July 17, 2020

I see #gestapo is trending on Twitter. Example:


From the above-linked WaPo article:
“I was terrified,” [Mark] Pettibone told The Washington Post. “It seemed like it was out of a horror/sci-fi, like a Philip K. Dick novel. It was like being preyed upon.”

Pettibone said he still does not know who arrested him or whether what happened to him legally qualifies as an arrest. The federal officers who snatched him off the street as he was walking home from a peaceful protest did not tell him why he had been detained or provide him any record of an arrest, he told The Post. As far as he knows, he has not been charged with any crimes....
Federal officers from the U.S. Marshals Service and Department of Homeland Security have stormed Portland’s streets as part of President Trump’s promised strong response to ongoing protests.....

“A peaceful protester in Portland was shot in the head by one of Donald Trump’s secret police,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote in a Thursday tweet that also called out acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf. “Now Trump and Chad Wolf are weaponizing the DHS as their own occupying army to provoke violence on the streets of my hometown because they think it plays well with right-wing media.”...

“I think Portland is test case,” Zakir Khan, a spokesman for the Oregon chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The Post. “They want to see what they can get away with before launching into other parts of the country.”

Jann Carson, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon [said]... “Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street, we call it kidnapping... Protesters in Portland have been shot in the head, swept away in unmarked cars, and repeatedly tear gassed by uninvited and unwelcome federal agents. We won’t rest until they are gone.”...

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night, and likewise did not answer questions from Oregon Public Broadcasting. The Marshals Service told the radio station its officers had not arrested Pettibone and said the agency always keeps records of its arrests.

Trump has cheered harsh tactics by officers in Portland, and the acting Homeland Security secretary has vowed to keep federal forces in Portland until local leaders “publicly condemn what the violent anarchists are doing.”

“We’ve done a great job in Portland,” Trump said at a news conference on Monday. “Portland was totally out of control, and they went in, and I guess we have many people right now in jail. We very much quelled it, and if it starts again, we’ll quell it again very easily. It’s not hard to do, if you know what you’re doing.”...
ADDED: From Oregon Public Broadcasting, "Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets":
Federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles to drive around downtown Portland and detain protesters since at least July 14. Personal accounts and multiple videos posted online show the officers driving up to people, detaining individuals with no explanation of why they are being arrested, and driving off.

The tactic appears to be another escalation in federal force deployed on Portland city streets, as federal officials and President Donald Trump have said they plan to “quell” nightly protests outside the federal courthouse and Multnomah County Justice Center that have lasted for more than six weeks....

Federal officers have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests so far, while others have been arrested and released, including Pettibone. They also left one demonstrator hospitalized with skull fractures after shooting him in the face with so-called “less lethal” munitions July 11.

Officers from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and Customs and Border Protection’s BORTAC, have been sent to Portland to protect federal property during the recent protests against racism and police brutality.

But interviews conducted by OPB show officers are also detaining people on Portland streets who aren’t near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity. Demonstrators like O’Shea and Pettibone said they think they were targeted by federal officers for simply wearing black clothing in the area of the demonstration.

O’Shea said he ran when he saw people wearing camouflage jump out of an unmarked vehicle. He said he hid when a second unmarked van pursued him. “Feds are driving around, grabbing people off the streets,” O’Shea said on the video. “I didn’t do anything fucking wrong. I’m recording this. I had to let somebody know that this is what happens.”....

“I am basically tossed into the van,” Pettibone said. “And I had my beanie pulled over my face so I couldn’t see and they held my hands over my head.”

Pettibone and O’Shea both said they couldn’t think of anything they might have done to end up targeted by law enforcement. They attend protests regularly but they said they aren’t “instigators.” They don’t spray paint buildings, shine laser pointers at officers or do anything else other than attend protests, which law enforcement have regularly deemed “unlawful assemblies.”...

In a letter released Thursday, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said, “Portland has been under siege for 47 straight days by a violent mob while local political leaders refuse to restore order to protect their city. A federal courthouse is a symbol of justice,” Wolf wrote, denigrating protests against racism in the United States’ criminal justice system as an angry mob. “To attack it is to attack America.”...

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan called the protesters criminals. “I don’t want to get ahead of the president and his announcement,” Morgan said, “but the Department of Justice is going to be involved in this, DHS is going to be involved in this; and we’re really going to take a stand across the board. And we’re going to do what needs to be done to protect the men and women of this country.”...
More at the link.

120 comments:

Tom T. said...

To be clear, then, all these people are speaking without evidence?

Lewis Wetzel said...

This story would be terrifying if it came from a reputable news source.

Dave Begley said...

Might be like the Wayfair hoax. Fake. Staged.

cacimbo said...

"shot a man in the face with a less-than-lethal munition"

Probably some device designed to disperse crowds in a non-lethal way.But Wapo has to present it as designed to kill.Fake news gonna fake news.

Leon said...

“I was terrified,”

Playing to emotions rather than reporting facts....

Bob Boyd said...

