A PROFOUND message from Portland...

Originally posted on Facebook Sunday July 26, 2020 8:17am CST by FB user @GonzoToday
Facebook Post Link - https://www.facebook.com/gonzotoday/posts/1935817003218725

Pasted here in solidarity with Portland and the resistance of impending fascist intent looming on our horizon.

R̴̜̤̹͈̖̱͂̏̾̓e̸̢͈̖͈͖̿̉̂͜͝v̵̨̖̫̠̰̳̦͕̔͆̇̀͊̔̑̓͋͘ǫ̴̡̠̜̯̋l̸̡̧͍͙͈̻̥̊͌͛͛̌ͅu̶͔̱̫̼̣̝̮̥̻̇t̵̨̻͇͚̭̟͌̓͜ͅì̷͍̦̱͇̟̟̿̇̏̍͋̚͝o̴̡̢̺̹̳̞͙͇͆́͜n̸͎̤̒̐͌̌͑̽͗̕ ̶̩̬͒̑̉w̸̻̅͑̌̊͑ḭ̸͎͚̤̦͚̮̒͋ͅl̶̗̟̤̥͉̺̬͙̯̈́͌̒̐̔̋̾̀͋͘l̸̡̼̹̮̫͇͋͋̌ͅ ̵̟͈̮̜͓̠͊̅̈́̀̀͝Ņ̶̧̙̹͕̤͌Ė̵̺̮͓̙̰͇͖͍͗̇̏̎͊̓̕V̷̫̥̼͓͛̓Ë̴̡̳͈̝͖͖̗̰̱́͂̒͐͝R̵̼̰̳̂̀͐̌͐̃̊̽͘͝ ̷̧̛̹̭͉͕̖̰̻̿̏̌̔b̵̰͈̱͚̔̆̌̓͘e̷̡̛̬͈̦͈̰̪͈̱͋̑̀͑̉͒͐̈́ ̷̡̨̙̘̪͇̫̰̀́̐̾̈́͛̉̕͝͝l̷̦̪͉̇͆ë̴͈͓̖̞̣̬̞͆̉͛͆̏g̴̪̮̟̞̰̼͕̗͆̽́͛͠͝ą̸̺̗͈̥͖̼̓͆̀́͊̂ͅl̷̼̀̓̅̊̓(-(-_(-_-)_-)-)┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐(-(-_(-_-)_-)-)R̴̜̤̹͈̖̱͂̏̾̓e̸̢͈̖͈͖̿̉̂͜͝v̵̨̖̫̠̰̳̦͕̔͆̇̀͊̔̑̓͋͘ǫ̴̡̠̜̯̋l̸̡̧͍͙͈̻̥̊͌͛͛̌ͅu̶͔̱̫̼̣̝̮̥̻̇t̵̨̻͇͚̭̟͌̓͜ͅì̷͍̦̱͇̟̟̿̇̏̍͋̚͝o̴̡̢̺̹̳̞͙͇͆́͜n̸͎̤̒̐͌̌͑̽͗̕ ̶̩̬͒̑̉w̸̻̅͑̌̊͑ḭ̸͎͚̤̦͚̮̒͋ͅl̶̗̟̤̥͉̺̬͙̯̈́͌̒̐̔̋̾̀͋͘l̸̡̼̹̮̫͇͋͋̌ͅ ̵̟͈̮̜͓̠͊̅̈́̀̀͝Ņ̶̧̙̹͕̤͌Ė̵̺̮͓̙̰͇͖͍͗̇̏̎͊̓̕V̷̫̥̼͓͛̓Ë̴̡̳͈̝͖͖̗̰̱́͂̒͐͝R̵̼̰̳̂̀͐̌͐̃̊̽͘͝ ̷̧̛̹̭͉͕̖̰̻̿̏̌̔b̵̰͈̱͚̔̆̌̓͘e̷̡̛̬͈̦͈̰̪͈̱͋̑̀͑̉͒͐̈́ ̷̡̨̙̘̪͇̫̰̀́̐̾̈́͛̉̕͝͝l̷̦̪͉̇͆ë̴͈͓̖̞̣̬̞͆̉͛͆̏g̴̪̮̟̞̰̼͕̗͆̽́͛͠͝ą̸̺̗͈̥͖̼̓͆̀́͊̂ͅl̷̼̀̓̅̊̓


(Begin of message)
From a Minister in Portland who asks that their name not be shared because of right-wing trolls who are threatening people who post about this.

(PROFOUND message from Portland minister and activist)
"Seems like a lot of skewed news is being seen around the country. Here’s a first-hand report. This post is from a friend in Portland. I can’t name her because her family is being targeted by right wing trolls. (Yes, really.)  This is the most important post I have ever written. It's long, but everyone needs to know what it happening here. This is a constitutional crisis.

We witnessed (via live stream) something so horrifying last night (in the early hours) that it feels utterly surreal to wake up and not see it on the news everywhere. We saw the invasion (not at all an exaggeration) of our city by the mysterious "federal police". This was far beyond what we've seen up to this point, which was already shockingly unconstitutional. Again, nobody, not our Governor, or our Mayor or other elected officials know with clarity who they are. There have been some vague reports that some are DHS, some are tactical border police, and others are just described as special security forces appointed by Trump. Their military gear just says 'police', with no name tags, or visible agency info. Though it sounds silly, some wear weird strangely casual looking sneakers with their camo uniforms that make them look even less official, like street militias.

