Get a free copy of Parental Rights & Education when you subscribe to our newsletter!
The city of Portland, Oregon, has descended into lawlessness with anarchist groups running wild, a trend further evidenced by Antifa’s recent attack on a Christian prayer event during which black-clad militants sprayed attendees with a mace-like substance, threw flash bombs and projectiles, and destroyed sound equipment.
On Saturday, worshippers gathered at the waterfront in Portland to hold a prayer event, featuring Canadian pastor Artur Pawlowski. They were met by Antifa thugs who had organized through Twitter to oppose the event. Video shows black-clad Antifa members carrying shields and weapons, spraying attendees with what some said was bear spray, and destroying sound equipment, which was ripped off the stage and thrown into the river. The Antifa members, wearing riot gear, shouted and cursed at the gatherers, chasing them from the area.
As the Antifa members destroyed the sound equipment one could be heard shouting, โWhere is your god now?โ
Video shows the Antifa members throwing things, said to be fireworks, eggs, and rocks, and setting off a smoke device. One attendee who attempted to speak with the Antifa members was sprayed in the face with what he thought was pepper spray. He said, โIโm trying to tell them Iโm here to love people, give you a hug. Iโll tell you, I love you, you know, then I get this,โ he said pointing to his face as he struggled to open his eyes.
One woman who described Antifa as โruthlessโ said, โAntifa just rolled in like an angry mob, started throwing flash bombs at everybody, macing everybody … rotten eggs.โ She added, โThey threw a flash bomb into a group of kids that were out there, from four months old to like 10.โ
A man said, โWalked up to ask them to stop throwing things at the children. There’s kids down there. I mean theyโre toddlers, and they sprayed me too.โ
Throughout the attack police did nothing and no arrests have been made.
This assault on a Christian prayer meeting is disturbing for multiple reasons. Portland has become an extremely dangerous place in recent years as the government itself has started vilifying the police โ not only taking away funding but changing how police work is done.
In 2019, Portland had 389 shootings; in 2020 that number rose to almost 900. This year, the city is on pace for more than 1,000 shootings. And in the first five months of this year, homicides rose 2,200 percent. In Portlandโs crusade for โequitableโ policing, political leaders disbanded the gun violence team but has since had to reform it. Police are quitting in massive numbers as violent mobs roam the streets.
Antifa may love anarchy, but they have an agenda. The group is no stranger to attacking churches. Yet Twitter allowed this clearly violent group to not only organize an attack against Christians, but to celebrate it after the fact. This is the same Twitter that banned former President Donald Trump for supposedly inciting the January 6 incident despite evidence indicating that he did no such thing and has continued to censor others who speak out against the leftist orthodoxy.
Antifa justifies itself as combating fascism and hate, yet who is the group that used violence and intimidation to attack a group of religious observers including small children because they disagreed with their views? Antifa even stole the attendeesโ food, with one Twitter user saying that they โexpropriatedโ sandwiches and water from โthe fascist hate preachersโ to give to the โhouseless.โ
President Joe Biden infamously said that Antifa was an idea, not an organization, despite the opinion of experts and mountains of evidence to the contrary. It is time for the President and for America to wake up. In one of Americaโs major cities, riots and violence have gone unchecked for over a year.
This is what it looks like to live in a fascist nation, whereby groups with the approved ideology are allowed to roam the streets and attack those with disfavored beliefs. Portland is a lawless city governed, not by the weak politicians calling for equity, but by the mob whose demands will never be met until all are under the bootheel of tyrants.
If you like this article and other content that helps you apply a biblical worldview to todayโs politics and culture, consider making a donationย here.