I don't take any WaPo story at face value, but I think the feds should have their agency prominently displayed on their uniforms and should identify themselves when they arrest someone. If they aren't doing that, why aren't they doing that?
And maybe there's a legitimate reason, but why are cops wearing camo like combat soldiers, especially in that scenario?

Stv30 said...

“I am basically tossed into the van,” Pettibone said. “And I had my beanie pulled over my face so I couldn’t see and they held my hands over my head. And then they proceeded to tickle the hell out of me!"

iowan2 said...

Yea, more at the link to WAPO

Your snippet is heavily on sided. Quoting a small number of rioters, claiming they are completely innocent of any questionable conduct...ever.

Let's be honest. The media lies. If not outright lies, lies of omission, and one sided recitation.

My take from this, law enforcement has the constitutional power question people. If they offer to do that in a vehicle, and help them into that vehicle, all is good.

But we won't get reporting on the law. We get emotional one sided recitations of questionable origins

Temujin said...

Sen. Ron Wyden is one of the 'leaders' who approve of the destruction of Portland. Approves of it, and encourages it. He, and the rest of those 'leaders' in both Oregon and Washington need to be tossed out of office. Portland is large (by Oregon standards) but it is not the entire state. Are there any adults left in Oregon?

I know I have a grown son of a friend of mine who lives there. He's deep into his 30s but he is not an adult. I am sure he's on the streets destroying the city he lives in.

Spoiled children.

Mattman26 said...

Hmmm. Any chance this is even close to true?

Temujin said...

Also- if I have to read the phrase 'peaceful protestors' one more time, I'm going to fly to Washington, go into the main lobby of WaPo and vomit all over the floor. THAT will be my peaceful protest.

tim maguire said...

It's not a bigger sorry because it didn't happen.

Paco Wové said...

It's, like, Kent State or something.

JPS said...

Gestapo.

Look, if you want to deplore what's described in that article, that's fine. I won't totally disagree with you (assuming it's all actually true), though I may have some now-hold-on moments.

But if you actually think any of this deserves the hashtag Gestapo, I recommend watching the scene in Anthropoid where they interrogate the 16-year-old boy who was very indirectly involved in the Heydrich assassination.

[If you don't throw around casual Gestapo comparisons, do not under any circumstance watch this scene. I still wish I hadn't, except that it did happen, and maybe I owe it to the memory of those who stood up to actual Nazis, to know how they suffered for doing so.]

MikeR said...

Yeah, well. Police and courts enforce justice. Soldiers enforce order. There's a difference.
Best not to get into a situation where you need soldiers.
Once the soldiers have established order, hopefully they turn it back over to the police and courts and those guys. In the meantime, no one is going to listen to complaints that soldiers do what soldiers do.

dbp said...

Notwithstanding Hogan's Heroes the Gestapo were secret police and did not wear uniforms as part of their day-to-day operations.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

“A peaceful protester in Portland was shot in the head by one of Donald Trump’s secret police,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote “Now Trump and Chad Wolf are weaponizing the DHS as their own occupying army to provoke violence on the streets of my hometown because they think it plays well with right-wing media.”...

This by an US Senate. How far to the extreme left my old party gone.

I can't wait until November when Althouse votes for the Democrats to force them to take responsibility for governing a country they have bitterly divided.

Ken B said...

Unmarked cars and quick releases are characteristic of the gestapo?

Lucid-Ideas said...

"It's not fair that these dudes who I hate so much and throw shit at can arrest and detain me. These jack-booted thugs! They're like the gestapo, minus the broken bones, dead family members, and a bullet to the back of my skull. The correlation is friggin spot on!"

- Mark Pettibone

Darrell said...

The Left hosts a Kristallnacht and it's Trump's fault for enforcing the law after reviewing the camera footage. They'll get Inga on their side, anyway.

M Jordan said...

“Peaceful protestors.”

Sure.

Jersey Fled said...

From what I understand, there are 500 open warrants for suspected rioters, conspirators, and other lawbreakers from prior riots. Could it be that these are Federal marshals in Portland to make those arrests? And they have reason to believe that they were present there and at that time in Portland?

The guy was briefly detained, showed i.d. and was released.

These things rarely turn out to be what the Left tries to paint them to be.

rehajm said...

They sound like the nice gents who helped Hillary get into the van. Happens about this time every four years I guess...

Lucien said...

“denigrating protests against racism in the United States’ criminal justice system as an angry mob”: what can you say about expression of opinion in what looked like a news story?
It’s as if Oregon Public Broadcasting wanted to deliberately flaunt its lack of objectivity. (maybe to seem less White?)

Wince said...

Fortunately, there is video.

Hunter said...

Leftists have been pointing out in the strongest terms that people who try to leave the US and form their own country are traitors.

So, the protesters in CHAZ are traitors. Why wouldn't we expect them to be arrested?

rehajm said...

I can't wait until November when Althouse votes for the Democrats to force them to take responsibility for governing a country they have bitterly divided.

