Rioters set a pig head on fire on Thursday night outside the federal courthouse in Portland, an action which comes after the city has been rocked by violent rioting for over 60 consecutive nights.
&#8220;Antifa protesters dumped a bloody severed pig&#8217;s head on an American flag outside the Justice Center in downtown Portland,&#8221; journalist Andy Ngo reported. &#8220;They put a cop&#8217;s hat on it and set all of it on fire.&#8221;
Ngo notes that during the first few weeks of the riots in early June police <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/has-your-pig-gone-missing-portland-police-find-sleeping-swine-now-looking-for-owner.html">rescued a pig</a> found wrapped in a blanket near the downtown area of the city. &#8220;It is believed a protester was going to kill the pig as an act of anti-police protest but abandoned it last minute,&#8221; says Ngo.
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Antifa protesters dumped a bloody severed pig&#39;s head on an American flag outside the Justice Center in downtown Portland. They put a cop&#39;s hat on it and set all of it on fire. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandRiots?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PortlandRiots</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/antifa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#antifa</a> <a href="https://t.co/qfAOT4ItxP">pic.twitter.com/qfAOT4ItxP</a>
&mdash; Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1289093614165831680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
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In the early weeks of the riots, a pig was found abandoned near downtown Portland in the middle of the night. Police rescued the animal. It is believed a protester was going to kill the pig as an act of anti-police protest but abandoned it last minute. <a href="https://t.co/egNPmxqVmH">https://t.co/egNPmxqVmH</a> <a href="https://t.co/8v1PxPYcqk">pic.twitter.com/8v1PxPYcqk</a>
&mdash; Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1289116604819632130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
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PPB Officers are looking for the owner of this sleepy pig. If you are the owner, call non-emergency dispatch at 503-823-3333. We would like to reunite him with his owner. <a href="https://t.co/SlYbLfckYl">pic.twitter.com/SlYbLfckYl</a>
&mdash; Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) <a href="https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1269609162343776261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The media has noted that the level of violence decreased since the Trump administration agreed to pull federal officers back if the violence against the courthouse stopped. In its coverage of the situation, The Washington Post published a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/31/portland-protests-federal-calm/">report</a> Thursday suggesting that the deployment of federal agents to Portland was what caused much of the violence; however, the violent riots were taking place long before federal agents deployed.
U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams, the chief federal law enforcement official in Oregon since 2015, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chief-fed-in-oregon-unloads-on-media-for-refusing-to-call-violent-riots-criminal-blaming-federal-agents">slammed</a> the media in a recent interview for refusing to call the violent riots &#8220;criminal.&#8221; He also criticized those who attempt to blame federal agents for the violence.
Responding to a question about whether the situation was politicized when federal agents were deployed, Williams responded: &#8220;Yeah, the federal agents being here are protecting federal property, that is not accurate. Blaming federal agents for protecting federal property is an easy out for people who want to politicize this.&#8221;
Williams later sounded off on a reporter who resisted calling the criminal activity &#8220;criminal,&#8221; saying, &#8220;You’re using, ‘late night activity,’ it sounds like a party. It’s criminal.&#8221;
&#8220;You’re choosing terms that sort of downplay the criminal activity, and what I’m suggesting is if there is an honest accounting of what this is, that helps build the reality check for how this can stop,&#8221; Williams added. &#8220;That’s my point.&#8221;
Earlier this week, the Department of Justice tweeted out photographs of some of the items that federal agents were collecting on the streets outside the courthouse on a regular basis.
&#8220;Contraband such as gasoline, hockey sticks, defense shields, leaf blowers, paint sprayers, paint cans with paint, and a jar prepped for a Molotov cocktail confiscated by federal law enforcement from violent agitators outside federal Portland courthouse,&#8221; the DOJ said.
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Contraband such as gasoline, hockey sticks, defense shields, leaf blowers, paint sprayers, paint cans with paint, and a jar prepped for a Molotov cocktail confiscated by federal law enforcement from violent agitators outside federal Portland courthouse <a href="https://t.co/DFHKV5k8Ov">pic.twitter.com/DFHKV5k8Ov</a>
&mdash; Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJusticeDept/status/1287902077050593283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The state of Oregon is finally agreeing to cooperate with our federal forces&#8211;exactly what we asked for since the nightly violence broke out two months ago. We&#8217;re glad Oregon is now correcting their months long error,&#8221; Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf tweeted on Wednesday. &#8220;We will maintain our current, augmented federal law enforcement personnel in Portland until we are assured that the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and other federal properties will no longer be attacked and that the seat of justice in Portland will remain secure.&#8221;
&#8220;[DHS] will not back down from our legal duty to protect federal law enforcement officers and federal properties in the face of violent criminal behavior,&#8221; Wolf added. &#8220;[President Trump] made clear that this Administration is ready and willing to partner with state &amp; local law enforcement to protect every American – and you see that commitment in Portland with this plan.&#8221;
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We will maintain our current, augmented federal law enforcement personnel in Portland until we are assured that the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and other federal properties will no longer be attacked and that the seat of justice in Portland will remain secure.
&mdash; Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1288517590852284417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> made clear that this Administration is ready and willing to partner with state &amp; local law enforcement to protect every American – and you see that commitment in Portland with this plan.
&mdash; Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1288517594845188098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2020</a></blockquote>
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DHS Makes Deal With Oregon Governor To Withdraw Federal Agents From Portland

Portland Rioters Set Pig Head With Police Hat On Fire While On Top Of American Flag

