Tag: Moda Center

On Sunday afternoon, members of a far-right group led by a Republican Senate candidate engaged in running brawls with leftist counter-protesters in the streets of downtown Portland. One rightwing protester was dragged away by police with a bloodied nose and face. Over almost three hours, Patriot Prayer staged a series of marches through surrounding streets. Each time, antifascists pursued them and fights broke out on sidewalks, in a parking garage and in a waterfront park. Participants on both sides were knocked to the ground, hit with missiles and visibly incapacitated by pepper spray. The rally was ostensibly staged as a farewell for a prominent Patriot Prayer member, Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who says he is returning to his native Samoa. Police deployed a range of tactics. The event took place a day before the first anniversary of a much larger Patriot Prayer event that featured many celebrities from the “alt-right” movement and drew thousands of counter-protesters. It was staged just over a week after a double murder on a Portland commuter train police say was carried out by Jeremy Christian, a man who had attended a Patriot Prayer event. On Sunday, along with several members of the “Proud Boys” group, the Patriot Prayer event attracted members of the far right “Hell Shaking Street Preachers”, whose banners and T-shirts carry homophobic slogans.