Heh.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Fuck that whiner pettiboner! The people of Portland have endured 70 freaking nights in row of destruction, followed by days of city workers spending those taxpayers money to let the mayor target his enemies and terrorize the heart of the city. Very glad to see the Feds helping out here finally. Americans are being held hostage by riotous thugs in too many cities. George Floyd was their damned reichstag fire.

Matt Sablan said...

Weird that a group that actually burned down a government building would be called "anti-fascist," while those trying to stop the burning of buildings are accused of trying to start a "Reichstag Fire." I swear; some people only get to the THIS IS A BAD THING, SO TRUMP MUST BE DOING IT level of historical analysis.

hawkeyedjb said...

Federal troops should not be in Portland, except perhaps for the very limited purpose of protecting the federal justice center there. Let Portland and its various struggling factions fight it out otherwise. The mayor wants the riots. Senator Wyden wants the riots. The governor wants the riots. These are the officials elected by the people of Portland and Oregon. They better represent the people's desires than does President Trump.

Wince said...

It should be noted that all the federal authorities sent in have degrees in social work and gender studies.

Spiros said...

Too little, too late. Antifa protests are notoriously violent and cause tremendous amounts of damage in the cities targeted by the movement. These "young" men (mostly loser incels in their thirties!!!) need to pay.

Of course, there are women who do this stuff as well. Consider, Yvette Felarca, a PUBLIC school teacher, who is well known for her violent Antifa activism. In 2016, she was arrested for felony assault and inciting a riot. Ms. Felarca was captured on video calling a man a Nazi and punching him in the stomach repeatedly while shouting obscenities and crying. It's hilarious that this piece of trash has kept her job in the Berkeley school district! How is this attractive woman not more famous???

Chest Rockwell said...

This guy streams from downtown Portland every night. That place is a complete shitshow, with the mayor being unable to handle the large crowds rioting every night.

You get the government you vote for!

Birches said...

Am I supposed to be alarmed by this.

All I can think while reading is, "good."

Rory said...

There's unfortunately no honest people on that side to tell the story. Sad.

Bruce Hayden said...

This is exactly what the “protesters” (which, of course includes the violent rioters and arsonists) wanted to happen. But suspect that this is too late, and they are going to get little sympathy outside of their immediate environs. Sure this guy might, this time, have actually been involved peacefully in a peaceful protest. But he sure comes across to me to being a well entrenched member of the AntiFA crowd. Can he honestly say that he has never been involved in violent rioting, arson, etc? I doubt it. He was very likely targeted for a reason, and that very likely means suspicion of being a violent rioter or arsonist, or at least consorting with such. Probably wouldn’t have snatched if he hadn’t been involved in the violence somehow.

Everyone is using both anonymity and video as much as they can. AntiFA and the other, very occasionally peaceful, protesters and domestic terrorists, cover their faces and wear similar outfits to try to hide their identities, but constantly use cameras to build the type of record they want, showing police brutality in the face of their supposedly peaceful protesting. Cameras are everywhere, and n constant use. But they are dealing with federal police who have spent almost two decades chasing foreign terrorists in this country. AntiFA has apparently received Chinese and Soros money, which means that they may qualify as terrorists or agents of a foreign power under FISA. My guess is that a lot of those videos they constantly stream, are streamed directly into the NSA depository in UT. The feds also have available the entirety of the Internet, including much of the Dark Web.

As a little bit of an aside, awhile back Q dropped a conversation of the night before Mueller was appointed SC. It was, of course, well planned in advance, and a suggestion was made that night that DAG Rosenstein (who officially appointed Mueller as SC) had been taken care of, or neutralized. What was interesting though was how it had been hidden. Apparently, we had the top people in the FBI, esp in their Counterintelligence Division, along with McCabe and his people, plotting a coup against the President, the Constitutional source of their power, over a temporary gaming side channel. It wasn’t over a usual chat application, but rather a temporary conversation in a very obscure location. And these weren’t just anyone, but included some of the FBI’s top spy catchers. And they couldn’t hide their conversation. If some of the top people in the FBI’s Counterintelligence Divisrion couldn’t hide their conversations, what are the odds that sporadically trained domestic terrorists would be able to?

Browndog said...

Dave Begley said...

Might be like the Wayfair hoax. Fake. Staged.


Nope. Video is all over the internet.

Agents dressed in full combat camo had DHS/Border Patrol patches. The punk asshole was taken in for questioning and intel gathering as Barr is about to drop the hammer on the stealth organizers/funders of antifa.

Oh, and be sure to check the twitter page of Andy Ngo to get up to speed on what antifa did in Portland last night. Every night.

Birkel said...

Let's assume that most of what is reported is true.
Why would I believe the rioters who mostly peacefully rioted?
He likely knows why he was detained and whether he was arrested.
So I believe he is lying about those things.

Was he scared?
Sure, I will believe that.
People who committed crimes and believed they would get away with it are likely reasonably scared.

#NoSympathy

tds said...

if only

JAORE said...

In a world awash in security cameras and cell phone cameras I'm sure, just sure, there is clear evidence of this outrage.