Chad Wolf

Donald Trump

Oregon

Portland

A group of &#8220;racial justice protesters&#8221; only made it roughly half-an-hour into their demonstration before their event reportedly turned violent and ended with confrontations with residents and law enforcement officials.
&#8220;Racial justice protesters had marched through part of Springfield’s Thurston neighborhood without incident for only about a half an hour Wednesday night before they found themselves met with a wall of police behind barricades blocking their progress,&#8221; the Register-Guard of Eugene <a href="https://www.registerguard.com/news/20200729/protesters-clash-with-police-others-at-march-in-springfield">reported</a>. &#8220;Just before 9 p.m., police pushed back. The scene devolved into a shoving match. Officers and protesters went to the ground. Black Unity’s Tyshawn Ford was dragged away and arrested.&#8221;
Videos showed the activists marching into the suburbs, where they were quickly met by law enforcement officials who declared the event to be &#8220;unlawful.&#8221; The activists began to attempt to push through a barrier that police put up to keep them out of the residential neighborhood.
KEZI 9 News <a href="https://www.kezi.com/content/news/Protest-in-Thurston-turns-violent-571952351.html">reported</a> that counter-protesters showed up to confront the leftists and that people reported being &#8220;punched, slapped or hit with pepper spray.&#8221; The news station reported that multiple people were taken into custody.
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Antifa and BLM supporters take to the suburbs in Springfield, Oregon. <a href="https://t.co/hxnMpAFfe0">pic.twitter.com/hxnMpAFfe0</a>
&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1288693611698110464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Police are declaring the protest an unlawful assembly <a href="https://twitter.com/KEZI9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KEZI9</a> <a href="https://t.co/IChw9EgTYg">pic.twitter.com/IChw9EgTYg</a>
&mdash; Connor McCarthy (@conr_mccarthy) <a href="https://twitter.com/conr_mccarthy/status/1288687790285131776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Antifa protesters are trying to break through barricades set up by Springfield PD. <a href="https://t.co/QKUm76xnKu">pic.twitter.com/QKUm76xnKu</a>
&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1288693346370588672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Antifa protests have broken out in Springfield, Oregon. <a href="https://t.co/W3PaPAkKje">pic.twitter.com/W3PaPAkKje</a>
&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1288693099573600256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Police formed another barricade <a href="https://twitter.com/KEZI9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KEZI9</a> <a href="https://t.co/ARuk8kfFfj">pic.twitter.com/ARuk8kfFfj</a>
&mdash; Connor McCarthy (@conr_mccarthy) <a href="https://twitter.com/conr_mccarthy/status/1288689150774767617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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There&#39;s a lot of counterprotestors out confronting Antifa/Black Lives Matter in Springfield, Oregon. <a href="https://t.co/zIxBNK0Kts">pic.twitter.com/zIxBNK0Kts</a>
&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1288696747854688256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Residents are driving Black Lives Matter protesters out of Springfield, Oregon. <a href="https://t.co/TThrmL1IBg">pic.twitter.com/TThrmL1IBg</a>
&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1288697651941146626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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A Trump supporter and Republican shows up to call on other patriots to let the Antifa cowards leave. Naturally, the guy behind the camera (who&#39;s a leftist) scolds him for mentioning his political affiliation. <a href="https://t.co/lbpRwgdc3B">pic.twitter.com/lbpRwgdc3B</a>
&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1288701026917167104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The march into the residential neighborhood comes as violent anarchists have repeatedly attacked a federal courthouse in Portland over several weeks in a row. In response to the violent attacks, federal law enforcement officers were sent in to protect the courthouse.
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Peaceful crowds don’t commit federal crimes. 20 injuries to federal officers in Portland this past weekend. <a href="https://t.co/X4z0mQvuJd">pic.twitter.com/X4z0mQvuJd</a>
&mdash; Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1287902961440567299?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Department of Homeland Security released a <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/07/16/acting-secretary-wolf-condemns-rampant-long-lasting-violence-portland">statement</a> highlighting just some of the violence that has occurred in Portland over the last several weeks:
<blockquote>05/29/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists broke a front window at the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
<li>Overall, the cost of damages on federal property done by the violent mob this first night was estimated at $5,000.</li>
</ul>
05/30/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the BPA Building.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Edith Green-Wenell Wyatt Building.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Terry Schrunk Plaza.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the 911 Federal Building.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Pioneer Courthouse.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Gus J. Solomon Courthouse.</li>
</ul>
06/01/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied Terry Schrunk Plaza.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied The Pioneer Courthouse.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied The Gus J Solomon Courthouse.</li>
</ul>
06/02/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the U.S. Custom House.</li>
</ul>
06/06/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists destroyed fencing surrounding federal property.</li>
</ul>
06/07/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists damaged and breached the fence around the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
<li>Portland Police were forced to deploy crowd control spray to disperse a crowd that was throwing animal seed at officers.</li>
</ul>
06/08/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists broke a window at the Hatfield Courthouse while pelting the building with objects.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists cut a hole in the fence surrounding Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
</ul>
06/10/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists removed the entire fence around Hatfield Courthouse and graffitied its front columns.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists attempted to remove wooden barriers from a window on the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
</ul>
06/11/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists dismantled a section of the fence protecting the Edith Green-Wenell Wyatt Federal Building.</li>
</ul>
06/13/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists destroyed the card reader at the Hatfield Courthouse by ripping it off its mount.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists destroyed the fence at the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists threw metal pipes at the Hatfield Courthouse, causing Portland Police to issue a disbursal warning for unlawful assembly.</li>
</ul>
06/17/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
</ul>
06/20/2020
<ul>
<li>Among a group of over 400 protesters marching in front of the Pioneer Courthouse, violent anarchists attempted to cause eye damage to officers with commercial grade lasers.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied the Gus J. Solomon Courthouse.</li>
</ul>
06/25/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists vandalized an FPS camera at the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists breached the fence of the Justice Center, adjacent to the courthouse.</li>
</ul>
06/30/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists ripped down plywood covering the windows at the Edith Green-Wenell Wyatt Building, before breaking the windows.</li>
</ul>
7/01/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists graffitied new plywood covering the windows at the Hatfield Courthouse and ripped down plywood on the other side of the building.</li>
<li>A group of over 200 violent anarchists blocked access to the building and proceeded to launch aerial fireworks at federal property.</li>
</ul>
07/02/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists broke a front window to the Hatfield Courthouse and attempted to enter the building.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists refused orders to vacate the Hatfield Courthouse area, and instead launched fireworks and threw objects at officers, while attempting to cause eye damage with lasers. One explosive firework was shot into the courthouse.</li>
<li>FPS law enforcement officers were forced to utilized crowd control measures for safety.</li>
</ul>
07/03/2020
<ul>
<li>After ongoing riots around the Hatfield Courthouse, crowds were dispersed only to make a return later into the night.</li>
<li>Violent Anarchists broke the front window of the Hatfield U.S. Courthouse and shot fireworks into the building.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists firebombed the building. Federal law enforcement extinguished the fire.</li>
</ul>
07/04/2020
<ul>
<li>Around 1,000 violent anarchists spray painted, threw rocks, and shot fireworks (including mortar style fireworks) at the Hatfield Courthouse. They also destroyed a security camera at the facility.
<ul>
<li>A CBP team supporting FPS at the courthouse arrested suspects from the graffiti and camera vandalism incidents.</li>
<li>The mob continued to throw rocks and paint-filled balloons, while attempting to breach the doors.</li>
<li>Teams were forced to utilize crowd control measures for safety.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Multiple individuals were seen carrying rifles, including the driver of a vehicle who attempted to strike a Portland Police Bureau officer with his car in front of the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
</ul>
07/05/2020
<ul>
<li>A hostile crowd of about 250 violent anarchists returned to the vicinity of Hatfield Courthouse to vandalize and attack numerous facilities and police, while failing to comply with dispersal order.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists surrounded and blocked law enforcement from the area as extremists proceeded to attack police with thrown projectiles and large mortar style fireworks.</li>
<li>Two Portland Police Bureau officers were injured by the crowd (possible concussion).</li>
<li>Portland Police Bureau took five into custody for directing lasers against aircraft.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists set fires in front of Hatfield Courthouse and Chapman park.</li>
<li>At the entrance of Hatfield Courthouse, Violent Anarchists fired large fireworks and threw other dangerous objects toward the entrance and the personnel protecting it.</li>
<li>The mob was pushed completely out of the area of Hatfield Courthouse; FPS made two arrests during push.</li>
<li>Portland Police made multiple arrests and found a loaded weapon on one subject.</li>
<li>Two more violent anarchists were arrested, and one was found to be carrying what appears to be a pipe bomb.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists assaulted construction crews by targeting them with fireworks while they repaired Hatfield Building.</li>
<li>A joint team had to be deployed to create buffer between violent anarchists and construction crew to protect construction workers.</li>
</ul>
07/06/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists attempted to cause vision damage to personnel with lasers. Five arrests were made for assaulting law enforcement.</li>
</ul>
07/07/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists held a “Night of Rage,” in which a 400-500-person protest devolved into riots, assaulting law enforcement officers and federal property.</li>
<li>Approximately 200 violent anarchists began pursuing law enforcement officers to disrupt enforcement actions, assaulting them with rocks and bottles.</li>
<li>Around 150 violent anarchists in front of the Justice Center began attacking personnel with lasers and peppered the area with fireworks.</li>
<li>Three violent anarchists were arrested for attacking law enforcement.</li>
</ul>
07/08/2020
<ul>
<li>Approximately 200 violent anarchists attacked DHS law enforcement officers while apprehending a subject who was wanted for property damage.</li>
<li>One arrest was made after three law enforcement officers were injured.</li>
<li>Law enforcement officers’ personal information was publicly exposed, including FPS, ICE, and CBP personnel.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists continued to attack officers with lasers.</li>
</ul>
07/09/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists attacked DHS law enforcement officers while apprehending a subject who was wanted for property damage.</li>
<li>A violent anarchist graffitied the Hatfield courthouse.</li>
<li>An unidentified subject fired several shots from a gun into the air from the rear seat of a passing white SUV.</li>
</ul>
07/10/2020
<ul>
<li>Crowds of approximately 300 violent anarchists vandalized federal property and cameras with spray paint, blocked roadways, and assaulted law enforcement officers.</li>
<li>Three were arrested for Assault on a Federal Officer.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists attempted to ambush Portland Police Department PD during their shift change, but a DHS team was deployed and able to prevent any attacks.</li>
</ul>
07/11/2020
<ul>
<li>DHS law enforcement officers supported local police to help a violent anarchist who overdosed.</li>
<li>Four violent anarchists were arrested, including one who attempted to assault an officer with a hammer.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists sieged the barricade of the courthouse and tried to damage it with a large hammer.</li>
<li>A law enforcement officer was assaulted with blows from a hammer. Violent anarchists fought officers while they were arresting those responsible.</li>
</ul>
07/12/2020
<ul>
<li>Six violent anarchists were detained and cited.</li>
<li>A mob of 300 refused to comply with directions not to trespass on federal property.</li>
<li>Another mob of 200 individuals armed with sledgehammers, tasers and/or stun guns, gathered in Chapman Park across from the Hatfield Courthouse.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists launched fireworks, threw fecal matter and large objects, and pointed lasers at federal law enforcement officers.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists deployed a plywood blockade while graffitiing the Edith Green-Wenell Wyatt Federal Building, before firing wrist rockets at the facility.</li>
<li>When an arrest team was deployed to apprehend a rioter who encroached on a police barrier and refused to leave, they were assaulted by violent anarchists.</li>
<li>A rioter trespassed on the steps of the Hatfield Courthouse and was confronted by federal law enforcement Officers, then swallowed a large amount of narcotics. Law enforcement called medical services after the individual started to convulse.</li>
<li>Despite more orders to stay off of federal property and to cease unlawful activity, FPS was forced to push back violent anarchists. The Portland Police Bureau declared the mob an unlawful assembly.</li>
</ul>
07/13/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists released personal information of federal law enforcement officers to the public, publishing names of those in Portland.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists continued to assault law enforcement officers with lasers, slingshots and fireworks. Others were armed with sledge hammers, tasers, and stun guns, and dragged flaming debris into the scene.</li>
</ul>
07/14/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists set a container of liquid on fire at the Terry Schrunk Plaza.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists jumped a fence and attempted to breach the Edith Green Federal Building.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists assaulted federal law enforcement officers with cans and other hard objects while they attempted to unblock the entrance of the Edith Green Federal Building.</li>
</ul>
07/15/2020
<ul>
<li>Violent anarchists doxed members of federal law enforcement.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists attempted to damage the Hatfield Courthouse by throwing objects at it and spray painting it. Numerous fireworks were also lit.</li>
<li>Violent anarchists trespassed on federal property and destroyed a card reader at the Justice Center.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
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US-POLICE-PROTESTS

WATCH: Activists Get In Violent Struggle With Police While Marching Through Oregon Suburb, Confronted By Residents

Antifa

Black Lives Matter

Law Enforcement

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) urged the Trump administration not to tolerate protesters destroying federal property in Portland, Oregon, and likened their behavior to the Confederates who fired on Fort Sumter in 1861 and started the Civil War.
“The federal government cannot allow anarchists and insurrectionists [to] destroy federal courthouses, federal buildings, or other federal property,&#8221; Cotton <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/tom-cotton-portland-new-york-times-op-ed" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said Tuesday</a> on &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends.&#8221; &#8220;These insurrectionists in the streets of Portland are little different from the insurrectionists who seceded from the Union in 1861 in South Carolina and tried to take over Fort Sumter.&#8221;
&#8220;And just like President Lincoln wouldn’t stand for that,&#8221; Cotton continued, &#8220;the federal government today cannot stand for the vandalism, the firebombing, or any attacks on federal property. It is right to send federal law enforcement in to defend federal property and federal facilities.&#8221;
&#8220;The radical left-wing mayor, who is basically in league with the ‘defund the police’ anarchists on the street, [has] seen over 50 days of rioting and looting and anarchy in their streets,&#8221; he added. &#8220;But, if you see something similar in other cities, where anarchists, insurrectionists are attacking courthouses, attacking federal buildings, attacking federal land and property, then of course the federal government has a responsibility to defend its installations and its property.&#8221;
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On Fox &amp; Friends, Sen. Tom Cotton compares protesters to the Confederacy: &quot;These insurrectionists in the streets of Portland are little different from the insurrectionists who seceded from the union in 1861 in South Carolina, and tried to take over Fort Sumter.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/7ylYh3N1dB">pic.twitter.com/7ylYh3N1dB</a>
&mdash; Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) <a href="https://twitter.com/revrrlewis/status/1285546793447706630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Portland has been at the center of national attention recently after federal troops from Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit, as well as the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group, began allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-begins-feds-in-camo-nab-suspects-in-portland-drive-off-in-unmarked-cars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">whisking suspected rioters away</a> in unmarked vans. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) likened such tactics to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/beginning-of-the-ending-of-this-democracy-jim-clyburn-accuses-trump-and-barr-of-imposing-gestapo-activities" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nazi Gestapo</a>, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) even described the federal troops as Trump&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1284294427654197248" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stormtroopers.</a>&#8221;
Cotton sparked backlash when he published an op-ed in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/opinion/tom-cotton-protests-military.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The New York Times</a> last month calling for the federal government to &#8220;send in the troops&#8221; in response to violent protests that erupted nationwide in the wake of George Floyd&#8217;s death.
&#8220;One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers,&#8221; Cotton wrote. &#8220;But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do what’s necessary to uphold the rule of law.&#8221;
The NYT later backtracked on publishing Cotton&#8217;s piece, appending an extensive statement to the op-ed that said in part, &#8220;We have concluded that the essay fell short of our standards and should not have been published.
Speaking with &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends,&#8221; Cotton derided The New York Times as &#8220;a national laughingstock,&#8221; adding, &#8220;Ever since they apologized for running my op-ed last month without citing a single factual inaccuracy in it, ever since they fired their own editor for running that op-ed, it reads like a syllabus from a social justice seminar. So, I give little credit to what I see in the pages of The New York Times.&#8221;
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters, &#8220;By any objective standard, the violence, chaos, and anarchy in Portland is unacceptable. Yet Democrats continue to put politics above peace while this president seeks to restore law and order.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> Blasts the Chaos in Democrat run cities <a href="https://t.co/cMA0S5qrl4">pic.twitter.com/cMA0S5qrl4</a>
&mdash; Benny (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1285597062160056320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/beginning-of-the-ending-of-this-democracy-jim-clyburn-accuses-trump-and-barr-of-imposing-gestapo-activities" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘Beginning Of The Ending Of This Democracy’: Jim Clyburn Accuses Trump And Barr Of Imposing ‘Gestapo Activities’</a>
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Tom Cotton

