What is truly despicable here is not the behavior of the left-wing thugs. This is exactly what you expect from them. No, it's the behavior of "liberals"who wouldn't even stand up for the right of Republicans to march in the parade.
The annual 82nd Avenue of the Roses parade typically kicks off Portland’s parade season, however this year it was called off amid threats of a clash between protesters and marchers with the Republican Party.
Don't you just love the media's moral equivalence. The Republicans who were threatened with attack are on the same level as the left wing thugs who threatened to attack them.
"You have seen how much power we have downtown and that the police cannot stop us from shutting down roads so please consider your decision wisely," the anonymous email said, telling organizers they could cancel the Republican group's registration or else face action from protesters.
The email, sent from "thegiver@riseup.net," said they planned to have “two hundred or more people rush into the parade into the middle and drag and push them out.”
"Clash between protesters and marchers" indeed.
The response from parade organizers was a proper profile in courage.
The threatening email surfaced over the weekend, and singled out members of the Multnomah County Republican Party (MCRP) who were planning to take part in the parade.
While the author of the email did not specify any affiliation to a particular group, they did include links to two different Facebook events of counter-protests; one by Direct Action Alliance and the other from Oregon Students Empowered.
The Portland Rose Festival Foundation said the parade organizers at Venture Portland were left with few options but to cancel the 82nd Avenue of the Roses.
Or you know, go on, defy them and provide security. But instead they first tried to get the Republicans to drop out.
MCRP chair James Buchal said that Venture Portland asked them to withdraw from the parade, an event they’ve participated in for several years.
Buchal declined the offer and instead called on Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman, Multnomah County DA Rod Underhill, and Mayor Ted Wheeler to provide security.
Rich Jarvis, a spokesperson for the Rose Festival Foundation, says organizers could not legally un-invite the MCRP to the parade because they were already approved. He added that Venture Portland canceled the event out of an abundance of caution, considering the potential safety impacts to all attendees at the parade.
“You can't really prevent it. You can be aware, you can be ready, anticipate, but if somebody's going to do something to interrupt or to attack - if you want to use that word - you can't really be in position to prevent it,” said Jarvis.
I'm sorry. I was under the impression that the police exist to prevent "somebody" from doing something that they threatened to do. Here's the MCRP's statement.
We are very disappointed at the cancellation of the Parade. Criminals committed to riot and disorder have bullied the parade organizers into causing Oregon moms, dads, kids, and well- meaning community organizations to lose their opportunity to participate in this cherished annual Oregon tradition. We are also angry that, once again, local civic leaders didn't do enough to prevent organized gangs of criminal thugs from running rampant in the City.
According to the criminal elements, they control the streets of Portland. This is a form of domestic terrorism, and our public officials are not responding appropriately. Worse than doing nothing, their refusal to take appropriate action enables these domestic terrorists to restrict the rights of other Oregonians.”
“Most Portlanders think we are long past any reasonable tolerance of this behavior, and the Multnomah County Republicans stand with them to demand that:
Those making criminal threats face full consequences under the law for their terroristic threats and actions;
The City’s law enforcement authorities conduct a full investigation and a transparent accounting to the public of what is being done to prevent problems like this in the future;
Local and national media give these groups strict scrutiny and stop making excuses for the instigators of these problems; and The City’s leaders make new policy that puts the safety and freedom of innocent citizens ahead of license to violent protesters.
We urge the Portland Police to provide adequate protection for attendees and participants so the Parade and Carnival can be reinstated and proceed as originally planned by the 82nd Avenue of Roses Business Association.
“The bottom line is that Portland needs to choose between supporting terrorist thugs and protecting average citizens who want to participate in their community," said Multnomah Republican Party Chair James Buchal.
Good luck with any of those. This is Portland.
The Multnomah County Republican Party (MCRP) has for many years participated in the Parade, and calls upon the Mayor, the Police Chief, and the District Attorney to take action against this criminal conspiracy to commit crimes of riot and disorderly conduct in violation of Oregon law.
Under former Mayor Charlie Hales the City allowed this cancer of lawlessness to grow to the point where its leaders are now bragging, like some sort of comic book characters, that ‘the police cannot stop us’. But this is no laughing matter. The participation of political parties in public events like the Parade is not only an American tradition, but also reflects the most fundamental constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of assembly.
The road to fascism begins with armed gangs of thugs using violence to shut down opposing points of view. The question now is whether the City of Portland will be complicit in such conduct. We hope the City’s new leadership has the courage to respond to these threats appropriately.
But some sort of march will go on.
A conservative group called Patriot Prayer is planning a March for Free Speech on 82nd Avenue on Saturday. The group says marchers will be peaceful and won't block traffic, according to a Facebook event promoting the march.
Oregon Students Empowered, which describes itself as a student group that fights "fascism and injustice," is planning to disrupt the march, another Facebook event says.
The left: fighting fascism with fascism.