If not,"Sod off swampy".

Wince said...

The guy shot with the non-lethal was holding a speaker over his head.

I'm guessing the federal agent speaks for many who paid $7.00 to see John Cusack in 'Say Anything'.

Bob Boyd said...

Ve have vays of making you talk.

Leland said...

This proves that what the progressives always wanted was to create enough havoc and damage for Trump to call in the military, so they could have that photo op and caption. Yet Trump threatened early he would do this, then restrained himself, which simply inspired the protestors to become ever so violent. Now, when the military does shows up; does anyone care what the protestors are claiming?

wendybar said...

Wah....act like little Brownshirts...get what you get coming to you.

TreeJoe said...

So many claims, so little evidence presented.

On the one hand, federal government resources are not and should not be used in a policing function.

On the other hand, when the state gives up it's responsibilities to it's citizens it is the federal governments role to step in with the resources it has.

holdfast said...

I would just like to congratulate BLM, antifa and left generally for turning me into a fan of federal law-enforcement overreach. I never thought that would happen, but the complete dereliction of duty by mayors and governors in democrat states has made it a reality. I have been a critic of overly broad and intrusive federal law enforcement efforts for years. But today I have become convinced that they are the lesser of two evils.

Gravel said...

This isn't a protest any longer. It's an insurrection.

Why do I call it an insurrection?
They've attacked government buildings.
They've attacked government employees.
In both cases, the attack was predicated on the fact that they were of the government.
They've 'occupied' territory - that is, they have taken, by force, real estate for their use. This is the final nail in their coffin.

None of these items are debatable. They're widely known fact. Do we believe that insurrectionists are entitled to full legal protection? No. At some point, we put down the insurrection. The question is only when.

stlcdr said...

Yest again, the left showing how disgustingly nasty they actually are.

Nichevo said...

But if you actually think any of this deserves the hashtag Gestapo, I recommend watching the scene in Anthropoid where they interrogate the 16-year-old boy who was very indirectly involved in the Heydrich assassination.


Link please? Not that I need it as you describe. That's the one with Cillian Murphy?

Howard said...

This is cancel culture the trump cuck police state cheerleaders can jagg off to

n.n said...

To be clear, then, all these people are speaking without evidence?

And JournoLists have been reporting without evidence for 16 trimesters. Ever since Flynn exposed Obama's quid pro Joe with Kiev and Russian actors, and Trump stood against the progress of a conflict with Russia, the JournoLists and their patrons have demonstrated an acutely phobic response and a determination, second only to their support for selective and cannibalized-child programs, to sabotage America.

Howard said...

States Rights!

Ambrose said...

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

hombre said...

“Why did this happen to me? I was just walking home from work carrying a bottle filled with gasoline because my motor scooter was empty.
The balaclava? Well, Guv Brown says we should wear masks, doesn’t she? The brick? What brick?” Said the guy dressed all in black.

You know this is fake, because somebody might be asking him questions instead of just taking dictation.

tcrosse said...

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

tim in vermont said...

Remember that Antifa is not anything like Hitler’s Brownshirts because they wear black. And they definitely oppose fascist tactics of any sort because it’s right in their name, and nobody who calls themselves anti fascist would lie. Any similarities you man notice with Hitler’s brownshirts, or the thugs that Botha used to take over South Africa are due to your white supremacist tendency to over intellectualize. This applies to black people too, BTW. Don’t think, just follow orders fool.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

These hours long lags really hamper anything resembling discussion here.

tim in vermont said...

Haven’t heard too many comparisons to Kristallnacht when covering the looting and burning and, um, window smashing from the MSM, oddly.

The last thing these rioters want is to answer to a prosecutor who doesn’t owe his office to George Soros.

Josephbleau said...

I predict that this story will melt away after the "victims" realize how stupid their lies sound. I love the Philip K. Dick reference, and the shootings in the head.

Anonymous said...

cacimbo said...
"shot a man in the face with a less-than-lethal munition"

Probably some device designed to disperse crowds in a non-lethal way.But Wapo has to present it as designed to kill.Fake news gonna fake news.


I live in Oregon, but not Portland. If this is the incident, I have seen, It was:

- confrontation/riot in front of the Federal Courthouse, which the Portland Police HAS NOT been defending well.
- Federal forces tossed a tear gas or smoke grenade. The victim, threw it back at the officers
- he was struck in the face at 50 feet with some sort of sub-lethal munition, e.g. rubber bullet.
- he suffered various facial fractures.

It clear to me that hitting him in the face was intended or likely. but it happened.

hombre said...

“... one of Donald Trump’s secret police.... Now Trump and Chad Wolf are weaponizing the DHS ....”

Remember when Wyden was protesting the purchase of millions of rounds of hollow point ammo by non-enforcement agencies during the Obama Administration? Me neither. Remember Wyden’s outrage when “protestors” were attacking people, destroying property and occupying public buildings in his “hometown”? Me neither.

Since when do “secret police” stand out in full view wearing riot gear? Democrats have an enormous capacity for, and tolerance of, jackassery.