Tom Cotton Compares ‘Anarchists And Insurrectionists’ In Portland To Confederacy

American Civil War

Riots

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) compared the federal police in Portland, Oregon, to the Nazi Gestapo and accused President Donald Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr of implementing tactics reminiscent of the Third Reich, which he claimed threaten American democracy.
In a Monday morning interview on CNN&#8217;s News Day, Clyburn said regarding the federal police presence in Portland, &#8220;I would really like to know who ordered those people to be there. The way I understand things, it seems that somebody had to be deputized by the attorney general, or some order from him, to do what they were doing.&#8221;
&#8220;And so, I believe law enforcement of that nature should be left up to local communities and these communities. If they want help, they will then summon the federal government to intercede,&#8221; he added.
Clyburn continued, &#8220;For all of a sudden for these people to go in there, nothing from the governor, nothing from local law enforcement, just show up with their faces covered in unmarked cars [&#8230;] That kind of activity is the activity of a police state, and this president and this attorney general seem to be doing everything they possibly can to impose Gestapo activities in local communities, and that is what I have been warning about for a long time.&#8221;
&#8220;That is the beginning of the ending of this democracy,&#8221; Clyburn added.
WATCH:
<iframe title="UNHINGED: Dem Rep. Clyburn Compares Federal Law Enforcement To Nazi Germany Gestapo" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wy9UIdZWMLI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Members of Customs and Border Protection&#8217;s Border Patrol Tactical Unit, as well as the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group, were dispatched to Portland recently to protect federal property after vandals ripped down statues of figures such as Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Footage of federal officials in camouflage whisking protesters away in unmarked vans made the rounds on social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Take these terrorists off the streets and disappear them for months. Oh if only. <a href="https://t.co/NYW7qKCXSw">pic.twitter.com/NYW7qKCXSw</a>
&mdash; Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1283485870117404672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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“Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14,” according to <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-law-enforcement-unmarked-vehicles-portland-protesters/">Oregon Public Broadcasting</a> (OPB) last week. “Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off.”
“The tactic appears to be another escalation in federal force deployed on Portland city streets, as federal officials and President Donald Trump have said they plan to ‘quell’ nightly protests outside the federal courthouse and Multnomah County Justice Center that have lasted for more than six weeks,” OPB continued. “Federal officers have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests so far, while others have been arrested and released.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also likened the federal officers to Nazi &#8220;stormtroopers,&#8221; and accused Trump of unleashing &#8220;secret police&#8221; on the American people.
&#8220;We live in a democracy, not a banana republic,&#8221; Pelosi said in a joint statement with Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OH). &#8220;We will not tolerate the use of Oregonians, Washingtonians – or any other Americans – as props in President Trump&#8217;s political games. The House is committed to moving swiftly to curb these egregious abuses of power immediately.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We live in a democracy, not a banana republic. We will not tolerate the use of Americans as props in President Trump’s political games.
Read my full statement with Rep. Earl Blumenauer here: <a href="https://t.co/YGd6pnrHxT">https://t.co/YGd6pnrHxT</a>
&mdash; Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1284651577194749952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Trump on Monday praised the federal law enforcement in Portland and said he might send them into other Democrat-run cities to quell riotous protesters. &#8220;These are anarchists, and the politicians out there — yes, they&#8217;re weak, but they&#8217;re afraid of these people. They&#8217;re actually afraid of these people. And that&#8217;s why they say, &#8216;We don&#8217;t want the federal government helping.'&#8221;
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: President Trump says he may send &quot;more federal law enforcement&quot; to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Oakland, and other cities to deal with unrest: &quot;In Portland they’ve done a fantastic job.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Pe6aDv6AVt">pic.twitter.com/Pe6aDv6AVt</a>
&mdash; The Hill (@thehill) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1285244981322690560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-begins-feds-in-camo-nab-suspects-in-portland-drive-off-in-unmarked-cars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IT BEGINS: Feds In Camo Nab Suspects In Portland, Drive Off In Unmarked Cars</a>
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House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, May 27, 2020 in Washington, DC.

‘Beginning Of The Ending Of This Democracy’: Jim Clyburn Accuses Trump And Barr Of Imposing ‘Gestapo Activities’

James Clyburn

Nazis

President Donald Trump deploying an elite force of federal agents to handle ongoing riots in Portland, Oregon, Sunday, noting on Twitter that the purpose of deploying the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, or BORTAC, was to assist Portland law enforcement, not harm protesters.
“We are trying to help Portland, not hurt it. Their leadership has, for months, lost control of the anarchists and agitators. They are missing in action. We must protect Federal property AND OUR PEOPLE. These were not merely protesters, these are the real deal!” Trump tweeted.
Police in Portland have, several times, labeled the ongoing unrest a &#8220;riot,&#8221; despite efforts by the city&#8217;s mayor to recast the nightly eruptions as simple demonstrations.
On Sunday, the ongoing unrest entered its 52nd day, with protesters setting at least two fires, including one in the police union&#8217;s headquarters, <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/07/saturday-evening-protests-planned-at-holladay-and-peninsula-parks.html">per Oregon Live</a>.
&#8220;In North Portland, the PNW Youth Liberation Front, an organized group that has been leading demonstrations over the course of the past two months, hosted a protest to demand the abolition of the Portland Police Bureau and decry violence against people of color. After an evening gathering at Peninsula Park, marchers headed south on Interstate Avenue, stretching out for about five blocks,&#8221; the outlet reported early Sunday morning.
&#8220;They stopped outside the bureau’s North Precinct, chanting, &#8216;Quit your job.&#8217; The majority of the crowd dispersed from the precinct around 9:30 p.m. after officers announced demonstrators would be subject to arrest,&#8221; Oregon Live continued. &#8220;Demonstrators traveled to the Portland Police Association, the Portland Police Bureau’s union. They then began flipping dumpsters around the building to form a barricade.&#8221;
Around 10:25 pm Saturday night, Portland police declared the incident a &#8220;riot&#8221; and moved to clear the area.
Friday night, protesters told friendly media sources that they faced off against masked federal officers outside Portland&#8217;s federal courthouse &#8212; a building that has been under siege in the nightly unrest for most of the last two months. Protesters claimed that the agents, who they said were not wearing badges, &#8220;disappeared&#8221; at least one demonstrator, taking him away in an unmarked vehicle.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-information-photos-emerge-of-elite-unit-deployed-to-portland-to-stop-violent-extremists">The Daily Wire reported Saturday</a>, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) acknowledged deploying the elite border patrol unit in Portland to protect federal property.
&#8220;A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokeswoman said on Friday agents had been deployed to Portland to support a newly launched U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unit, tasked with enforcing last month’s executive order from Republican President Donald Trump to protect federal monuments and buildings,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-protests-portland/u-s-swoops-down-on-portland-protesters-after-trump-order-to-protect-monuments-idUSKCN24I2W5">Reuters reported Saturday</a>.
CBP also acknowledged moving at least one suspect for questioning, telling media that the suspect, who was accused of damaging federal property and attacking federal officers, was briefly moved from the scene while being interrogated because federal agents feared being attacked by what they referred to as &#8220;a large and violent mob&#8221; advancing on the scene.
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Black Lives Matter protests continue in Portland

President Trump Defends Deploying ‘Elite’ Border Patrol Unit In Portland

Customs and Border Patrol

Oregon residents may be able to vote this November on whether to legalize psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms.
The Oregonian <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/06/legal-regulated-psychedelic-mushrooms-are-one-step-closer-to-being-on-the-ballot-in-oregon-in-november.html">reported</a> that a ballot initiative known as the Oregon Psilocybin Therapy Initiative, or Initiative Petition #34, has received enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, provided those signatures are valid. Sheri and Tom Eckert, two of the top petitioners behind the initiative, said during a Zoom press conference Monday that the initiative had obtained 164,782 signatures, the Oregonian reported.
More from the Oregonian:
<blockquote>Oregon would be the first state to legalize the substance, which is currently a Schedule I drug. Cities like <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-shrooms-denver-legal-how-take-1445041">Oakland and Denver have already decriminalized psilocybin</a>.
“Pioneering research at institutions like Johns Hopkins, NYU, and UCLA has shown the significant promise of psilocybin therapy,” said a press release put out by the campaign Monday, “especially for people whose depression or anxiety hasn’t responded to other available treatments.”
Its [sic] a cause <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/trending/2017/12/this_couple_wants_to_make_it_l.html">the Eckerts have championed for years</a> that now is closer than ever to appearing on the Oregon ballot in November.</blockquote>
Legalizing psilocybin, the outlet reported, won’t make it widely available like cannabis. Instead, the Oregonian reported, the initiative will “empower the Oregon Health Authority to set up all licensing, training, certification, and ongoing education requirements for psilocybin service centers and facilitators during a mandated two-year development process,” a press release for Initiative #34 said.
“Only license holders will be able to “provide psilocybin therapy, cultivate psilocybin, or own a psilocybin service center,” under the measure, and the measure would not allow people to take or grow psychedelic mushrooms in their homes, or leave a treatment facility while still under the influence of psilocybin,” the outlet reported. “The use of the substance will be highly structured, with therapy recipients going through a pre-screening, a supervised therapy session and a post-use evaluation.”
In their press release, Sheri Eckert, a therapist, explained that “Oregon has some of the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and addiction in the country,” and that “the options we have to help those people are just not enough.”
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/30/oregon-voters-push-to-legalize-psychedelic-mushrooms/">reported</a> that the Eckerts “hope to market a whole range of ‘Psilocybin Services’ to patients in the future” and received a $1 million donation from Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, an organic soap company based in San Diego, California.
Dr. Rachel Knox was present during the Eckerts’ press conference and said she supported Initiative #34 because she “believes that therapies should be backed by research and evidence-based, and psilocybin is a compound that has a demonstrated safety record.”
“We need better mental health treatment options now more than ever,” Knox added, “and this initiative has the right supervision and safeguards in place.”
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Mushrooms

Oregon Getting Closer To Vote On Legalizing Psychedelic Shrooms – For Therapeutic Use, Of Course

