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Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, were involved in assaults on multiple people late on Aug. 16, including a man who was knocked unconscious and rushed to the hospital with serious injuries, according to witnesses.
“They were marching around saying it. They said it repeatedly. They were doing this because this is BLM, this is Black Lives Matter,” Kalen D’Almeida, a reporter for Scriberr News, told The Epoch Times.
“The people that were there, they were there to hurt somebody,” he added.
Drew Hernandez, an independent reporter, also said evidence pointed to Black Lives Matter protesters being involved in the violence.
A live streamer captured some of the violence taking place, before several individuals confronted her, with one saying, “Do not record [things] that don’t matter to Black Lives Matter.”
Warning: Footage in this article contains imagery that could be disturbing to some, and crude language.
Portland: A man accused of trying to run over protesters crashed his vehicle. BLM & Antifa militants then pull him from the car and violently assault him. pic.twitter.com/DiUbV9Mcy5
— Kalen D’Almeida (@FromKalen) August 17, 2020
“We’re not streaming to stream fights and this and this and that,” he added. “Fights going to make us look bad.”
Another person asked the streamer: “What’s the point of filming the violence?”
Witnesses say the situation started when Black Lives Matter protesters grew upset at a man for allegedly videotaping near the Justice Center, and forcefully ejected him from the gathering.
When others tried standing up for the man, they were assaulted.
At one point, a man who drove a truck to the area and parked nearby was on the sidewalk helping one of the people who were assaulted. The mob then turned on him, issuing threats. When he re-entered his truck, they banged on it and urged him to leave. He sped away but crashed within minutes into a tree.
“They basically chased down his truck, caused him to crash, pulled him out of the car, started going through his car, and just started assaulting him in the street,” D’Almeida said.
“It was just horrific.”
#BLM & #antifa militants violently assault man after car accident in downtown Portland. This kick to the head came after several heavy blows from fists. pic.twitter.com/pyLWFOniSF
— Kalen D’Almeida (@FromKalen) August 17, 2020
Footage shows one black individual, who had “security” affixed to his clothing, punch the driver seven times.
The driver, who was on the ground outside his vehicle, sat dazed. That’s when a man, possibly the same one, stepped up and delivered a kick to the victim’s face.
Police officers weren’t visible during the time these assaults were taking place, D’Almeida said.
In a statement, the Portland Police Bureau said officers responded to a report of an injury around 10:30 p.m. at Southwest Broadway and Southwest Taylor Street.
The report said protesters were chasing the truck before it crashed, and they assaulted the driver after the crash, police said. Officers encountered a “hostile crowd,” forcing them to wait for another squad to help secure the scene and load the victim into an ambulance.
The victim was hospitalized with serious injuries.
The bureau didn’t respond to phone calls or emails seeking more information on Aug. 17, including an update on the victim’s condition.
“I hope the guy is alive,” D’Almeida said. “I’m just hoping I didn’t videotape a murder.”
The man was kicked and knocked unconscious in the street. #antifa medics arrive to help. pic.twitter.com/JuBmSShAyC
— Kalen D’Almeida (@FromKalen) August 17, 2020
Police said they’re investigating. Detectives have reached out to at least one witness to seek footage of the assaults.
Unrest has shaken Portland since May 28, with no end in sight.
D’Almeida thinks recent violence stems from new Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who announced last week that he would automatically drop cases involving some crimes committed during demonstrations.
“The DA there is enabling this sort of stuff to go on, night after night after night,” the reporter said.
Brent Weisberg, a spokesman for Schmidt’s office, told The Epoch Times via email that cases referred by police officials over the weekend are still being reviewed. He eclined to answer when asked how many cases have been approved since the new policy was announced.
Mayor and Police Commissioner Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did his communications director.
Wheeler condemned rioters in a recent statement but has remained silent on the recent incidents of violence.
His last public statement was on Aug. 15, congratulating Portland’s professional basketball team for a win.
Disclosure: Jamie Joseph, Scriberr’s editor-in-chief, is a freelance reporter for The Epoch Times.
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IF the city leadership is tone deaf to this then it means nothing.