What happens when BLM/Antifa takes over your neighborhood

 

There are lessons to be learned from the recent "Red House" protests in Portland, OR.  One of the most important is that when extremists get involved (as Black Lives Matter and Antifa did in those protests), everyone in the vicinity suffers.  Here's part of one homeowner's account.

They blocked the alleys and they blocked the side street of my house. They wouldn't allow us to move our cars because they had fully barricaded us in. They said they had basically claimed the area and we weren't able to leave.

On Saturday last week, an individual went around and broke the Ring cameras off of people's front doors, on their doorbells, with a crowbar.

It was just a huge, huge, raging party occupation: giant bonfires on the hill, bonfires everywhere in the street. They built the barricades. They had weapons behind it. They had bottles and rocks and Molotov cocktails and all that stuff.

They had sentries, essentially, that are posted up there. They had an individual with an assault rifle positioned right next to our driveway. They have people regularly back at their station, but they also patrol around the block with weapons and tactical gear and bulletproof vests. They watch us, you know, and they're regularly standing around as we move in and out of our backyard.

I could go out front on foot, but there were several people outside, and they were armed and they would watch us. They'd follow us around the block. And they were very suspicious that we were coordinating with the police. Like I said, they had guns up front, too, in addition to everyone inside of the zone.

. . .

Everyone thought the cops were going to come down, so they were prepping for that. The side streets were lined with tires and wood that they were soaking in gasoline and lighter fluid in anticipation that, when the police would come, they were going to light it on fire and create a big flaming barricade to prevent them from coming in.

They had bonfires on and adjacent to our property next to the gasoline-soaked tires. We were asking them to put it out—and they refused to do so and would yell at us.

They got really hostile and told me to **** off and that we were part of the problem, or that we were just another gentrifier. We were scared they were going to attack us in our house.

. . .

Everything's still trashed. Everything's still covered in graffiti. Everything's a mess. My house, my sidewalk, everything's covered in garbage now.

There's more at the link.

There are several lessons to be learned here.

1. If the police won't do their job and keep the neighborhood under control, extremists will take over.  There's nothing you or your family, as individuals, can do to stop them.  The only way to do so is to band together and arm yourselves, to match the organization and armament of the intruders - and if you do that, in many jurisdictions, law enforcement will act against you rather than the intruders.  That's the politically correct environment in many cities today.  Therefore, your odds of success are slim to none.
2. This can happen without warning.  Nobody saw these protests coming.  The eviction of one family was seized upon by extremists as a pretext for action, and they made the most of it.  Those living nearby were given no opportunity to do anything about it.  They found themselves confronted by a fait accompli.
3. Once your area is dominated by extremists, you're treading on very thin ice indeed.  They may take offence at anything, following an agenda and a perspective you don't share and don't understand.  Keeping a low profile is about your only chance of surviving the situation - and there's no guarantee it'll work, either.
4. Overt negative reactions to what's going on will lead to retaliation by the extremists.  They don't care what you think, and their way of dealing with opposition is to crush it, as an example to others who may get out of line.  They'll stomp you flat without a second thought.  If you resist them, they'll redouble their efforts - and if you succeed in resisting them, the politically correct authorities will target you for doing so.
5. If push comes to shove, and the police act to break up the situation, understand that your property and your family may become just another element of "collateral damage" to both sides.  You aren't important to anyone.  You're just in the way.  If those BLM/Antifa extremists had set fire to their "big flaming barricade" and it had spread to neighboring houses, do you think they'd have cared?  Of course they wouldn't!  As for the fire department or ambulances, they usually won't enter an area until it's secure - which means your belongings will be burned to ashes, and possibly your family as well.

The single most important factor is this:  if you're living in a city subject to that kind of threat, where the authorities won't do anything to ensure your safety, you need to get the hell out of there.  Don't delay.  If you have to lose money to get to a safer place, or take a lower-paying job with fewer prospects in a safer area, accept that those are necessary elements in ensuring your and your family's safety.

Don't let naysayers hold you back.  If other members of your family hesitate, and say they're sure things will improve, let them find that out for themselves.  You don't need to hang around to become a victim along with them.  In fact, you may be their lifeline, because if they have to "get out of Dodge" in a hurry, your new home may be the only place they can go in the short term.

This sort of reality is a part of everyday life in some cities right now.  It's only going to get worse.  Why wait for the hammer to come down on you?  Get out from under it while you still can.

Peter