Drugs

Speaking to Glenn Beck of The Blaze, an Oregon salon owner reiterated her charge that the state of Oregon had sent Child Protective Services to her home after she had opened her salon in defiance of state orders.
Lindsey Graham, the owner of Glamour Salon in Salem, had claimed last week that Child Protective Services had visited her home. The press secretary in the communications office for the Oregon Department of Human Services stated, “Due to confidentiality laws, we cannot comment on whether or not there is an open CPS assessment against any individual. I want to stress however, that not following Governor Brown’s Stay Home, Save Lives executive order or not following physical distancing guidelines would never be a reason to assign a CPS assessment,” <a href="https://www.kptv.com/news/salem-salon-owner-says-oregon-osha-issues-14-000-citation-says-shell-stay-open/article_9a3761e6-9708-11ea-9cc3-1b1d00602ed2.html">FOX 12</a> reported.
Lindsey Graham, the owner of Glamour Salon in Salem, asserted to Beck, “They’re using every possible government organization to try and bully and intimidate me into shutting my doors. They have used OSHA; health licensing office, CPS Child Protective Services, if you can believe it; they’ve used the city of Salem to threaten me …”
Beck, shocked, replied, “How? How? How? Wait, wait, wait— how were they using CPS?”
Graham continued, “So I opened my doors to my salon on May 5, and on May 8, Child Protective Services showed up at my home when I was at work to question my home about a ‘claim’ that my household was endangering my children.”
Beck responded, “Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh, Lindsey. How are you so calm about this?”
Graham answered, “I’m not. I’m livid, and I’ve already cried and bawled and screamed. And I have no words for the tactics that the government is using against me, but I’ve had time to adjust my thinking and come up with a plan of attack, or defense, even, if you will. I’m not calm but I have a really great team of attorneys and we are going to tackle this head on because it’s very, very clear that there is bullying and intimidation by the government directed at me and my family and my business.”
Last Friday, Graham stated that Friday OSHA issued a $14,000 citation to her after she ignored Gov. Kate Brown’s executive order. She stated, “Everyone’s job is essential, not because what we do or how we do it, but because it’s how we make our living. I have independent contractors that are choosing to work in this facility. OSHA has illegally deemed them employees and is citing me as an employer, which I am not.” She added, “I’m vowing to stay open as long as I can, basically, until the governor tries to take my entire career, something I’ve worked 15 years for, out from underneath me,”
FOX 12 reported that Oregon OSHA Administrator Michael Wood could not confirm a fine had been issued because Graham and her attorney hadn’t informed OSHA they had received it. Oregon OSHA officials stated Graham was “unquestionably operating in violation of the governor’s executive order, designed to protect workers and the public.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What is HAPPENING in Oregon?! Salon owner Lindsey Graham said the state even sent Child Protection Services to her house to intimidate her after reopening early! HOW?! <a href="https://t.co/hDEeZAkNBE">pic.twitter.com/hDEeZAkNBE</a>
&mdash; Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) <a href="https://twitter.com/glennbeck/status/1263170582251819009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Sad boy

Oregon Salon Owner Who Opened Claims State Sent Child Protective Services To Her Home

Child Protective Services

On Monday, an Oregon judge jettisoned coronavirus restrictions imposed by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, reasoning Brown had not asked the Oregon legislature whether they approved of Brown’s orders extending for more than 28 days.
The decision from Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff, who was appointed to be a judge by Brown last fall, came after a lawsuit was filed by 10 churches challenging Brown’s state’s social-distancing orders. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs wrote that Brown had “exceeded her constitutional authority,” that after declaring a public health emergency, she could only exercise her emergency powers for 30 days. The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6884212-Bakercountysuit.html">lawsuit</a> argued that if Brown wanted to extend her emergency powers, she had to obtain approval from three-fifths of both houses of the legislature before the 30-day period had expired. Because she hadn’t done so, they argued, her original executive order on March 8 declaring a public health emergency expired on April 7.
Attorney Ray D. Hacke, who filed a motion for a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6884213-ELKHORNCHURCHMTRO.html">temporary restraining order</a>, said, “If we’re risking our lives to go to church, if we survive. great. If we die, then we’re going to heaven. If we want to take that risk, then it’s on us.,” as <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/05/10-oregon-churches-sue-governor-want-to-worship-without-restrictions-amid-coronavirus-pandemic.html">Oregon Live</a> reported.
Brown, who declared a statewide state of emergency on March 8, reacted to the decision on Monday by stating she would immediately seek an emergency review by the Oregon Supreme Court. She said, “The science behind these executive orders hasn’t changed one bit. Ongoing physical distancing, staying home as much as possible, and wearing face coverings will save lives across Oregon.”
<a href="https://apnews.com/858075236a56cad769c96c0187b8bfe6">The Associated Press</a> (AP) reported, “In a seven-page opinion, Shirtcliff wrote that the damage to Oregonians and their livelihood was greater than the dangers presented by the coronavirus. He also noted that other businesses deemed essential, such as grocery stores, had been allowed to remain open even with large numbers of people present and have relied on masks, social distancing and other measures to protect the public.” Shirtcliff wrote, “The governor’s orders are not required for public safety when plaintiffs can continue to utilize social distancing and safety protocols at larger gatherings involving spiritual worship,”
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum responded to the ruling by saying, “We will argue that the judge erred in his construction of the relevant statutes and that he abused his discretion in issuing the preliminary injunction. We will also be asking for an immediate stay of his order,” AP reported.
Hacke countered, “Praise God. I’m excited, and I’m glad that the judge saw that there are limitations on the governor’s power, even in the midst of emergencies. If people want to get their haircut, they can. They can leave their home for any reason whether it’s deemed essential in the eye of the state or not.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

US-CRIME-SHOOTING-OREGON

Oregon Judge Invalidates Governor’s Virus Restrictions

Coronavirus

On Friday evening, authorities confirmed that two people – a woman from Santa Clara County, California, and a patient from Washington County, Oregon – had contracted coronavirus from unknown sources within the community.
According to The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/02/28/coronavirus-live-updates/">Washington Post</a>, the woman from Santa Clara County, in Northern California, is 65-years-old and has not recently traveled outside the country. The patient tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, according to “people familiar with the case.&#8221;
The second case, which has occurred in an unknown individual from Washington County, Oregon, was confirmed by state health authorities, reports the news agency. The patient, who is an adult and currently at Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro, Oregon, didn’t have contact with other people known to have the coronavirus, and had not recently traveled outside the country.
The two cases confirmed Friday night represent the second and third community spread cases that have been found in the United States. The first case, a person from Solano County, California, was the first confirmed instance of community-spread coronavirus in the United States, and the patient is currently at the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/coronavirus-patient-and-precautions-uc-davis-medical-center/">UC Davis Medical Center</a> in Sacramento, California.
The two California cases have occurred within 100 miles of Travis Air Force Base in Northern California, where some of the 400 U.S. citizens aboard the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/s0215-Diamond-Princess-Repatriation.html">Diamond Princess</a> Cruise Ship were for quarantine. As of Thursday evening, six passengers from the cruise ship out of the 3,711 people on board have died, including five Japanese citizens and a British citizen, reports <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2020/02/28/six-people-from-the-diamond-princess-cruise-ship-have-now-died-from-covid-19-after-quarantine-failure/#490eb1043654">Forbes</a>.
According to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-death-age-older-people-higher-risk-2020-2">Business Insider</a>, the Chinese Center for Disease Control has indicated that the virus has a mortality rate of 0.2% for people between the ages of 10-39, 0.4% for people between the ages of 40-49, and 1.3% for people between 50-59.
According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/children-faq.html">CDC</a>, reports indicate that young children “generally” present mild symptoms if they do contract the virus. According to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-death-age-older-people-higher-risk-2020-2">Business Insider</a>, about 80% of people who contract coronavirus only exhibit mild symptoms. 
However, the mortality rate among individuals older than 60 is higher, but could be due to factors such as pre-existing medical conditions, particularly conditions related to smoking. The news agency reports that people between the ages of 60-69 have a mortality rate of 3.6%, people between 70-79 have a mortality rate of 8%, and people over the age of 80 have a mortality rate of 14.8%.
Nancy Messonier, director of the CDC and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, stated earlier this week that the spread of the coronavirus was inevitable, but the degree to which people will be infected is still an open question.
“It’s not a question of if but rather a question of when and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” said Messonier, reports the <a href="https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2020-02-25-coronavirus-spread-us-inevitable-cdc-official-says">American Hospital Association</a>.
Vice President Mike Pence, who has been appointed to lead the coronavirus task force, has praised the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak, saying that “we&#8217;re all going to come together as Americans and deal with this issue and put the health and safety of the American people first,” reports <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/pence-tells-rush-limbaugh-who-said-coronavirus-has-been-overhyped-n1144976">NBC News</a>.
According to The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/northern-californian-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-in-first-us-case-with-no-link-to-foreign-travel/2020/02/26/b2088840-58fb-11ea-9000-f3cffee23036_story.html">Washington Post</a>, Governor Gavin Newsom indicated Thursday that California has strong procedures for identifying people who have come in contact with coronavirus patients, saying “the protocols have been perfected” through previous public health outbreaks.
The symptoms of coronavirus include coughing, fever, and shortness of breath.

TOPSHOT-FRANCE-HEALTH-VIRUS-CHINA

Two New Community-Spread Coronavirus Cases Found In Northern California, Oregon

California

China

On Thursday, an Oregon judge ruled that agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not make <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/10/immigrant-rights-groups-will-ask-for-new-rule-banning-ice-arrests-in-oregon-courthouses.html">arrests inside or in the close vicinity</a> of Oregon’s state courthouses unless the agents got a warrant from a judge.
Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters wrote in a news release, according to <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/11/us-immigration-agents-are-now-prohibited-from-making-arrests-at-oregons-courthouses-without-a-judges-permission.html">Oregon Live</a>:
<blockquote>Adopting this rule protects the integrity of the state judicial process and will allow state courts to fully hold accountable people accused of a crime. Arrests in courthouses have interfered with judicial proceedings and removed criminal defendants before they have been sentenced or completed their sentences. We are adopting this rule to maintain the integrity of our courts and provide access to justice – not to advance or oppose any political or policy agenda.</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.dailyastorian.com/news/local/state-supreme-court-restricts-ice-at-courthouses/article_24273768-0745-11ea-b906-db9639ebe61d.html">The Astorian</a> reported that Tanya Roman, a spokeswoman for ICE, fired back in a statement:
<blockquote>ICE ERO officers have been provided broad at-large arrest authority by Congress and may lawfully arrest removable aliens in courthouses, which is often necessitated by local policies that prevent law enforcement from cooperating with ICE efforts to arrange for safe and orderly transfer of custody in the setting of a state or county prison or jail and put political rhetoric before public safety.
It is ironic that elected officials want to see policies in place to keep ICE out of courthouses, while caring little for laws enacted by Congress to keep criminal aliens out of our country. Despite any attempts to prevent ICE officers from doing their jobs, ICE will continue to carry out its mission to uphold public safety and enforce immigration law, and consider carefully whether to refer those who obstruct our lawful enforcement efforts for criminal prosecution.</blockquote>
Katherine McDowell, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, claimed, “Legal observers have repeatedly witnessed ICE officers profile, stalk and violently arrest community members in Oregon courthouses. The courthouse rule stops these frightening practices and ensures that everyone can seek justice in our courts.”
As Daniel Horowitz noted in <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/oregon-judge-says-ice-cant-arrest-criminal-aliens-courthouses-ice-reminds-whos-charge/">Conservative Review</a>:
<blockquote>By definition, when ICE grabs illegal alien criminals at courthouses, there is no involvement of state officials. ICE is no longer asking state officials to get involved in immigration at all or even hold the alien for them. Yet Oregon’s liberal state officials want to prohibit the feds from doing one of the core federal jobs.
What will ultimately happen is that more recidivist criminals of foreign countries are going to remain in the communities where local law enforcement police on daily basis. So what began as an argument to preserve resources of local law enforcement will now end with local law enforcement needlessly having to deal with other countries’ criminals constantly reoffending along with American ones.
In July, <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/oregon-sanctuaries-force-ice-apprehend-alleged-child-sex-offender-courthouse/">ICE was forced to arrest</a> Fabian Alberto Zamora-Rodriguez, an illegal alien charged with multiple child sex offenses, at a courthouse in Astoria, Oregon, because local police would not cooperate. The courthouse was the last line of defense between ensuring that other countries’ sex offenders are removed and having a dangerous child predator released back into the community.</blockquote>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

US-IMMIGRATION-ICE

Oregon Chief Justice Goes To War With ICE. ICE Fires Back.

