Who are Proud Boys? Cops watch as right-wing group fights Antifa with baseball bats, pepper spray in Portland
PORTLAND, OREGON: Federal authorities intervened when groups with opposing ideologies engaged in dueling demonstrations in Portland. The intent was to "oppose monthslong demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality", OPB reported. Oddly enough, there was limited involvement of the police until the crowd started to get violent and used an array of weapons such as baseball bats, paint guns and pepper spray. The protestors were well-guarded as well behind their make-shift shields, gas masks and helmets, an AP copy stated.
The crowd mostly gathered near Portland's Multnomah County Justice Center, which has been a constant target of demonstrators in the last few weeks. They get into clashes with the police mostly at night. The Justice Center building is home to a police precinct and headquarters, a county jail and courtrooms. Another NBC Connecticut article posted that officers from the Department of Homeland Security were actively involved in containing the chaos. Right-wing group, the Proud Boys, clashed with Left-wing groups Antifa, Democratic Socialists of America and Popular Mobilization during Saturday's demonstrations. The protests began at noon but the rioters dwindled soon after Portland police issued a warning that they would use "crowd control weapons" if they didn't quit.
“In this case, there were hundreds of individuals and many weapons within the groups and an extremely limited amount of police resources actually available to address such a crowd," the Portland police said in a statement and added: “Additionally, (Portland police officers) have been the focus of over 80 days of violent actions directed at the police, which is a major consideration for determining if police resources are necessary to interject between two groups with individuals who appear to be willingly engaging in physical confrontations for short durations.”
The demonstration was preceded by a round of clashes between the police and roughly 200 Left-wing protestors who threw bottles and rocks at officers, causing minor damage to police property and injuries to several officers, the statement elaborated. One of the protestors had to undergo medical treatment after he was shot with "sponge-tipped less-lethal round". From this protest, nine people were arrested of which three were charged with assault on police officers.
Who are the Proud Boys?
The Proud Boys was founded by VICE Media co-founder, Gavin McInnes, who calls the members of the group as "western chauvinists". They are "a far-right, anti-immigrant, all-male group" that often clashes with its Left-wing opponents Antifa. The group derives its name from a song - 'Proud of Your Boy' - from Disney's 'Aladdin'. The protesters are often spotted wearing Black-Yellow Fred Perry shirts, BBC reported.
However, Gavin stepped down as the founder of the group in 2018 amid claims that the Proud Boys were an extremist group with links to White national. "We are not an extremist group and we do not have ties with white nationalists," The Guardian quoted him as saying. "I was never the leader, only the founder," McInnes had said and implied he still values it. “I still see it as the greatest fraternal organization in the world."