Thugs rule the streets of Portland

 

If anyone doubted the need for my ongoing series "Defending yourself in a progressive, left-wing environment" (of which the next article is in preparation), this incident should demonstrate clearly why I'm writing it.  Bold, underlined text is my emphasis.

Black Lives Matter militants took to the streets of North Portland on Thursday, in a march for Patrick Kimmons, who was shot by police in 2018 after a gang shootout on the streets late at night.

During Thursday’s event the protesters began marching in the streets, with a couple of support vehicles leading the way. At two separate points multiple participants pulled AR-15s, AK-47s, pistols, and possibly a shotgun and/or Keltec Sub 2000 on motorists who happened be driving along.

The incidents were caught on video. In these shocking videos you can clearly see multiple terrorists surrounding the vehicles, yelling and shouting obscenities and threats at the drivers. Though the videos are shaky, you can clearly see multiple guns being leveled and drawn, as the terrorists order drivers to stop. One minivan’s tires were flattened, had its back window busted out, and at least one mirror broken. Another guy was in a big pickup truck, and he was apparently drawing his own gun. In an incident that was similar to the Marquise Love headpunt altercation from last fall, he later decided to get out of his truck, where he was assaulted, tackled to the ground, and the terrorists stole his gun while holding him on the ground, ironically calling for the police.

. . .

Through it all not a single police officer is seen. The gangs know they run the streets of Portland, and the police are powerless to stop them. The citizens should know by now to obey the gangs, and if they dare defy the gangs, they could very well end up getting shot and killed. This has essentially become state sanctioned vigilante terrorism.

There's more at the link, including video clips.

I'll refer to this incident again in forthcoming articles.  However, let's note right from the start that if you get caught up in this sort of thing, it's already too late to defend yourself properly.  There are too many opponents, too well armed, and they're right on top of you, giving you no room to avoid or evade them.  Furthermore, the police are conspicuous by their absence, and the thugs know - and brazenly demonstrate - that they have nothing to fear from the law.  The advantages are all on their side, not yours.

Yet again, I repeat John Farnam's excellent advice.

The best way to handle any potentially injurious encounter is: Don’t be there. Arrange to be somewhere else. Don’t go to stupid places. Don’t associate with stupid people. Don’t do stupid things. This is the advice I give to all students of defensive firearms. Winning a gunfight, or any other potentially injurious encounter, is financially and emotionally burdensome. The aftermath will become your full-time job for weeks or months afterward, and you will quickly grow weary of writing checks to lawyer(s). It is, of course, better than being dead or suffering a permanently disfiguring or disabling injury, but the “penalty” for successfully fighting for your life is still formidable.

Crowds of any kind, particularly those with an agenda, such as political rallies, demonstrations, picket lines, etc are good examples of “stupid places.” Any crowd with a high collective energy level harbors potential catastrophe. To a lesser degree, bank buildings, hospital emergency rooms, airports, government buildings, and bars (particularly crowded ones) fall into the same category. All should be avoided. When they can’t be avoided, we should make it a practice to spend only the minimum time necessary there and then quickly get out.

Living in a city like Portland, when it allows this sort of thing to go on unhindered, counts as "doing stupid things".  So does being on the road in such a city, particularly when the mainstream media will not broadcast warnings of the danger, which might allow you to take alternate routes.

These thugs are going to have to be stopped, probably the hard way - but that's not your job.  Only if they come after you and yours do they become legitimate targets.  Apart from that, stay out of their way if at all possible, because there's no future in deliberately trying to become a hero.  You may succeed - posthumously.  Your loved ones deserve better of you than that.

There are ways to stop these thugs.  I'll discuss some of them shortly.

Peter