Enforcement (ICE)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

On Saturday morning, a far-left armed Antifa terrorist was shot dead by police during an attack on an immigration detention center in Tacoma, Washington.
The terrorist, whom The Daily Wire will not name, was lionized and celebrated by Antifa and high profile left-wingers, such as racial activist Shaun King. On Wednesday, Antifa members also reportedly held a memorial for their “fallen comrade.”
An “Occupy ICE” Twitter account tweeted out the memorial information on Monday regarding a service set for Wednesday, as first <a href="https://bluntforcetruth.com/news/shock-portland-antifa-holds-memorial-for-ice-firebomb-terrorist/">highlighted</a> by Big League Politics.
“Stand with us to honor our fallen comrade, [name], this Wednesday, 8:30pm,” the tweet said, adding the address of an ICE facility in Portland.
“Seattle Antifa Action has posted a eulogy &amp; the ICE firebomber&#8217;s alleged manifesto on its Facebook page that was sent to friends before the attack,” journalist Andy Ngo reported on Sunday, posting a screenshot of the Facebook post in question. “In it, he allegedly wrote: ‘I am antifa, I stand with comrades around the world,’” he added.
“When our good friend and comrade [name] took a stand against the fascist detention center in Tacoma, he became a martyr who gave his life to the struggle against fascism,” Seattle Antifascist Action&#8217;s post said. “He was kind and deeply loved by many communities; we cannot let his death go unanswered. Throughout history we idolize figures like John Brown for their courage to take the ultimate stand against oppression, and today we stand strong in our support for yet another martyr in the struggle against fascism.”
“May his death serve as a call to protest and direct action,” the post concluded.
Ngo also noted that CNN recently ran a documentary about the Antifa militia that the attacker belonged to; the terrorist is actually shown about four seconds into the doc’s promo.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49531/blms-shaun-king-quietly-deletes-outrageous-tweets-amanda-prestigiacomo">reported</a> by The Daily Wire earlier this week, King, a Black Lives Matter leader, celebrated the attacker as a “martyr” and encouraged future attacks on ICE in tweets he would later quietly delete.
“[Name] just became the first martyr attempting to liberate imprisoned refugees from a for-profit detention center in Tacoma, Washington,” posted King in his first now-<a href="https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1150762544233140225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">deleted</a> tweet. “His hero was John Brown – the white abolitionist who led the raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. This is what our country has come to.”
“We are told that this is the final letter of [name] – who was shot and killed by law enforcement as he attempted an attack on a for-profit refugee detention center in Tacoma, Washington,” King wrote. “It’s a beautiful, painful, devastating letter.”
“His actions will be called terrorism,” King said of the terrorist, “and people will call him crazy, but neither are true. His mind was very clear. He is now ‘arm in arm with John Brown.’ These camps must be shut down.”
The Department of Homeland Security classified left-wing Antifa as “domestic terrorists,” POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/01/antifa-charlottesville-violence-fbi-242235">reported</a> in 2017:
<blockquote>Federal authorities have been warning state and local officials since early 2016 that leftist extremists known as &#8220;antifa&#8221; had become increasingly confrontational and dangerous, so much so that the Department of Homeland Security formally classified their activities as &#8220;domestic terrorist violence,&#8221; according to interviews and confidential law enforcement documents obtained by POLITICO. </blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49029/watch-elderly-man-beaten-crowbar-another-has-head-amanda-prestigiacomo">WATCH: Elderly Man Beaten With Crowbar, Another Has Head Split Open By Antifa While Trying To Help &#8216;Gay Man In Sundress&#8217;</a>

Far-Left Activists Celebrate, Hold Memorial For ‘Fallen Comrade’ Who Attacked An ICE Facility

Crime

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Seattle

Shaun King

Violence

Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation on Monday requiring Holocaust education to be included as part of the state’s public school curriculum.
“Now more than ever we must empower our children with knowledge so together we can stomp out the growing hate in our country,” Brown wrote <a href="mailto:https://twitter.com/OregonGovBrown/status/1150862625334411264" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">on Twitter</a>. “Proud to sign the Holocaust education bill today, mandating Oregon schools to teach our kids about genocide so this history is never forgotten or ignored.”
Oregon’s <a href="mailto:https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB664" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Senate Bill 664</a> was inspired by Alter Wiener, a Holocaust survivor who spent three years in Nazi concentration camps, reported <a href="mailto:https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/07/oregon-passes-law-requiring-schools-to-teach-the-holocaust.html%3Futm_campaign=theoregonian_sf%26utm_medium=social%26utm_source=facebook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oregon Live</a>. Wiener was well-known locally for his lectures on the Holocaust, as well as for his published autobiography “<a href="mailto:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/827895.From_a_Name_to_a_Number" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">From a Name to a Number</a>,” but was killed in December 2018 after he was struck by a car.
Claire Sarnowski, a 13-year-old Oregon resident at the time, introduced the bill to state legislators as an homage to Wiener, whom she befriended after she heard him speak about his experience in the Nazi concentration camps.
“Alter’s dream was to mandate education which would continue the legacy of the Holocaust and genocides,” Sarnowski said during her <a href="mailto:https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/housedemocrats/Documents/PRESS%20RELEASE%20Holocaust%20Education" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">public testimony</a>. “Although he is not here with me today, he prepared me to carry on this mission and to persevere in making this a reality … we need to ensure these atrocities are never forgotten nor ignored.”
Beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year, SB 664 mandates that Oregon public schools teach lessons explaining “how the Holocaust contributed to the need for the term ‘genocide’” and to “develop students’ respect for cultural diversity.”
After Brown signed the bill, Oregon became the eleventh state to require Holocaust education in schools, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The legislation comes amid a historic rise in hate crimes against Jewish communities in America. There were <a href="mailto:https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/anti-semitic-incidents-remained-at-near-historic-levels-in-2018-assaults" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nearly 1,900 recorded attacks</a> against Jews and Jewish institutions in 2018, making it the third-highest year on record since the ADL began tracking anti-Semitic attacks in the 1970s.
A study conducted by the <a href="mailto:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/04/12/two-thirds-of-millennials-dont-know-what-auschwitz-is-according-to-study-of-fading-holocaust-knowledge/%3Futm_term=.30a3327435a0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany</a> in April 2018 found that two-thirds of American millennials were unable to identify the word &#8220;Auschwitz&#8221; – 41% of total respondents were unable to identify it as a concentration camp or extermination camp.
The same study found that 22% of American millennials either had not heard of the Holocaust or were unsure if they had heard of it.
“Learning about genocide teaches students the ramification that comes with prejudice of any kind in society,” Sarnowski said.
Coincidentally, the Department of Justice convened on Monday to host a summit on combating anti-Semitism.
“Of course, it is one thing for the nation to pull together in condemning anti-Semitism when confronted by front-page stories about horrific shootings, as in Pittsburgh and Poway,” Attorney General William Barr said <a href="mailto:https://www.dailywire.com/news/49511/watch-ag-barr-fiercely-condemns-anti-semitism-molly-prince" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">during the summit</a>. “But far too often Jews and Jewish communities in America suffer outside the spotlight.”

Oregon Signs New Holocaust Education Law After Death Of Auschwitz Survivor

Anti-Semitism

Holocaust

On Saturday, Andy Ngo, an editor for Quillette who is openly gay and has been critical of Antifa in the past, was brutally attacked by masked Antifa thugs, who punched him in the face, kicked him, doused him with &#8220;milkshakes&#8221; filled with wet cement, and stole his GoPro — an assault perpetrated in the middle of a protest march in broad daylight and caught on video. Ngo was later taken to the hospital &#8220;as a result of a brain bleed,&#8221; according to his lawyer Harmeet K. Dhillon.
In response, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin started a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/protect-andy-ngo-fund">GoFundMe</a> account to support him. The account has rapidly surpassed its financial goal.
&#8220;Lovers of liberty and supporters of independent media,&#8221; Malkin&#8217;s page for Ngo begins. &#8220;My friend, Portland, Oregon-based journalist Andy Ngo, was beaten and robbed today by Antifa while covering the latest paroxysms of left-wing violence. Andy has been singled out, doxxed, and targeted by SJW thugs while police stand by and do nothing.&#8221;
&#8220;I said during my CPAC speech earlier this year that we need to stand with those reporting and fighting on the front lines. Andy is one of the intrepid journalists doing the job no one else will do,&#8221; writes Malkin. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been in touch with him and he has given me the green light to create this fund. All funds will help him continue his invaluable work. We need him back in action ASAP. And if you work in law enforcement or private security, please contact me directly to help form an effective security plan to keep Andy safe.&#8221;
Malkin includes video of the alarming assault as well as the video Ngo posted immediately afterward:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">First skirmish I’ve seen. Didn’t see how this started, but <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MrAndyNgo</a> got roughed up. <a href="https://t.co/hDkfQchRhG">pic.twitter.com/hDkfQchRhG</a>
— Jim Ryan (@Jimryan015) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jimryan015/status/1145067852375851008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><a href="https://t.co/B8Gh4KQxFS">https://t.co/B8Gh4KQxFS</a>
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1145068311048101888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
The account has a stated goal of $50,000, which it has more than doubled. As of Monday morning, the account has amassed over $137,000 in donations from over 4,000 donors.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49021/three-arrests-made-after-violent-antifa-riots-amanda-prestigiacomo">The Daily Wire</a> reported Sunday, at least three Antifa protesters have been arrested following the violent demonstration. &#8220;It’s unclear, however, if any of the arrests were made in connection with the attack on Mr. Ngo,&#8221; noted Daily Wire&#8217;s Amanda Prestigiacomo. <a href="http://www.kptv.com/news/protesters-march-in-downtown-portland-police-seek-information-on-assaults/article_d3f35428-9aa9-11e9-b5de-0fd89e448b1c.html">Fox 12 Oregon</a> provides details on the charges against the three protesters, two males and one female, all in their early 20s: One was arrested on second-degree assault and assault on a public safety officer, another for harassment, and the third for second-degree disorderly conduct and harassment.
Ngo&#8217;s lawyer posted a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49028/lawyer-journalist-beaten-during-portland-riot-amanda-prestigiacomo">statement</a> early Monday directed at the thugs involved in the attack announcing that she is going to sue them &#8220;into oblivion.&#8221;
Along with Malkin and the 4,000+ donors to his GoFundMe page, Ngo has gained the support of U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/49026/us-ambassador-gives-health-update-journalist-amanda-prestigiacomo">demanded</a> on social media that the Justice Department investigate the attack. &#8220;This was a pre-meditated attack on someone because intolerant radicals don’t like that Andy happens to be gay, Asian and conservative,&#8221; wrote Grenell. &#8220;They targeted him publicly before their protest. Mayor @tedwheeler knew this was coming. The people of Oregon must speak up today.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49026/us-ambassador-gives-health-update-journalist-amanda-prestigiacomo">US Ambassador Gives Health Update On Journalist Attack By Antifa, Demands Justice Dept. Investigate</a>

