The mayor and most promient community leaders of Portland, most of color, denounced the events of the previous night of 28 June, 2020, the widespread damage to property, looting and arson, and what appeared to be attempted murder since people found themselves trapped inside burning buildings with the doors nailed shut from the outside.
Several things are clear and worth noting, as we examine what these events portend for the future. There is a hardening of positions among far far-right as well as far-left groups, their presence, participation, and leadership of certain sectors is becoming more widespread and sophisticated, especially on the far Left, that is what is new. It is also quite clear that young people of all colors are jumping on this bandwagon in droves. Protest is sexy and for the first time since the 1960s revolutionaries find safety in numbers. Too many to arrest is a response, ultimately, to too big to fail, living in a corporate dictatorship with their futures mortgaged without their consent, beaten up by the police and sometimes asassinated in the street, - the planet poisened and suffocated to the point that it will not be able to provide life and sustenance to the children and grandchildren of the protesters - young people are no longer afraid. Desperate, in love with rebellion and the idea of progressive change itself, roughly half of America's youth, the protesters and their allies, are rapidly becoming a major cultural and political force to be reckoned with.
The New Youth Movement that reminds so many of us of the late 1960s is also sexy, compelling, and fills a deep spiritual void among America's young. "Don't Shoot Portland" illustrates that it is not a black thing, but more Rage Against the Machine. The Man is directly challenged. The mayor of Portland is belligerant and sounds up for a fight. Prior to last night, the use of teargas had recently been banned by the mayor's office and the police used it anyway. This illustrates the deeply chaotic nature of what is taking place, and the rapidity with which events are transpiring on the ground. Teargas is causing the police a lot of problems and long-term damage, best to try and do what they have to do without it. They are too heavy-handed and should back off.
It looks to this writer that if the police really want to back the far-right (in a blue state) in a knock-down, drag-out fight with Antifa, BLM, and their allies - Art of War tactics - they are going to get it. Oregon is about as liberal as any other state; the people have no stomach for police violence. The protesters have the wind at their back. They follow the Art of War, the bible of hit and run guerrilla forces. Only they know where they will strike next - and when. They are nothing without surprise, and the groundswell of support in which they are now basking.
DON'T SHOOT PORTLAND!