YoungHegelian said...

That goddamn Trump! What's he trying to do? Have his own Ruby Ridge & Waco?

Like Pres. Clinton?

(If the sarcasm isn't clear, my point is that we're way past presidents sending out the feds to murder people. Clinton did it in a big way & sleeps calmly in his bed every night).

tim in vermont said...

The man who set fire to a Seattle Police Precinct during rioting in June has been arrested and charged with arson. If convicted, Isaiah Thomas Willoughby faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison with the possibility of 20 years. “This is the third case we have charged federally for the criminal acts that tainted otherwise peaceful protests. Other crimes remain under investigation and may result in additional federal charges,”

Ooops! Wrong prosecutor.

tim in vermont said...

It seems like if you are going to wear the uniform of violent agitators at a protest, you shouldn’t be surprised if you are asked questions.

MD Greene said...

I was raised in Portland. For a generation now, young adults have been moving to the city to be "edgy" and "weird." It shows.

After the 2016 election, people angry about Trump caused $1 million in damage in four days of downtown demonstrations. That was a lot then, but the bar has been raised.

In 2017, one of the smaller annual Rose Festival parades was canceled after anonymous threats of violence: The threats were based on the fact that members of a local Republican organization planned to participate.

Two months later, a local judge released an immigrant who had been deported at least 20 times while ICE agents waited outside the courtroom. In the next week that immigrant broke into a 65-year-old woman's home and raped her and attempted to rape another woman at knifepoint.

In 2018, an OCCUPY ICE tent community sprang up the the local ICE office. The finely reasoned point of the protest was that ICE should be abolished. Went on for weeks, maybe months.

In 2019, the local soccer team banned several guys from three games after warnings against flying their United Front flags at matches. (But, no, there's no amusingly named antifa in Portland.) Naturally there was a protest.

If I still lived there, I'd be more worried now about six weeks of daily downtown violence courtesy of theoretically disorganized antifa actors. The recent estimates of $23 million damage are almost certainly understated by at least 50 percent and don't take into account the number of businesses (including a friend's) that are closing or relocating. Also damaged was a government justice center (with prisoners inside) was set afire, possibly several times. In May, I saw videos of two men who were beat up during the demonstrations-- one for carrying an American flag and the other for daring to defend the flag. (Bad moves on both their parts. That's the kind of city it is today.)

But, sure, Washington Post, the real problem is federal officers being sent to protect federal buildings.

Nonapod said...

He was detained and searched. One man asked him if he had any weapons; he did not. They drove him to the federal courthouse and placed him in a holding cell. Two officers eventually returned to read his Miranda rights and ask if he would waive those rights to answer a few questions; he did not.

And almost as suddenly as they had grabbed him off the street, the men let him go.


My guess is they were looking for something or someone specific, like they had some sort of tip about a possible bombing or something of that nature. They couldn't legally hold him for very long and since he was unwilling to answer questions without waiving his rights they had to let him go.

Dude1394 said...

Who the **** is looting, burning buildings, beating people, terrorizing a city. Whine on, whine on. I would suggest the police and feds act harder and faster.

Unmarked in these day and ages is probably a prerequisite with social media rats announcing their presence.

tim in vermont said...

When the Democrats take power, the Democrats will simply cut the oxygen off to these “mostly peaceful protesters” by shutting down media coverage like a candle snuffer. They will have zero problems. It’s all part of the most violent campaign for the presidency I have ever heard of.

mockturtle said...

Aw, a young protester was 'terrified'. Go crying home to Mama, soy-boy! You brought it on. As in Seattle, law-abiding citizens' lives and their businesses are being disrupted, some destroyed, so that you can be a news item on CNN and you want it served with whipped cream.

gerry said...

Why believe WaPo when you can't believe The Atlantic?

Bruce Hayden said...

“The Left hosts a Kristallnacht and it's Trump's fault for enforcing the law after reviewing the camera footage. They'll get Inga on their side, anyway.”

But they always had the Ingas on their side. It is the great unwashed middle that is important, and who will determine the upcoming election. Timing is everything, and much of the country is fed up with the constant scenes of violent AntiFA and BLM thugs bbeating everyone, and esp the cops, up, and trashing and burning anything that they can get to. Sure, this guy may not have been coming, just then, from a violent protest, where he was throwing objects at police, and trying to injure them. But the assumption with many is that that he just got lucky, and there have probably been plenty of times in the past where he did try to injure police, or burn down buildings, etc, or if he isn’t actually involved like that, plenty just like him probably are involved. In short, after a month of violent riots in Dem controlled cities across the country, a lot of the populace is saying “finally”.

Joe Smith said...

That's President Donald Trump to you.

Excuse me while I look for my really tiny violin.

Hey beanie boy, did you never think about the consequences of your terrible fashion decisions? You're no Michael Nesmith.

Joe Smith said...

@Ambrose @tcross

Great minds think alike : )

Jupiter said...

