HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Portland 'protesters' knock man out with kicks, leave him bleeding after he tries to help woman in viral videos

Violent demonstrators hauled the man out of his truck after he crashed it into a tree, just blocks away from a Black rights protest

PORTLAND, OREGON: A truck driver was brutally thrashed and kicked unconscious by Black Lives Matter protesters after they chased his vehicle and he crashed into a sidewalk in Portland. Violent demonstrators hauled the man out of his truck after he crashed it into a tree Sunday night, just blocks away from a Black rights protest in Oregon's capital.

The Daily Mail reported how he appeared dazed and was bleeding profusely as he was made to sit on the tarmac and told to wait for the authorities. At some point, a rioter knocked out the injured driver with a vicious kick to the back of his head. Disturbing footage from the scene showed the man lying unconscious on the ground as protesters shouted "Black Lives Matter" in the background and others rushed to give him first aid. In the meantime, protesters began ransacking his truck and justified their actions by saying they were simply "checking for weapons."

Portland police's Sergeant Kevin Allen said rioters "were chasing the truck before it crashed, and they assaulted the driver after the crash." The man, who has not been identified, was rushed to a nearby hospital. Authorities are yet to update on his condition. According to Sgt Allen, officers "encountered a hostile crowd and a squad from the Rapid Response Team responded to help secure the scene while the investigation was underway." Several demonstrators were seen in footage abusing riot police who arrived at the scene, saying they were "protecting White supremacists."

In another footage prior to the attack, the truck is seen parked outside a 7-Eleven as some protesters begin kicking it and assaulting the man through the window. Meanwhile, some are heard yelling: "He didn't do nothing!"

A journalist at the scene, Drew Hernandez, shared footage revealing the events that led up to the scuffle. "Here is what took place before the man crashed his car into a tree here in Downtown Portland BLM thugs began to harass and physically assault him and his female partner in the street for defending someone they robbed," he wrote alongside a video he tweeted. "He then began to drive away to evade them."

The truck is then seen driving away before crashing into a tree a few blocks down the street. Video journalist Andy Ngo shared several videos that showed the man assisting a woman who had been beaten and robbed by protesters. "The man who tried to protect her was later beaten himself & kicked unconscious," Ngo tweeted.

Several protests ravaged Portland on the evening of Sunday, August 16 — one of them led by Letha Winston, whose son Patrick Kimmons, 27, was fatally shot during an encounter with Portland law enforcement in 2018. That protest, however, was peaceful. The group marched through downtown and laid flowers and candles with a photo of Kimmons outside the Mark O Hatfield US Courthouse.

Nonetheless, nightly violent demonstrations have wreaked havoc in Portland for over two months following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Anarchists and rioters have allegedly hijacked peaceful Black rights protests and repeatedly broken into government offices, vandalized them, and set them ablaze. Portland Police declared a riot overnight Saturday, August 15, and were forced to used crowd-control munitions including teargas and flashbangs to disperse crowds gathered outside a law enforcement building.

Authorities later revealed how rioters had launched "softball-sized" rocks, glass bottles, etc at officers. Eleven people were arrested and two deputies were hospitalized after being hit by rocks, they added.