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I, among other people who track the far-right obsessively, are really nervous about an event that might devolve into outright far right violence. It is planned for Portland, Oregon, on August 17th. 1/ wweek.com/news/courts/20…
For the past two years, extremist groups like Patriot Prayer & the Proud Boys have descended on Portland, where they regularly encounter anti-fascist groups in street brawls. They bus in from other cities, over 15 times last year alone. 2/ wweek.com/news/2018/08/0…
Several of these encounters have descended into all-out melees, with severe injuries. The PPB & DA have largely declined to prosecute the far-right for countless assaults, & local press has covered communication between police and far right groups. 3/ wweek.com/news/courts/20…
Over the past months, rhetoric against antifascists has been escalating, buoyed by media coverage. Members of hate groups have expressed a determination to wreak as much violence as possible. These are posts by Joe Biggs, the rally's organizer. 4/ 
In a telling propagandistic flourish, the Aug 17 far-right rally being billed as a rally against "domestic terrorism" - by which they mean antifascist groups. 5/
There will be guns at this rally; the environment will be tense, at best, and has the real potential to devolve into deadly violence. The police bureau itself has said as much, and every watcher I know is looking at this date with real trepidation. 6/
When I think of the most effective response to the far right over the past 2 years, I think about the moment in Boston in 2017 when 40,000 marchers showed up to a white-supremacist "Free Speech" rally in the immediate aftermath of Charlottesville. time.com/4907681/boston… 7/
I believe that the best way to prevent serious violence in Portland on August 17th is for a similar crowd to show up and peacefully, vastly outnumber and drown out the far-right march. 8/
This is your chance to rebuke white supremacy en masse. If you live in Portland and its environs, show up to Tom McCall Waterfront Plaza on August 17th. 9/
Show up in huge numbers. Show up so they can't ignore you. Show up, and up, and up, in thousands; don't give this violent ideology quarter in your city. Don't let fascists take over your streets and commit violence. Drown them out with love. Drums. Tubas. And sheer humanity. /end
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@threadreaderapp Oh, and: Here's a link to the currently planned counterprotest. They're calling on artists and performers in Portland to show up in costume and make music, dance and show joy. Imagine if 10,000 people showed up and made a joyful noise to drown out hate! popmobpdx.com