'“I was terrified,” [Mark] Pettibone told The Washington Post. “It seemed like it was out of a horror/sci-fi, like a Philip K. Dick novel. It was like being preyed upon.”'

That is exactly how I feel when I watch videos of black-clad fascists destroying private property with complete impunity in my state.

JohnAnnArbor said...

I wonder if insurance companies will simply refuse to insure homes and businesses in these cities that allow property to be destroyed with no consequence to the destroyers.

Francisco D said...

Bruce Hayden said...But they always had the Ingas on their side. It is the great unwashed middle that is important, and who will determine the upcoming election.

Historically, political pundits have believed that the unwashed middle do not pay attention to POTUS elections until after Labor Day.

This time may be different. The emphasis is on "may be."

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Pettibone is complaining about NOT getting arrested? Meh.

Gk1 said...

“A peaceful protester in Portland was shot in the head by one of Donald Trump’s secret police,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote “Now Trump and Chad Wolf are weaponizing the DHS as their own occupying army to provoke violence on the streets of my hometown because they think it plays well with right-wing media.”...

Actually you can see the whole incident, (or you used to be able to on youtube). The asshole who got hit in the head was holding up a propane tank getting ready to hurl at the entrance of the courthouse when he's shot.(Peaceful my ass) We need more scenes like this. The feds are not going to abandon a Federal courthouse to some poop flinging monkeys.

To have a sitting senator distort the incident tells you all you need to know about this.

Rory said...

"Sure this guy might, this time, have actually been involved peacefully in a peaceful protest."

It's also likely that people inside the government will leak on impending raids.

Gk1 said...

"I wonder if insurance companies will simply refuse to insure homes and businesses in these cities that allow property to be destroyed with no consequence to the destroyers."

Yes, underwriters are feverishly re-writing polices and denying coverage for businesses looted and burned by these "mostly peaceful" protests. Insurance underwriters will now update their risk profiles and will now be cranking up policies for blue cities who refused to stop the violence. This is the ugly, second shoe to drop, as smaller businesses are screwed and are put out of business while Big Box store, Nike outlets can absorb the cost. Thanks FUCK HEADS!

Tommy Duncan said...

"The first casualty when war comes is truth". -Hiram W Johnson

narciso said...

Wyden was Senator death panel, so that's not surprising, he looks spectral, like not long for this world,

JPS said...

Nichevo, 9:04:

"Link please? Not that I need [the Gestapo interrogation scene in Anthropoid] as you describe. That's the one with Cillian Murphy?"

That's the one. I don't have a link, and I'm not finding the scene on a quick search, so I guess my challenge was rhetorical.

I watched it on a plane. The buildup was slow, but meticulous. The writers did their homework. Near halfway through, I was thinking Wow, this is really good, why didn't I see this or hear of it? I should recommend this to [various friends, including Czech emigres].

Spoiler alert: Heydrich is grievously wounded at about the halfway point. After that, as it did in real life, it gets really ugly. The movie is unsparing in showing how the Nazis rolled up the resistance cell. It does not show the full scope of the reprisals (Lidice is mentioned in passing), but the viewer sure gets the idea. The final battle is astounding.

And if that interrogation scene isn't the worst thing I've seen on film, I don't want to remember the worst thing I did see on film.

Gravel said...

To be honest, my sympathy for the voters in Portland is limited. Let's look at the results for the Mayor's race: Ted Wheeler, who we all know, got 49%; he's in a runoff with the Democratic Socialist, at just shy of 24%. The next vote getter at 8% is also a democrat.

The only Republican, Bruce Broussard, got 5.2%, and an independent, Ozzie Gonzalez, got 5.8%. So AT BEST 11% of Portland's voters wanted actual change from the direction that city has been headed for years.

But it's Trump's fault.

Yancey Ward said...

He was arrested by the Gestapo, but he got better.

rcocean said...

So, Antifa is rioting, looting, attacking people and the DHS is protecting Federal property and all we get from the Democrats and the Press is whining about how "Nasty" the Federal police are. The poor babies are put in UNMARKED vans. OMG. They feel "Threatened". Well, isn't that too bad.

Absolutely zero background on who these antifa thugs are or a listing of all their violence and destruction. Nope, they're just harmless kids, "peaceful protesters" who are protesting what, is never stated. What the hell has happened to Oregon? Are they just all brain dead leftists? Or are they fat bourgeoisie, who don't care who gets killed as long as its not them or their friends?

Nichevo said...


Howard said...
This is cancel culture the trump cuck police state cheerleaders can jagg off to

7/17/20, 9:04 AM


Meh, thin gruel. Wake me when Ron Wyden gets shot in the head, even with a paintball. I look forward to your snark then.

Gravel said...

"I wonder if insurance companies will simply refuse to insure homes and businesses in these cities that allow property to be destroyed with no consequence to the destroyers."

Some insurers will leave the state. Count on it. But if they're writing a given policy in Oregon, I don't think they can legally deny coverage for civil unrest to certain locations. Wildfire? Yes. Hurricane? Sure. But not riots. Some insurance maven correct me if I'm wrong.

chuck said...