Following events closely, we have been watching the live streams from the protests every night. I have also attended some of the peaceful rallies and marches myself. We have other family and friends who have attended too. There are thousands of Portlanders who have shown up for 57 straight nights to build relationships with BIPOC leadership in our city. The relationships that have formed through this work and the networking, are beautiful to behold. Real anti-racism work is being done in the streets of Portland at these large rallies and marches and building a foundation for a social justice, anti-racism movement with momentum to change the world.

When I joined the wall of moms the other night (I left before the nightly gassing and brutality started), I was heartened to see a very diverse and multigenerational crowd. There were people ranging in age from young children to folks in their 70's.

For all of the people who sit on the sidelines and haven't witnessed what is going on, it's easy to misconstrue so much from the news reports. They often focus on late night chaos that occurs after the Federal agents have gassed with little to no provocation or warning (they did give warnings the last two nights because there are lawsuits being brought, and watch dog groups).

So, that leads us to last night. During hours of streaming, starting with powerful speakers from the black community, we saw the evening progress as usual from moving speeches to peacefully standing ground against the mysterious federal fascist actions. Which basically looks like a thousand or so people standing peacefully outside the federal building emphasizing the constitutional right to assemble and chants that remind the crowd that the movement is centered on dismantling systemic racism, though recently that has necessarily overlapped with a resistance to fascism.

Something very important to know. We watch nightly as several streamers are competing for viewership and there are some who clearly, proudly identify themselves as right wing trolls. Last night we saw a guy who was bragging that he was right there in the crowd pretending to be a protester. That, along with the comments from troll viewers, that are repulsively violent, going so far as to make death threats to a WOC speaker last night.

From observing all of this, it is crystal clear that there are several agitators in the crowd every night. They vary in their motives from white supremacists, to anti government right wing groups, to fairly harmless video game enthusiasts who get all cos-playish in defeating tyanny with homemade shields, and some are almost certainly undercover agents (some could be provocateurs). The bottom line is they are a tiny minority and NOT a real threat to our city. They do however play an important role in the media representation of what's going on, and feed false narratives.

Last night, as in the proceeding nights, there were literally a handful (out of thousands) of the young people banging on the metal fencing, and yelling. Some lit off small fireworks into the unoccupied sidewalk in front of the federal building. None of the fireworks looked big enough to set fire to anything. The night before we saw a few people (via livestream) setting small trash piles on fire. There has been a pattern of the feds starting the tear gassing and flash bang explosions around 11 pm or so. Last night it was closer to midnight. Regardless of your opinion about taunting chants or rattling fences, I cannot stress enough how small of a group it is doing that and how little the actual threat they pose to what amounts to a fully armed military encampment in downtown Portland.

This is the part every American should know. We thought we were about to see similar events as the proceeding nights, when the feds came out and started a massive assault of tear glass and flash bangs. But it quickly took a horrifying turn for the worse. First we noticed, clearly, obviously, they (the feds) were starting some of the fires. There was debris (intentional or not) that they were shooting with their explosives and they'd quickly ignite. It seemed intentional.

Some context, after our Mayor Ted Wheeler had been gassed the night before, he made a proclamation that the Portland Police would no longer coordinate at all with the mysterious federal agents. There was also a recent agreement that they would stay within the bounds of the federal building.

To our shock and horror, in the early hours around 2am...or later, I lost track of time. The federal troops began pouring out of the building, dozens of them, opening the fence and flooding into the streets of Portland. They were shooting off round after round of tear gas that penetrated many cities blocks that fogged the air with gas that causes horrible physical reactions, as well as shooting rubber bullets at protesters. This was in an area where there is a large houseless population and you could see them wandering, choking, and in one case we saw a houseless person on all fours coughing in the thick haze. These military style police, some in brown camo and some in black wandered through the streets of downtown (several blocks) holding large guns, military style. I don't know what kind of munitions they had in them, but visually these looked like weapons of war.

As we watched all of this unfold, including a man who was marked 'press' being shot with "less leathal munition" that would have hit his face had his phone not blocked the bullet, we thought this would be literally on every news channel when we woke up. We thought the whole world will know now that these lawless, militia groups sent by Trump are invading The United States of America and terrorizing our city, soon other cities across the country. I cannot begin to express how terrifying it was to wake up and see this isn't being covered yet anywhere in the news. I'm assuming that they will be reporting on it later today. But it was an invasion of our city by pseudo military forces sent by the president. The story should be everywhere. The silence is horrific. Fascism is fully here now. This isn't a dress rehearsal.

I had to write this, to try and get the word out any way I could. I never in my lifetime thought it would come to this, though I feared it might. But I hoped it would be stopped far before it ever came to this point. As one of the black speakers said last night, we have to rise up against this fascism now, there is strength in numbers. He pointed out that gassing moms and shooting peaceful protesters with rubber bullets today, can so quickly become real bullets tomorrow.

I pray with all of my heart that last night's events (really the early hours of this morning) get widely reported. The world needs to know that Trump has turned on America in the worst kind of way. This is going to spread to every city extremely quickly if they aren't stopped. This is real. Stay awake. Stay together, stay tight.
(End of message)