Ian Patrick, FISM News
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In Portland on Sunday, a commemorative demonstration from the Proud Boys was met with protests from Antifa and soon descended into violence that included gunfire.
Thankfully nobody was hurt in the gunfire exchange and there are no other reports of injuries from the other battles between the groups from throughout the day. The gunman was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon.
Social media footage from the day shows multiple aspects from the confrontation: people cowering in the street as the gunman opened fire; demonstrators overturning a van carrying the counter-rioters; a reporter being sprayed with mace; and various scenes of Antifa marching through the streets.
Around the 16 second mark, you can briefly see the at-large antifa shooter. This is part of the shootout that happened in downtown Portland on 22 Aug. Antifa say they went to save black children from a white man who talked about lynchings. https://t.co/4kB5v7zGiV
— Andy Ngรด ๐ณ๏ธโ๐ (@MrAndyNgo) August 23, 2021
Proud Boys@pushing the van and suiting up. pic.twitter.com/XWPQPIoK7w
— @shaneburley.bsky.social ืื (@shane_burley1) August 22, 2021
While there were splinter events throughout the city, the brawl mainly took place at an abandoned Kmart parking lot, which served as the center-point of a planned Proud Boys reunion. This gathering was to commemorate violent clashes between opposing groups during the BLM riots of last year, and was moved to the Kmart location to reportedly avoid confrontation with leftist groups.
It is unknown if the demonstration had intentions of turning into a protest or riot, but demonstrators were reportedly firing paintballs and shouting at drivers passing by the scene. However, the chaos fully erupted when a group of Antifa agitators arrived at the planned demonstration.
Both groups were armed with weapons and devices such as baseball bats and fireworks, and the Antifa counter-protestors even set up barriers on some streets to prevent any traffic. Portland police were noticeably missing until the gunshots rang out, with the PPB chief saying that his department is down 145 officers from this time last year.
The Proud Boys are also facing the jailing of one of their leaders – Enrique Tarrio. A District of Columbia judge sentenced Tarrio to a five month prison sentence for burning a Black Lives Matter flag and possessing a large-capacity ammo magazine. Tarrio plead guilty to both charges.