“Proud Boys” And Racist Extremist Plan To March On Downtown Portland
Today is going to be very tense for the city of Portland as racist, far-right, extremist group “Proud Boys” takes to the streets and will come face-to-face vehement protesters.
Reports in CBSNews states that several other right-wing groups plan on showing up but none with legitimate permits. Police learned of the other groups’ plans by monitoring social media and they say there were threats of violence on those pages.
“It’s sad to me because I think that a lot of people that come here to protest don’t actually live here or share a lot of values that I believe Portland stands for,” said resident Drew Edwards.
The far-right event Saturday was organized by the “Proud Boys,” a group the Southern Poverty Law Center designated as a hate group. Police aren’t sure which protest groups will show up, what they’ll be protesting about and if they’re only coming to cause trouble.
“We have seen a shift in the last few weeks in the rhetoric, and a separation of those who want to engage in free speech and those who intend to participate in acts of violence,” Jones said.
We hope and pray that there is no violence and that this thing doesn’t turn into Charlottesville 2.0.