UPDATE: GoFundMe Account For Journalist Brutalized By Antifa Thugs Blows Past Goal

Andy Ngo

Michelle Malkin

After the U.S. Supreme Court recently <a href="https://firstliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Release_Klein_GVR_FNL.pdf">tossed out</a> a lower court&#8217;s decision against our clients <a href="https://firstliberty.org/cases/kleins/#simple1">Aaron and Melissa Klein</a> &#8212; who had been penalized $135,000 by Oregon bureaucrats for refusing to bake a cake with a message that violated their sincerely held religious convictions &#8212; one question predominates: Why didn&#8217;t the justices just decide the issue?
It&#8217;s a fair question and one to which only nine Americans truly know the answer &#8212; and they&#8217;re not telling. But, we can hazard a guess: State-sanctioned hostility to religion keeps getting in the way.
It helps if you understand what the justices actually did this week. The remedy they employed is called &#8220;GVR,&#8221; short for &#8220;grant, vacate, and remand.&#8221; That&#8217;s a victory &#8212; not just for Aaron and Melissa, but for religious liberty in general. It takes a majority of the Court &#8212; at least five justices &#8212; to vote in favor of this remedy. Thus, the Court granted the Kleins&#8217; appeal. In other words, the Kleins were entitled to at least some relief by the Court.
But there is more. The justices also vacated the decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Exactly what the justices disagreed with in that opinion (if anything), is unknown, but five justices said that it must be vacated.
It is in the remand that we get the clearest picture of the justices&#8217; thinking. The Court sent the matter back to the Oregon Court of Appeals with instructions that the lower court apply last year&#8217;s decision, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
That case stood for two basic propositions that we now understand extend well beyond the scope of Jack Phillips, the now-famous cakeshop owner at issue in the litigation. Masterpiece requires, first, that those like Jack, Aaron, Melissa, and others who are accused of discrimination are guaranteed a fair process. There is to be no prejudging of their case and no state bias against religion.
That should be assumed in our democracy; the accused deserve their day in court. Yet, the administrative proceedings that dominate these questions are often anything but fair. In Aaron and Melissa&#8217;s case, the commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), said that his goal was that Aaron and Melissa be &#8220;rehabilitated.&#8221; Only the guilty are in need of rehabilitation. That&#8217;s unfair and a type of hostility toward religion that we can safely assume the U.S. Supreme Court repudiated in Masterpiece.
More than procedural fairness, Justice Anthony Kennedy&#8217;s Masterpiece opinion also insists that state officials show tolerance and respect for the religious beliefs of those accused of discrimination. Specifically, the Court in Masterpiece held that state officials who show hostility to the religious beliefs of those appearing in administrative hearings before them violate the U.S. Constitution.
As Justice Kennedy explained, quoting prior precedent, &#8220;The Free Exercise Clause bars even &#8216;subtle departures from neutrality&#8217; on matters of religion.&#8221; In Masterpiece, the commissioners compared Jack Phillips to the Nazis and more. For Aaron and Melissa, BOLI imposed one of the largest penalties ever issued by the agency &#8212; $135,000. And that was for &#8220;emotional damages.&#8221;
But that&#8217;s not all. The BOLI commissioner imposed a gag order &#8212; something the First Amendment generally abhors &#8212; on Aaron and Melissa. According to the Oregon government, not only were the Kleins in need of the rehabilitation of their religious beliefs and penalized the cost of a new home in many American communities, they could not even discuss their situation in public.
In short, Aaron and Melissa were not afforded a fair process and the State of Oregon was hostile to their religious beliefs. So why didn&#8217;t the justices just decide the case and bring closure to their situation?
I think the answer might be a question of triage. The Court cannot get to the more consequential legal question until the bleeding stops. Here, the &#8220;bleeding&#8221; stems from state officials who deny a fair process to the accused and show contempt, as opposed to tolerance and neutrality, toward their religious beliefs.
As Justice Kennedy wrote, &#8220;It hardly requires restating that government has no role in deciding or even suggesting whether the religious ground for Phillips&#8217; conscience-based objection is legitimate or illegitimate.&#8221;
The Court cannot reach the greater legal question because state officials, driven by the virtue signals of a progressive social justice culture, continue to prejudge guilt and show hostility toward religion in public. Stop the bleeding and the justices might be able to diagnose and treat the disease.
Make no mistake, the disease is in urgent need of treatment. Neutrality and tolerance, especially among these civil rights commissions, have greatly degraded to where it is fashionable &#8212; if not expected &#8212; for public officials to question whether religious beliefs have any place in the public square.
That is simply wrong. As Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, concurring in Masterpiece, &#8220;The Constitution protects not just popular religious exercises from the condemnation of civil authorities. It protects them all.&#8221;

Jeremy Dys (<a href="https://twitter.com/jeremydys">@JeremyDys</a>) is Deputy General Counsel for First Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all Americans. Read more at <a href="https://firstliberty.org">FirstLiberty.org</a>.

DYS: Religious Liberty Is Slowly On The Mend At SCOTUS

Constitution

First Amendment

Lawsuit

LGBT

Religion

Supreme Court

On April 9, the Oregon state Senate voted 17-12 to pass legislation (<a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB870/Enrolled">SB 870</a>) to join the National Popular Vote (NPV) compact. On Wednesday, the state House of Representatives voted 37-22 in favor of the legislation.
The bill is now headed to the desk of Democratic Governor Kate Brown. Nikki Fisher, the governor&#8217;s deputy press secretary, told <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oregon-national-popular-vote-bill-to-governor_n_5cf84d90e4b0e63eda953f43">HuffPost</a>: &#8220;The Governor has always believed that every vote matters and supported National Popular Vote since 2009 as Secretary of State.&#8221;
In a 2009 <a href="https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/sites/default/files/archive/OR-Brown-SOS-Support-Letter-2009-2-20.pdf">letter</a> signaling her support for the NPV legislation, then-Secretary of State Brown wrote about the impact of the 2008 Democratic primary election, and how &#8220;when voters believe that their vote affects the outcome of an election, or moreover, when they feel their vote matters,&#8221; engagement increases.
The <a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB870/Enrolled">text</a> of the legislation reads in part:
<blockquote>
Prior to the time set by law for the meeting and voting by the presidential electors, the chief election official of each member state shall determine the number of votes for each presidential slate in each State of the United States and in the District of Columbia in which votes have been cast in a statewide popular election and shall add such votes together to produce a &#8220;national popular vote total&#8221; for each presidential slate.
The chief election official of each member state shall designate the presidential slate with the largest national popular vote total as the &#8220;national popular vote winner.&#8221;
The presidential elector certifying official of each member state shall certify the appointment in that official&#8217;s own state of the elector slate nominated in that state in association with the national popular vote winner.
</blockquote>
In short, as described by the National Popular Vote <a href="https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation">official website</a>, the NPV is a state-by-state process that &#8220;would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.&#8221;
Currently, a candidate needs to win 270 of 538 Electoral votes in order to become president. In 48 states and D.C., the candidate who receives the most votes is awarded all of the state&#8217;s Electoral votes. Only Nebraska and Maine eschew this winner-take-all formula for a more complex distribution of Electoral votes.
California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state have all passed and signed the NPV. These states account for 189 of the nation&#8217;s 538 electoral votes.
If Oregon joins the compact, the count will stand at 196.
In order for the NPV to work, it must be passed by enough states that the electoral votes bound to the compact reaches 270. However, the movement isn&#8217;t chugging along as smoothly as many of its advocates would like. For example, on May 30, Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak of Nevada <a href="https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/30/steve-sisolak-vetoes-national-popular-vote-bill/">vetoed</a> the state&#8217;s NPV legislation.
The NPV website claims that the compact is &#8220;a constitutionally conservative, state-based approach that preserves the Electoral College, state control of elections, and the power of the states to control how the President is elected.&#8221;
Others are pushing back on the idea.
In March, The Wall Street Journal editorial board published an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/targeting-the-electoral-college-11553036512&#8203;">article</a> defending the Electoral College:
<blockquote>
The founders designed the Electoral College to help ensure that states with diverse preferences could cohere under a single federal government. Anyone who thinks this concern is irrelevant today hasn&#8217;t been paying attention to the current polarization in American politics. The Electoral College helps check polarization by forcing presidential candidates to campaign in competitive states across the country, instead of spending all their time trying to motivate turnout in populous partisan strongholds.
</blockquote>
The WSJ editorial board also notes that our current system provides stability in the event of recounts. A &#8220;nationwide recount&#8221; could prove a nightmare, they write.
In the video below, Tara Ross, legal scholar and author of &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A0ZAJQK/ref=dbs_a_def_awm_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1">Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College</a>,&#8221; explains why the Electoral College is important, and why adopting the NPV would be a dangerous proposition:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="385" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LXnjGD7j2B0" width="720"></iframe></div>

