Share
News

Leftists Attempt To Set Up Another 'Autonomous' Zone, This Time in Portland

Share

Two weeks after police in Seattle cleared out an area occupied by leftist activists, a group attempted to set up a similar area in Portland, Oregon.

KATU-TV reported a group of people late Tuesday attempted to take over a portion of the city’s downtown area, which they were calling the “Chinook Land Autonomous Territory,” or CLAT for short.

Chinook is an apparent reference to Chinookan tribes who once occupied the area that is now home to Portland.

Like protesters in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ (later called CHOP, for Capitol Hill Occupied Protest), protesters in Portland set up barriers near the city’s central police precinct.

Fox News reported the protest was organized by a collective of anti-capitalist, anti-fascist teens who called themselves the Pacific Northwest Youth Liberation Front.

The group set up tents and barriers near federal buildings and used Twitter to try to recruit others to join them.

Police said in a news release early Wednesday that they had taken down barricades, but after officers were pelted with glass bottles and targeted with laser pointers, they retreated and the barriers were again temporarily reassembled.

The Portland Police Department tweeted that officers were also targeted with ball bearings, rocks and other projectiles.

Police added in the news release that the clash with protesters began when “a couple hundred demonstrators gathered at Revolution Hall in Southeast Portland and marched all throughout downtown Portland.”

“After officers left the area, the demonstrators lit a fire to what was left of the barricade. Several minutes later, a demonstrator extinguished the fire and several demonstrators began to rebuild the barricade,” police said.

Related:
Multiple Elections Offices Receive Suspicious Letters, Some Contained Antifa and 'Pride' Symbols

The skirmishes between police and the protestors lasted into Wednesday morning.

Police also said that no “CS gas, crowd control munitions, or force was used.”

Some of those behind the takeover of the area are affiliated with antifa, according to the New York Post. The group, which President Donald Trump has called a “terrorist organization,” has been involved in Portland violence for many years.

Protests have been occurring in the city since the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler blamed police for his city’s perpetual state of protest Wednesday and asked federal law enforcement officers to “leave Portland.”

Journalist Andy Ngo, who covers antifa and other leftist groups in Portland, shared video from the chaotic scene early Wednesday.

Ngo reported federal officers intervened and made at least one arrest.

The attempt to set up an autonomous zone in Portland came after activists in Seattle successfully occupied an entire neighborhood and police precinct in the city’s Capital Hill neighborhood for nearly a month.

Police in Seattle finally acted by taking the area down on July 1, but not before property in the area was severely damaged and multiple people were shot.

Two teenage gunshot victims died: a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , , , ,
Share
Johnathan Jones has worked as a reporter, an editor, and producer in radio, television and digital media.
Johnathan "Kipp" Jones has worked as an editor and producer in radio and television. He is a proud husband and father.




Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.

Conversation