demonstrations for having an American flag on his porch.
Mr. Moses was initially not sure what the protesters were upset about, but as he got closer, he saw it: His neighbors had an American flag on display.
“It went from a peaceful march, calling out the names, to all of a sudden, bang, ‘How dare you fly the American flag?’” said Mr. Moses, who is Black and runs a nonprofit group in the Portland, Ore., area. “They said take it down. They wouldn’t leave. They said they’re going to come back and burn the house down.”
Mr. Moses and others blocked the demonstrators and told them to leave.
“We don’t go around terrorizing folks to try and force them to do something they don’t want to do,” said Mr. Moses, whose nonprofit group provides support for local homeless people. “I’m a veteran. I’m for these liberties.”
The “controversial” tactics have “divided” protesters, the NY Times reports, as have calls to inflict greater damage on law enforcement.
“[T]he tactics are dividing supporters of Black Lives Matter, with some worried that the confrontational approach will antagonize people who would otherwise be receptive to the message, or play into conservatives’ critique of the protests, which have been largely nonviolent nationally,” the outlet notes.
At least one demonstration, which the NY Times happily terms a “carnival in the dark,” featured literature outlining how “anarchists” could kill cops.
“A small free literature selection was set up on the grass and overseen by three people in ski masks. It was a popular offering, and people crowded around, craning to see the pamphlets,” the NY Times notes. ‘Titles included ‘Why Break Windows’; ‘I Want To Kill Cops Until I’m Dead’; ‘Piece Now, Peace Later: An Anarchist Introduction to Firearms’; ‘In Defense of Smashing Cameras’; and ‘Three-Way Fight: Revolutionary Anti-Fascism and Armed Self Defense.'”
Although the NY Times does not identify the author of the “kill cops” pamphlet, Hot Air was able to locate a similar publication in an online anarchist library and, indeed, that’s what it outlines: “To begin, we wish to address a simple yet potentially contentious issue which will form the basis of our appeal here. Police Officers must be killed, the families of Police Officers must be killed, the children of Police Officers must be killed, the friends and supporters of Police Officers must be killed.”
Protests have now gone on for more than 100 days in Portland without an end in sight.