Breadth of rightwing Portland protest network
reveals energized Trump base
Organizers able to draw support from mainstream
Republicans and extremist groups – including some prepared for violence
Jason
Wilson in Portland
@jason_a_w
Thu 3 Sep
2020 10.00 BSTLast modified on Thu 3 Sep 2020 16.49 BST
The recent
deadly protest in Portland, where a far-right supporter was killed, was just
one of many organized in recent weeks with the help of a network of pro-Trump,
pro-police and anti-Black Lives Matter activists in a local Facebook-powered
pro-police network in Oregon.
That
network’s ability to draw the support of far-right groups and more mainstream
Republicans alike reveals an increasingly energized and militant grassroots
Trumpist movement, which includes some members who are prepared to engage in
violence, experts say.
The network
is composed of like-minded activists in two overlapping groups, “Back the Blue
PDX”, and “COPS NW”. Those activists are planning future events, and given the
high tensions following the shooting death of one of its supporters – with the
suspected shooter reportedly supportive of local leftwing anti-fascist groups –
the prospect of more unrest is high.
That is
especially true as the country enters the final stages of the presidential
election with Donald Trump running on a law-and-order message, while inflaming
racial tensions and offering support to his most extreme supporters, including
those who engage in violence.
Working
mostly on Facebook, the small group of local activists have helped stage a
series of recent events in or near the Portland metro area.
Saturday’s
“Trump cruise” saw a large number of participants stray from the highway-only
protest route agreed with the Portland police bureau (PPB) and roll into the
downtown area for a confrontation with leftwing protesters. There, reporters
recorded rightwing protesters discharging pellet guns and Mace into the ranks
of nearby protesters and media.
Soon after,
in a nearby street, a man wearing a cap bearing the insignia of Patriot Prayer,
a prominent far-right group, was shot dead.
In an email
announcing a memorial event, James Buchal, a lawyer and chair of the Multnomah
County Republican party, identified the dead man as Aaron J Danielson. The
Oregonian reported on Monday that a PPB homicide investigation was focused on a
BLM supporter and regular attendee of downtown protests in recent weeks.
Danielson’s
death was highlighted by Trump who retweeted an account which had incorrectly
identified the victim, adding “Rest in Peace Jay”. He also defended the use of
paintball guns by his supporters in Portland.
The events
in Portland once again drew the attention of the far-right Proud Boys, who are
promoting a rally in the city on 26 September. Further truck rallies are now
advertised for 7 and 19 September.
Saturday’s
event was organized by a man presenting himself as “Alex Kyzyk” on Facebook,
but whom social media materials, a business website and public records reveal
to be Alex Kuzmenko, who has owned real estate and development companies near
Boise, Idaho, where he organized a previous, similar rally.
Kuzmenko
did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
At several of the events associated with Back
the Blue PDX, crowds have come prepared for violence
The event
was also heavily promoted by local organizers, along with at least 17 events
since mid-July, all advertised, like the Trump cruise, on the Back the Blue PDX
Facebook page.
Mostly
these have been pro-police rallies in Portland’s suburbs and surrounding
communities, claiming to offer support to local police in the face of a
three-month streak of pro-BLM protests in Portland, which began with the
killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.
The main
“Back the Blue” organizer is identified on Facebook as Shelby Follett, but he
is in fact Portland resident, Shelby Walman, who has been quoted under his real
name in previous reporting on protests in the city.
In a
telephone conversation, Walman said that the group’s purpose was to “get the
word out that not all cops are bad people”, and that he was drawn into
organizing following his “disgust” at the way protesters interacted with
police.
At several
of the events associated with Back the Blue PDX, crowds have come prepared for
violence, and some individuals in those crowds, including members of the Proud
Boys, have gone on to fight leftists in downtown streets.
One of
those is Alan Swinney, a 50-year-old Midland, Texas, resident and Proud Boy
with a long history of attending and organizing politicized street
confrontations around the country. In recent weeks, he has been located in the
Portland metro area, and has attended several Back the Blue PDX affiliated
rallies.
On 22
August, the week before the shooting incident, Swinney was filmed at a downtown
protest firing pellets at protesters and journalists from an airsoft gun, and
at one point brandished a revolver at his opponents. One of the protesters who
Swinney shot with the projectiles filed suit on Wednesday seeking $250,000 in
damages.
Then last
Wednesday, Swinney led a rally in Gresham on the metro area’s eastern fringe,
which opposed the city’s decision to fly a BLM flag from the city hall. A month
earlier, the Multnomah County Republican party had staged a protest at the same
venue protesting the same flag. Threats ahead of the rally, and concerns that
protesters would be armed, led the Gresham council to consider removing the
flag for the duration of the rally.
Other
events organized by Back the Blue PDX, however, have advocated for causes not
directly related to the Black Lives Matter protests but that reflect a wider
support for Trump, the Republican party and also suggest the influence of the
QAnon conspiracy theory movement.
One recent
protest, and another planned for this week are themed “Defund the Media” and
another, held on Monday, was called “Trump RALLY/Oregon Trafficking Awareness”.
Video shows a series of speakers addressing the topic of child abduction and
child trafficking; a favorite topic of QAnon adherents, many of whom profess a
belief in systematic, large-scale child abduction by powerful pedophiles.
Another key
organizer in the Back the Blue PDX network and COPS NW, Audra Price, said in a
Facebook direct message that the purpose of the group was to “hold peaceful
rallies to simply show support/encouragement to officers and their families and
we are continually attacked both verbally and physically by those participating
in the protest for the past 90+ days”.
Asked what
the relationship was between issues like child abduction, alleged media bias,
and their opposition to the protests downtown, Price wrote: “We are out there
to support police, not oppose anyone or anything.”
The recent
violence at events associated with the group has not deterred them from further
activities, and they are advertising two more events this weekend. One is a
“Blue Lives Matter” rally to be staged in south-west Washington state, and
“Back the Blue Scappoose”, to be held in a smaller city an hour from Portland.
While
Portland police are investigating Saturday’s death as a homicide, they did not
respond to questions about any illegalities in the lead-up to those events.
In a city
where police have been dogged by allegations that they are too close to
rightwing groups, there is some evidence that the admiration that Back the Blue
has for law enforcement is in some part returned.
In a Facebook
post obtained by the Guardian, published to the COPS NW private group, which is
associated with the movement, Audra Price shows off what she claims is a letter
from the US Marshals Service, thanking the group for the “ongoing donation and
delivery of bottled water, energy drinks and energy snacks” and apologizing
that “recognition cannot be made in a more public venue, but safety of
supporting organizations and individuals is paramount”.
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