The left-wing, violent, anarchist group Antifa launched coordinated, violent protests across the nation just hours after President Joe Biden was inaugurated on the steps of the Capitol on January 20.
The so-called “J20 Protest” (which stands for January 20), was a violent demonstration against President Biden and law enforcement, specifically U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Occurring in several cities, including Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, dozens of individuals from Antifa and Black Lives Matter marched through the streets, started fires, and shattered building windows, including those at the Democrat Party of Oregon Portland Headquarters.
According to the Portland Police Department, after around 150 individuals marched to the Democrat headquarters, some of the group “smashed windows and vandalized the building.” The police noted that eight arrests were made, and numerous weapons were confiscated including Molotov cocktails, knives, batons, chemical spray and a crowbar.
A video (warning: explicit language) of the vandalism was recorded by journalist Julio Rosas.
On the ground in Portland, Ore. for @townhallcom. A group of Antifa marchers just attacked the city’s Democratic Party office. They broke windows and spray painted the building.
Some of them had a hard time breaking the windows. pic.twitter.com/v0PSM7rEvd
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 20, 2021
The Portland Police Department also stated that the same evening, the group gathered outside a Federal ICE building. Some were “carrying pepper ball guns, electronic control weapons similar to Tasers, large fireworks, shields and rocks.” After the group began throwing rocks at the building, police used “crowd control munitions” to disperse the crowd. Video of federal officers dispersing the crowd (warning: explicit language) was once again captured by Julio Rosas.
Federal officers came out of the ICE facility in Portland to disperse the crowd that had assembled outside. After declaring it to be an unlawful assembly, police used tear gas and flashbangs. pic.twitter.com/YntMIB5U6n — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 21, 2021
In Seattle, Antifa stopped traffic, placed American flags in the middle of the road and then set them on fire. Members of the group also marched through neighborhoods shining lights into people homes, chanting, “Out of your home, into the streets.”
Andy Ngo, a journalist who reports extensively on Antifa, writes in The New York Post that the 26,000 National Guard troops sent to Washington, D.C. would have been better placed in the cities where Antifa had announced their plans.
“The predicted right-wing violence by Trump supporters never materialized. Joe Biden’s inauguration went off without a hitch. But in the Pacific Northwest, Antifa had other plans.
“In Portland… They held a large banner showing a Kalashnikov (an AK-47) and the text, ‘WE DON’T WANT BIDEN — WE WANT REVENGE!’
“They destroyed the offices by smashing its windows one by one using hammers and metal batons. They dragged dumpsters onto the street and started a fire. Their comrades shielded them from cameras with large black umbrellas.”
Left-wing violence from Antifa became common during former President Donald Trump’s term in office. So far, it looks like it will continue under President Biden.
You can follow this author on Parler @ZacharyMettler
Photo from John Rudoff/REUTERS