Oregon ‘National Popular Vote’ Legislation Passes; Governor Expected To Sign

Electoral College

Progressivism

Though Republicans in the Oregon State Senate hold a super-minority status in the deep blue state, they recently managed to strong-arm the Oregon Democrats into giving up on a gun control bill that the majority party appeared to have the votes to pass.
<a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2019/05/13/senate-republicans-headed-back-to-work-sources-say-democrats-traded-away-vaccines-and-gun-safety-bill/">Willamette Week</a> reported Monday that four days after Senate Republicans staged a walkout in response to two bills they vehemently opposed &#8212; &#8220;Senate Bill 978, which strengthens gun laws and House Bill 3063, which ends non-medical exemptions for families who choose not to vaccinate their children&#8221; &#8212; Democrats caved to their demands because they were unable to achieve a quorum without GOP legislators and thus couldn&#8217;t pass a $1 billion tax bill endorsed by the governor and Senate leaders.
<a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB978">Senate Bill 978</a> would have increased the legal age to purchase a firearm to 21, implemented a strict &#8220;safe storage&#8221; law, and also banned 3D-printed firearms, <a href="https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2019/05/14/oregon-dems-drop-gun-control-bill-gop-walkout/">Bearing Arms</a> reports. The decision by Senate Democrats to drop the bill comes after Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick declared last week that the bill would go down &#8220;over my dead body.&#8221;
&#8220;Though Republicans are in the minority this session, their walkout denied Democrats the quorum needed for a vote on the $1-billion-a-year business tax package pushed by legislative leaders and Gov. Kate Brown,&#8221; <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-senate-democrats-give-up-gun-control-vaccine-bills-gop-walkout-return/">Oregon Public Broadcasting</a> reports. &#8220;Senators approved the tax plan to raise money for Oregon&#8217;s public schools by a 18-11 vote just hours after the GOP deal became public.&#8221;
Among other Democrat priorities, the deal with Republicans allows the majority party to work on their big cap and trade program intended to fight climate change, OPB explains. While Democrats are clearly steering the ship on the agenda, the Republicans&#8217; walkout is a &#8220;sizable win&#8221; for the minority party, the outlet notes.
House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson expressed frustration about the Republicans&#8217; ultimately successful stunt. &#8220;It is disappointing that the Senate Republicans walked off the job, went into hiding and held ransom legislation addressing public safety and public health,&#8221; she said in a statement Monday.
In press release Tuesday, the NRA Institute for Legislative Action cheered the Senate Republicans for playing hardball, but warned that the Oregon Democrats are playing the long game. &#8220;Last week, a pro-Second Amendment group of Senators took a stand against Senate Bill 978 by refusing to participate in floor sessions until the omnibus gun control bill was withdrawn from consideration. Yesterday, Oregon Senate Leadership reached an agreement that anti-gun legislation, which includes SB 978, will not be moving forward this year and is defeated for the session,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.nraila.org/articles/20190514/oregon-anti-gun-bills-will-not-be-moving-forward">NRA-ILA </a>announced. &#8220;While Senate Bill 978 will not be moving forward this session, anti-gun legislators have already announced they intend to reintroduce a similar version next year or potentially file a ballot initiative in 2020.&#8221;
The other shelved bill, <a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB3063">House Bill 3063</a>, would &#8220;remove [the] ability of parent[s] to decline required immunizations against restrictable diseases on behalf of child for reason other than child&#8217;s indicated medical diagnosis,&#8221; thus eliminating the potential for parents to decline immunization for philisophical or religious reasons.
It wasn&#8217;t only Democrats who lamented the demise of the vaccination bill, OPB notes; Republican Rep. Cheri Helt, a co-sponsor of the bill, said it is &#8220;disappointing that once again the loudest, most extreme voices in our politics prevailed and the sensible-center and thoughtful policy-making lost.&#8221; The bill was submitted after a dangerous outbreak of the measles in Washington.

Oregon Republicans Find Way To Get Democrats To Give Up On Gun Control Bill

Gun Control

Guns

A couple in Oregon were so terrified that someone had broken into their home while out for an afternoon walk that they called the Washington County sheriff&#8217;s office in abject terror &#8212; but it turns out they were actually being &#8220;burgled&#8221; by a robotic vacuum.
<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/roomba-burglar-bathroom-police-oregon-washington-county?utm_source=dynamic&amp;utm_campaign=bffbbuzzfeed&amp;ref=bffbbuzzfeed&amp;fbclid=IwAR2TI25msEFwNvH4zFqIEpnQ3bz9VKgurSocI2_2rYN5lll6NiwxYrT4ICs">Buzzfeed news reports</a> that Washington sheriffs &#8220;responded with guns drawn&#8221; and entered the home with extreme caution following a harrowing phone call from a pair of residents who said they could hear &#8220;rustling noises&#8221; in a bathroom, and could see shadows moving from underneath the door.
&#8220;Resources were immediately deployed: three seasoned deputies &#8212; one with at least 20 years on the force &#8212; a detective who happened to be in the area, and two canine officers from Beaverton Police Department, about 7 miles outside Portland,&#8221; <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/04/10/711819433/oregon-man-called-police-about-a-burglar-armed-officers-found-a-rogue-roomba?utm_source=facebook.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=npr&amp;utm_term=nprnews&amp;utm_content=20190410&amp;fbclid=IwAR3djpjrbpWEZiYig_xiMSVLKGx5Sb606E17c7vQ6YW9t2YqWKAG1RuoG9U">NPR added</a>. &#8220;They surrounded the Cedar Hills house, then made their way inside, guns unholstered.&#8221;
Officers yelled for the offender to give himself up, but he &#8220;wouldn&#8217;t come out&#8230;he wouldn&#8217;t say anything,&#8221; and as law enforcement officials neared the suspected scene of the crime, they noticed that what was once a &#8220;rustling&#8221; was now a &#8220;banging&#8230;[l]ike a loud thud, thud, thud on glass&#8221; as if they offender were trying to escape through a window to the outside.
&#8220;With guns drawn, deputies open the door to encounter the suspect&#8230;an automated robot vacuum,&#8221; a statement from the Washington County sheriff&#8217;s office said, without irony.
It turns out the couple who called police were house-sitting for their nephew, and while they were out walking their nephew&#8217;s dog, their nephew&#8217;s Roomba robotic vacuum began its scheduled cleaning. Somehow, it managed to trap itself in the bathroom, where it gave the floor a very thorough cleaning while trying to force its way out.
Officers were reportedly relieved.
&#8220;Everyone just started cracking up. It was such huge relief because it&#8217;s the kind of situation that could go either way. It could end peacefully or &#8230;&#8221; Sgt. Danny DiPietro, a spokesman for the Washington County sheriff told NPR. &#8220;No one had any idea what was waiting for them behind the door but they definitely didn&#8217;t expect that.&#8221;
They were particularly thankful that the &#8220;offender,&#8221; who had resisted even the threat of two attacking K9 officers, turned out to be a robotic vacuum cleaner and not a hardened criminal.
As for the two people who called the cops, they told police they felt &#8220;awful.&#8221;
Law enforcement was, however, forgiving.
&#8220;I would have done the exact same thing if I was visiting someone and didn&#8217;t know there was a robot vacuum cleaner that was set to go off on its own,&#8221; DiPietro told media. &#8220;And even the responding officers, when they saw the shadow under the door and the sound of someone trying to get out &#8230; well, they fell for it too.&#8221;
When the Washington County sheriff&#8217;s office boasted of their takedown on Facebook, the vacuum puns rolled in, as fans of the law enforcement bureau applauded the officers for &#8220;cleaning up&#8221; the city and &#8220;catching the sucker.&#8221;
Roomba&#8217;s parent company, iRobot, did not comment on the matter, but this isn&#8217;t the first time a robot vacuum has been involved in a caper. Although no Roombas have eve been arrested, <a href="https://twentytwowords.com/this-is-what-happens-when-a-roomba-meets-a-dog-turd/">one unlucky vacuum in Arkansas</a> created a very stinky situation for a pet owner back in 2016.

A Man Called The Sheriffs Department In Oregon To Report A Burglar. Then This Happened.

On Tuesday, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on CNN that he didn&#8217;t lie during his congressional testimony in 2013, but that he misunderstood the question that was asked.
The Intercept&#8217;s Glen Greenwald has reported earlier in the week that the National Security Agency program revealed by Edward Snowden was finally shut down.
&#8220;The very first NSA program we revealed from Snowden documents &#8211; the mass domestic spying program of Americans&#8217; phone records, which James Clapper lied about &amp; Obama insisted was vital to national security &#8211; has been shut down,&#8221; Greenwald tweeted.
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The very first NSA program we revealed from Snowden documents &#8211; the mass domestic spying program of Americans&#8217; phone records, which James Clapper lied about &amp; Obama insisted was vital to national security &#8211; has been shut down <a href="https://t.co/H91zvOcVMk">https://t.co/H91zvOcVMk</a>
&#8212; Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href="https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1102741757035462662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
The lie Greenwald was referring to was something Clapper said during his testimony in 2013. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked Clapper if the NSA collects &#8220;any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans.&#8221;
Clapper responded: &#8220;no sir. Not wittingly.&#8221;
This was clearly untrue, as Snowden&#8217;s leaked documents showed the agency had <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/06/05/nsas-verizon-spying-order-specifically-targeted-americans-not-foreigners/">collected millions of cell phone records from Verizon customers</a>, and had specifically requested the records of Americans and not the records of foreigners, according to Forbes. Clapper later apologized for his &#8220;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/07/02/national-intelligence-director-clapper-apologizes-for-clearly-erroneous-congressional-testimony-on-nsa-surveillance/#74e32b126d62">clearly erroneous</a>&#8221; testimony. Now that the program has been scrapped, CNN&#8217;s John Berman asked Clapper for a reaction to Greenwald&#8217;s claim that he lied.
Clapper defended himself by claiming he misunderstood the question back in 2013, <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/james-clapper-i-didnt-lie-to-congress-about-nsa-surveillance-i-simply-didnt-understand-the-question/">according to a clip uploaded to Mediaite</a>.
&#8220;Well, the original thought behind this, and this program was put in place as a direct result of 9/11, the point was to be able to track quickly a foreign communicant talking to somebody in this country who may have been plotting a terrorist plot and was put in place during the Bush Administration for that reason,&#8221; Clapper told Berman. &#8220;I always regarded it as kind of a safeguard or insurance policy so that if the need came up you would have this to refer to.&#8221;
Clapper continued:
<blockquote>
As far as the comment, the allegation about my lying, I didn&#8217;t lie, I made a big mistake and I just simply didn&#8217;t understand what I was being asked about. I thought of another surveillance program, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when I was being asked about Section 215 of the Patriot Act at the time, I just didn&#8217;t understand that.
</blockquote>
Wyden, the senator who asked Clapper the question back in 2013, took to Twitter to shut down Clapper&#8217;s claims.
&#8220;James Clapper needs to stop making excuses for lying to the American people about mass surveillance. To be clear: I sent him the question in advance. I asked him to correct the record afterward. He chose to let the lie stand,&#8221; Wyden tweeted.
&#8220;When intelligence leaders mislead the public about surveillance, they fuel the cynicism and mistrust of government that lets wannabe authoritarians gain power,&#8221; he added in another tweet.
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When intelligence leaders mislead the public about surveillance, they fuel the cynicism and mistrust of government that lets wannabe authoritarians gain power.
&#8212; Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1103355480498470913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Clapper also tried to defend the program from reports that it never helped capture a terrorist.
&#8220;Well, that&#8217;s true, and I think probably at the time contemporaneously back in 2013 or so when all this broke that we may have oversold it a bit because, you know, we were hard-pressed to point out to a specific case in point,&#8221; Clapper said. &#8220;What this was was just trying to capitalize on the lesson learned from 9/11. I will say that &#8212; and I&#8217;ve said this publicly many times before, that what this did prove was the need for the intelligence community to have been more transparent.&#8221;

James Clapper Claimed He Didn’t Lie, But Misunderstood A Question. Democrat Senator Destroys Him.

