On Friday, a 24-year-old man linked to Antifa was sentenced to roughly six years in prison for assaulting a man at a June 29 Portland rally by using a metal baton. The victim, Adam Kelly, needed 25 staples to close his scalp wound after Gage Halupowski struck him.
Oregon Live reported:
Halupowski was identified as one of several masked, black-clothed demonstrators seen on video hitting and pepper-spraying Kelly after he appeared to come to the aid of another man who’d been attacked during the protests, authorities said …
Defense attorney Edward Kroll said Halupowski made “a really terrible decision” and that Kelly didn’t deserve what happened to him, but the attorney believed the agreed-upon 70-month prison sentence was “one of the harshest sentences I’ve seen for someone with no criminal background and young age.”
Several videos reportedly showed the attack. Blue Lives Matter noted, “The video … showed a group of thugs grabbing an elderly man with white hair and beating him with a crowbar and spraying him with mace. A big man in a black shirt with a red beard — later identified as Adam Kelly — tried to intervene but antifa members beat the good Samaritan as well, striking him over the head before they sprayed him with mace as well, the video showed.”
Columnist Michelle Malkin tweeted, “Sharing information from my phone interviews tonight with 2 other victims of Antifa assaults: Oregonians Adam Kelly and John Blum … Adam & John were at same Portland protest where @MrAndyNgo was beaten, but on other side at Pioneer Courthouse Square. They were there to support Haley Adams & speakers … While John was being pummeled by the mob in the center, Adam was struck in the head with nunchucks, metal water bottles, some sort of metal rod, and fists. John was sprayed with mace and blinded. He was led away as blood dripped down his face, then dragged to a sidewalk …”
Adam & John were at same Portland protest where @MrAndyNgo was beaten, but on other side at Pioneer Courthouse Square. They were there to support Haley Adams & speakers. Adam is foreground left – tall red-bearded man. John -older, white-haired man- was center/right being rushed. pic.twitter.com/1Sfegu2VyZ
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 1, 2019
John was sprayed with mace and blinded. He was led away as blood dripped down his face, then dragged to a sidewalk. Another observer notes that one of Adam's attackers appears to wield something like a sock and padlock. See https://t.co/UuzciPLbkL /d pic.twitter.com/J1bPELs5Fy
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 1, 2019
At the June rally, reporter Andy Ngo was also assaulted. He was asked about the Halupowski case on Fox News. He stated:
I want to point out that this is only the second violent Antifa criminal across the United States to face actual prison time. The first one was a militant in New York City; just last month he was sentenced to 18 months. So I hope that this marks a new trend in prosecutors pushing for actual convictions and sentencing.
In October, an Antifa member was sentenced to 18 months in prison for beating up a Trump supporter at a Manhattan club. David Campbell, 32, pleaded guilty in September to two counts of felony assault for assaulting a 56-year-old man.
Ngo noted a reputed Antifa-connected man whom police alleged had beaten people over the head with a bike lock, adding that he only received a misdemeanor conviction and probation time. He was referencing former East Bay college philosophy professor Eric Clanton, who was charged with four counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon after an assault at a Berkeley protest in 2017 but took a deal wherein he received three years’ probation.
Ngo commented that the attorney for Halupowski thought the sentence was too severe, but Ngo thought it was not severe enough.