More Beer Hall Putsch than Reichstag fire. Let us see who Antifa puts forward to play the role of Hitler.

Anonymous said...

Crazy Jane said...
In 2018, an OCCUPY ICE tent community sprang up the the local ICE office. The finely reasoned point of the protest was that ICE should be abolished. Went on for weeks, maybe months.


I live fairly close. This particular siege, because that is what it was is connected to the Federal Presence around their Courthouse now. The siege went on for weeks.

Anti-fa, and Occupy, etal, surrounded the ICE offices and conducted a very aggressive confrontation. To the point where the Federal agents with guns inside called 911 asking for the Portland police to respond. The Mayor directed the Police NOT to protect the Federal building. The Police did assist Anti-fa with traffic and parking control though...

The Fed's natural response is "Never Again"

Leigh said...

Bruce Hayden, re your comment on top-level FBI'ers on a gaming site, do you have a link? Asking sincerely -- had not heard about this.

Sam L. said...

I despise, detest, and distrust the WaPoo. And its running dog NYT, too!

Daniel Jackson said...

How American can we get! It's a 1950's Western: Local town out West gets overrun by Outlaws, terrify townsfolk, destroy local stores, studios, cower the local officials (some of whom openly support the Outlaws), and send word back East. Horrors!

The Marshals are called in to clear the streets and send the Outlaws back to their nannies.

Stealthily sneaking up on the crippled town, The Marshals and deputies arrive at dawn catching the Outlaws unawares. Like Abraham and his 350, they attack with such swiftness that the Outlaws surrender without a shot. One Young Gun tried to get the draw on The Marshal who dispatched Young Gun with a rubber bullet. The Outlaws were identified, questioned, and released without a spanking.

Is this Blazing Saddles?

Alas, this is even a bigger joke.

It is ironic that in this part of the world, especially in Seattle, homeless people are "Swept" off the street without a word from the MSM. Yet it takes the Marshals to do the same task when the street people are of a higher social class.

Where are when we need you Mel Brooks.

Carter Wood said...

OregonLive.com, which now drives what's left of The Oregonian newspaper, is an absolute apologist for the "peaceful protesters." Just one passage from the latest coverage of the riots and attacks against police:

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/07/protests-mark-day-50-in-portland-thursday-amid-growing-attention-from-trump-administration.html

Many protesters regrouped later and to prepare for future demonstrations. About two dozen people brought cardboard, trash can lids and sheets of wood to Kenilworth Park in Southeast Portland Thursday afternoon to craft shields to protect protesters when police use force, such as impact munitions. In a scene resembling a picnic, people gathered in a shady tree-covered corner and chatted while duct-taping their handmade shields together.

How bucolic.

I would appreciate further reporting from somebody on the common tactic of shining high-powered lasers at law enforcement. The practices aims to blind, and yet news coverage finds it one of the minor assaults.

Carter Wood said...

The Portland Police Twitter feed is illuminating: @PortlandPolice

doctrev said...

One lawprof's comment section is worth more on this issue than the entire mainstream media. For the record, the uniformed officers have patches that show who they work for. If you can't read them, tough tits for you. But I am vastly amused by the fact that no matter how wide the gulf between Clinton rules (incinerate the women and children!) and Trump rules, the slightest effectiveness against rioters brings out the shriek brigade.

The limp-wrist left is absolutely unprepared for how completely a Pinochet-style response will ANNIHILATE their movement for the next seventy years. Wtf are you waiting for, Mr. President?!

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

So I guess the The Dream of the 90s is still alive in Portland, except its the dream of the 1790's in France.

Mr. T. said...

And we should trust the WaPoS and it's quote harvesting of those that back up its position why?

Like when they tripped all over everyone so they could fawn and salivate over Nathan Philips and libel high school students?

Hey WaPoS! Remind us how is that lawsuit going for you again!

Gk1 said...

"But not riots. Some insurance maven correct me if I'm wrong."

Not an insurance maven but I play one on t.v. I used to work at an unwriter years ago and have a friend still in the biz and he has been loudly opineing a lot of businesses are probably screwed unless they opted for a special rider, that covers riots.

Due to the popularity of "flash mobs" city retailers have seen their insurance ratchet up unless they provide additional security. He says insurance policies covering property almost always exclude war, civil strife, mega events that you can't reasonably account for.

You notice how the media never interviews or spends much time talking to business owners who have seen their livelihoods go up in flames? They will be getting an earful how insurance won't cover the majority of the damage. That would make their side look bad.

n.n said...

Like Pres. Clinton?

Like Pres. Obama, in plain sight, and in darkness behind a JournoListic shield.

deepelemblues said...

The federal government is doing its job to suppress violent insurrectionists who are destroying public order and safety.

Good.

Big Mike said...

Pettibone and O’Shea both said they couldn’t think of anything they might have done to end up targeted by law enforcement.

Of course not!

FullMoon said...