Glenn Greenwald

James Clapper

National Security Agency (NSA)

In yet another example of the &#8220;anti-fascist&#8221; veto used to suppress conservative speech on a college campus, an event hosted by the College Republicans at Portland State University on Tuesday was eventually shut down by a single protester continually ringing a bell. Campus authorities, who were on the scene, said their policies did not allow them to take action because the protester didn&#8217;t get violent or destroy property.
Journalist Andy Ngo, who was <a href="https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/11/independent-journalist-any-ngo-assaulted-by-antifa-mob-in-portland/">assaulted</a> by an Antifa mob in Portland in November, attended the event at Portland State Tuesday, tweeting out a series of video clips of the bell-ringing protester and noting the failure of university authorities to take any action.
The event featured blogger Michael Strickland. Strickland was there to discuss being <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/05/man_who_pointed_gun_at_dont_sh.html">sentenced</a> to 40 days in jail and banned from carrying guns after he brandished his gun, for which he had a concealed carry permit, at masked left-wing protesters who he says threateningly advanced at him during a rally. Though Strickland was allowed to carry the weapon, the judge determined that brandishing the gun when protesters surrounded him was an unnecessarily provocative act.
Ahead of the College Republican event Tuesday, one protester labeled Strickland a &#8220;violent fascist.&#8221; Those gathered to hear Strickland speak didn&#8217;t have the chance because of one guy and one rather loud bell.
&#8220;Last night, College Republicans invited conservative blogger Michael Strickland to [Portland State],&#8221; Ngo wrote in the first of a series of tweets. &#8220;Event got shut down by anarchist who came w/a bell. Strickland was to speak about his conviction related to him brandishing a gun at a mob who surrounded him at a 2016 BLM protest.&#8221;
&#8220;One anarchist antifa disruptor with a bell was able to shut down the Michael Strickland [Portland States] College Republicans speech as soon as the event began. Campus police &amp; admin were there but just stood &amp; watched. They said they couldn&#8217;t do anything about the disrupter,&#8221; he added, providing clips of video of the incident. &#8220;The person who shut down the College Republicans Portland State event then went to the front and blocked the projector so that the speaker couldn&#8217;t play a video. This continued for more than an hour while police watched.&#8221;
&#8220;Speaker attempted to give his speech to live stream but the disruptor followed &amp; continued ringing bell,&#8221; Ngo wrote. &#8220;[Portland State] has no policies in place to deal w/disruptions at student-organized events. Police will only intervene when there is violence or property destruction.&#8221;
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Last night, College Republicans invited conservative blogger Michael Strickland to <a href="https://twitter.com/Portland_State?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Portland_State</a>. Event got shut down by anarchist who came w/a bell. Strickland was to speak about his conviction related to him brandishing a gun at a mob who surrounded him at a 2016 BLM protest. <a href="https://t.co/JnHO6ElSLa">pic.twitter.com/JnHO6ElSLa</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103211662109110272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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One anarchist antifa disruptor with a bell was able to shut down the Michael Strickland <a href="https://twitter.com/Portland_State?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Portland_State</a> College Republicans speech as soon as the event began. Campus police &amp; admin were there but just stood &amp; watched. They said they couldn&#8217;t do anything about the disrupter. <a href="https://t.co/fSpuEjm8aQ">pic.twitter.com/fSpuEjm8aQ</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103215939892310016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The person who shut down the College Republicans Portland State event then went to the front and blocked the projector so that the speaker couldn&#8217;t play a video. This continued for more than an hour while police watched. <a href="https://t.co/eF3YNraWQ4">pic.twitter.com/eF3YNraWQ4</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103225742236610566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
Speaker attempted to give his speech to live stream but the disruptor followed &amp; continued ringing bell. <a href="https://twitter.com/Portland_State?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Portland_State</a> has no policies in place to deal w/disruptions at student-organized events. Police will only intervene when there is violence or property destruction. <a href="https://t.co/fgcJBPnAU7">pic.twitter.com/fgcJBPnAU7</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103228708905603073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Ngo followed those posts by noting that he was in fact at the 2016 event at which Strickland was arrested. While Ngo faulted Strickland for bringing his firearm to the volatile situation, he also underscored the real threat posted by the &#8220;angry protesters&#8221; carrying &#8220;sticks&#8221; and surrounding him.
&#8220;I have been mobbed &amp; threatened by antifa for photographing them in public so I have some understanding of what Strickland probably went through. I would not carry a weapon to a volatile political protest. Still, 10 felony convictions seems excessive,&#8221; Ngo wrote. &#8220;For the record, I was a witness to the &#8216;16 incident that blogger Strickland was convicted over. I saw angry protesters w/sticks surround &amp; move him out of the BLM protest before he brandished his pistol.&#8221;
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I have been mobbed &amp; threatened by antifa for photographing them in public so I have some understanding of what Strickland probably went through. I would not carry a weapon to a volatile political protest. Still, 10 felony convictions seems excessive. <a href="https://t.co/4J1g7GFbZ6">https://t.co/4J1g7GFbZ6</a>
&#8212; Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1103233969296891904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
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WATCH: Single ‘Anti-Fascist’ Protester Able To Shut Down Conservative Event As Campus Authorities ‘Stood & Watched’

Conservatism

Education

Free Speech

Josh Horner, 42, was found guilty in 2017 of sexually abusing a child. He was sentenced to 50-years in prison &#8211; essentially the rest of his life &#8211; but only served 18 months after the Oregon Innocence Project looked into his case and found multiple errors, which resulted in his exoneration.
But having his conviction overturned and getting an apology from the prosecutor who tried his case isn&#8217;t enough to give Horner his life back, <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-innocence-project-exoneration-josh-horner/#.XGVMYYkDQaA.facebook">according to Oregon Public Broadcasting</a> (OPB). Horner&#8217;s friend, Gary Lynch, never doubted him, but told OPR that if he didn&#8217;t know Horner, he might believe he was guilty.
&#8220;That kind of ambiguity sticks, especially so in Horner&#8217;s case, because the charges were dismissed without prejudice. And those two little words &#8212; without prejudice &#8212; make a big legal difference,&#8221; OPB reported. This means the case can be reopened in the future if more information is found, Redmond Police Department Lt. Curtis Chambers told OPB.
Chambers also told the outlet the case would be open for decades in case the accuser decided to come forward with more information.
&#8220;It&#8217;s important to believe juvenile sex crime victims and giving them opportunity to process and ultimately disclose in the time frame that&#8217;s comfortable to them,&#8221; Chambers told OPB.
In addition, police are keeping property seized from Horner as part of the investigation, even though it was deemed unnecessary.
Horner was accused of sexually assaulting his own daughter in 2006 when she was 5. He was charged with 17 counts of &#8220;rape, sexual assault, and other sex offenses,&#8221; <a href="https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5375">according to the National Registry of Exonerations</a>. This was the same year Horner and the girl&#8217;s mother divorced, and eight years later, in 2014, Horner got engaged to another woman, whom his daughter, now 13, didn&#8217;t like. That summer, the daughter was told she would start spending every other week with her father. She didn&#8217;t want that, so she told her mother her father had sexually abused her as a child.
She also claimed Horner killed her black Labrador, Lucy, in front of her for not giving in to his sexual demands. It was this claim that ultimately helped save Horner, as he was able to prove Lucy was alive and well. He had given the dog away because it attacked a neighbor&#8217;s chickens.
The daughter&#8217;s testimony &#8220;was often disjointed, and at times she lost her composure on the witness stand or was unable to remember details of the alleged assaults,&#8221; according to the NRE. Naturally, trauma &#8220;experts&#8221; dismissed these concerns by saying this was just evidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder induced by the sexual assault. Horner&#8217;s defense argued the girl actually suffered from PTSD due to sexual abuse by her half-brother, and argued that many of the details she attributed to Horner resembled abuse from her half-sibling.
The Oregon Innocence Project reached out to Deschutes District Attorney John Hummel, who assigned an investigator to look into the case again. The Oregon Court of Appeals then reversed Horner&#8217;s conviction, after a motion was filed saying the trial judge was wrong to deny the defense the ability to offer a counter explanation for the daughter&#8217;s PTSD.
Hummel&#8217;s investigators tried to inform the daughter that the dog, Lucy, was still alive, but the girl &#8220;was uncooperative,&#8221; the NRE reported. &#8220;She failed to show up for a scheduled meeting, and then refused to talk with investigators when they tracked her down,&#8221; NRE wrote.
Hummel asked to dismiss the charges against Horner, and his motion was granted. Hummel, at the time, said he wasn&#8217;t sure this meant Horner was innocent, but he certainly was no longer sure Horner was guilty.
&#8220;Mr. Horner, on behalf of the state of Oregon, I apologize that untrue evidence was used against you in your trial,&#8221; Hummel said at the time. &#8220;That should happen to no one.&#8221;
As for Horner, who has now been out of prison for seven months, life isn&#8217;t completely back to normal. Formerly a social butterfly, Horner no longer trusts people. Before he was accused, he owned a plumbing company, but now won&#8217;t enter a stranger&#8217;s home.
&#8220;The one place he said he still feels like his old self is an industrial garage in Redmond. There, he climbed into the driver&#8217;s seat of a shiny blue race car,&#8221; OPB reported.
Horner also wants to help others who have been wrongly convicted, but ultimately just wants to move on.
&#8220;To sift through what other people might think, you know, and then hold on to that. That&#8217;s heavy damage,&#8221; Horner told OPB.

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Oregon

Portland Rioters Set Pig Head With Police Hat On Fire While On Top Of American Flag

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A Man Called The Sheriffs Department In Oregon To Report A Burglar. Then This Happened.

James Clapper Claimed He Didn’t Lie, But Misunderstood A Question. Democrat Senator Destroys Him.

WATCH: Single ‘Anti-Fascist’ Protester Able To Shut Down Conservative Event As Campus Authorities ‘Stood & Watched’

He Was Wrongfully Convicted Of Child Sexual Abuse And Released. His Life Still Isn’t Back To Normal.

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Oregon

Portland Rioters Set Pig Head With Police Hat On Fire While On Top Of American Flag

WATCH: Activists Get In Violent Struggle With Police While Marching Through Oregon Suburb, Confronted By Residents

Tom Cotton Compares ‘Anarchists And Insurrectionists’ In Portland To Confederacy

‘Beginning Of The Ending Of This Democracy’: Jim Clyburn Accuses Trump And Barr Of Imposing ‘Gestapo Activities’

President Trump Defends Deploying ‘Elite’ Border Patrol Unit In Portland

Oregon Getting Closer To Vote On Legalizing Psychedelic Shrooms – For Therapeutic Use, Of Course

Oregon Salon Owner Who Opened Claims State Sent Child Protective Services To Her Home

Oregon Judge Invalidates Governor’s Virus Restrictions

Two New Community-Spread Coronavirus Cases Found In Northern California, Oregon

Oregon Chief Justice Goes To War With ICE. ICE Fires Back.

Far-Left Activists Celebrate, Hold Memorial For ‘Fallen Comrade’ Who Attacked An ICE Facility

Oregon Signs New Holocaust Education Law After Death Of Auschwitz Survivor

UPDATE: GoFundMe Account For Journalist Brutalized By Antifa Thugs Blows Past Goal

DYS: Religious Liberty Is Slowly On The Mend At SCOTUS

Oregon ‘National Popular Vote’ Legislation Passes; Governor Expected To Sign

Oregon Republicans Find Way To Get Democrats To Give Up On Gun Control Bill

A Man Called The Sheriffs Department In Oregon To Report A Burglar. Then This Happened.

James Clapper Claimed He Didn’t Lie, But Misunderstood A Question. Democrat Senator Destroys Him.

WATCH: Single ‘Anti-Fascist’ Protester Able To Shut Down Conservative Event As Campus Authorities ‘Stood & Watched’

He Was Wrongfully Convicted Of Child Sexual Abuse And Released. His Life Still Isn’t Back To Normal.

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