Protesting has become a hobby and sport. Like many exciting sports such as sky diving, boxing, football, there is some risk involved.

So far as commenters being surprised at the whining and whimpering of some detained, keep in mind these are people who have their pussy hats proudly displayed right next to the 60" smart tv.

phantommut said...

I smell fiction.

Gravel said...

Thanks Gk1, but I was making a slightly different observation. Whether or not they had coverage for a riot depends on the contract they had at that time, and it is what it is. Your friend is right about War, it's excluded, but civil strife usually is not.

My point is really more about renewals for policy holders. I believe that insurance companies cannot refuse to write a policy, or exclude a specific cause of loss, in specific areas in a state. The exceptions to that are usually determined by the state insurance commissioner, and generally apply to all the insurers doing business in the state. I've only ever seen it applied to things like Coastal Windstorm Exclusion Zones, but I know they are redrawing wildfire exclusion maps in CA, etc. But it seems to be natural disasters that get zoned.

Hence my prediction that many insurers will simply stop writing certain coverages altogether in specific states.

Clyde said...

What the pettifogging Pettibone doesn't realize is that if he was in a Philip K. Dick novel, he'd be arrested by the Kempetai.

holdfast said...

It’s not very secret when they are all wearing Department of Homeland Security patches.

When the death squads come. And at this rate they will come. They will be actually secretive, and anyone they capture will never be seen again. They also won’t be federal, but rather off-duty officers from places like New York where the political leadership has declared war on the police department.

Howard said...

The Feds are now heroically eradicating the heartbreak of Graffiti. Notice they only have the Gaul to do it in a nearly all white city. Lets see them do this in Detroit, Chicago or Atlanta.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Ron Wyden lives in NYC with his wife and kids. He's an Oregon Senator in Name Only. How would he know what's going on in Portland while he's living in NYC?

Portland's been protecting antifa for years. Ted Wheeler won't let the cops protect the city. Portland goes through more police chiefs than Ann goes through sunrise pictures. When someone tries to defend themselves against antifa goon with a firearm, the goons go free and the victim is prosecuted for and convicted assault. Andy Ngo was assaulted a year ago; the goons have yet to be prosecuted, let along arrested.

n.n said...

they are all wearing Department of Homeland Security patches

WaPo has been telling tales, spinning yarns for 16 trimesters and in progress.

Robert Cook said...

"Hmmm. Any chance this is even close to true?"

No doubt.

Etienne said...

Oldest trick in the book...

Snatch the guy, put him in a cell, clone his phone, duplicate everything in his wallet, put him out on the street.

Howard said...

I like snatch

Biff said...

Imagine if the news media used neutral, almost certainly more accurate language like "patrolled" instead of "stormed" or "detained" instead of "snatched". In other contexts, how about "increased" instead of "spiked" or "skyrocketed"?

Or, while perhaps not quite meeting a standard of cruel neutrality, instead of calling people "mostly peaceful" protesters, using terms like "violent" protesters or, gasp, "rioters"?

Bruce Hayden said...

“Bruce Hayden, re your comment on top-level FBI'ers on a gaming site, do you have a link? Asking sincerely -- had not heard about this.”

It may take a bit of looking. Like many, if not most here, I open innumerable links every week, and I know that it was a month or so ago. Sorry. Compounding this, there are groups who shut down Q posts when they find them, so those posts are a moving target. This was a reposting of a post from 2017 or so, that was near contemporaneous. I think that it was intentionally posted to show the perps (the top level FBI people) that they were known. The conversation was apparently posted as proof, by Q, that they “had the comms” (electronic communications).

chuck said...

"Hmmm. Any chance this is even close to true?"

I've seen these types in action, its always "look what they did to poor, innocent me". Boo hoo. After a while you learn to ignore it, its just manipulative BS.

GingerBeer said...

Haven't we been scolded for several weeks now that we must "reimagine policing?" Well DHS has taken up the offer. But so has NYC. Worst mayor ever Bill DeBlasio brags that “this city has put millions and millions of dollars into building up the Cure Violence Movement and the Crisis Management System..." DeBlasio has praised Iesha Sekou, the leader of Street Corner Resources, who planned an operation to “occupy the corners” to keep the neighborhood safe. What method does Sekou use? “Sometimes you have to grab a kid up once in a while and put them in the van and just say, look, you’re not getting out.” Can we really fault DHS for borrowing such tactics if it saves just one life? “and sometimes you have to use some unorthodox moves, because it’s really, at the end of the day, about saving the life.”

https://nypost.com/2020/07/17/bill-de-blasios-hopeless-cure-for-nycs-soaring-crime/

ken in tx said...

BLM also stands for Bureau of Land Management. They probably have a police force too. Trump should have sent them in with their initials on their helmets and shirts. That would make for fun encounters.

Freeman Hunt said...

Oh, look! Journalists are finally interested in a place that's had violent unrest going on for over a month!

funsize said...

Spiros, I knew of Yvette Felarca when I was at Cal. Seeing her doing her same-ole-same-ole makes me laugh. She never grew up.