Gabriella Fiorino
Science Correspondent
On May 26th, three white males were stabbed on a MAX train in Portland after defending two hijab-wearing teenage girls from violent criminal Jeremy Christian, who was publicly open for years about his hatred of Jews and Muslims. Most Americans would agree that the three stabbing victims are heroes for risking their lives to protect the two innocent teen girls on the train. However, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) believes that “angry white males,” Christians, cops, and Trump supporters are to blame for the stabbing in Portland, and has attempted to revoke the First Amendment rights of anyone who disagrees. Well, one group escaped the unconstitutional attempts by Mayor Wheeler and held a free speech rally last Sunday that resulted in violence from the left.
While Jeremy Christian’s public defense lawyers prepare for his possible death penalty case, as reported by KGW News Portland, unrest occurred in Portland during the Sunday free speech rally. The event, attended by thousands, was organized by the group Patriot Prayer. Christian had attended a Patriot Prayer rally on April 29th, during which the group ejected him from the demonstration for seeking to beat left-leaning protesters with a bat. Mayor Wheeler has politicized the stabbing by Christian by attempting to revoke the permits of Patriot Prayer and other Trump supporting groups holding free speech rallies this month, as previously reported by Liberty Nation. Mayor Wheeler believes that such rallies by Trump supporters are to blame for inspiring Jeremy Christian’s deadly attack.
Authorities made fourteen arrests during Patriot Prayer’s Sunday demonstration. Regardless of what the mayor would like people to believe, police confirm that the arrests were not of members of Patriot Prayer but ANTIFA counter-protesters, as reported by KGW Portland. The ANTIFA members threw bricks, mortars, and balloons filled with nauseating liquids and carried dangerous weapons, such as brass knuckles, knives, and homemade slingshots. Male members of the group also viciously robbed a thin blue line American flag from a Patriot Prayer female demonstrator, nearly dragging her to the ground. So much for feminism. As the violence escalated, officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to contain counter protesters, as caught on video by a Portland CBS affiliate. Patriot Prayer’s founder, Joey Gibson, then urged everyone to stay calm and peaceful and follow directions from officers.
The violence from Antifa should come as no surprise, however, as the far-left leaning “anti-fascist” group heaved rocks at members of Patriot Prayer during previous rallies, as reported here at Liberty Nation. Antifa has not confined their violence to Portland. They acted violently during free speech protests in Berkeley, California last April, where they assaulted police and Trump supporters. LN International Correspondent Onar Åm was personally threatened by Antifa members during a free speech conference in Norway. The group threatened to throw butyric acid at those attending the event. However, Mayor Wheeler does not seem to believe that Antifa is a threat, but rather believes that the peaceful demonstrators from Patriot Prayer are “terrorists.”
According to Mayor Wheeler during the May 31st Portland city hall meeting, Patriot Prayer and their founder Joey Gibson are “terrorists” that supported Jeremy Christian; Gibson went live on Facebook to respond to the mayor’s allegations. In the video, Gibson denied that the group was in any way affiliated with Christian, and urged Mayor Wheeler to offer evidence for the claims that Patriot Prayer is a terror organization.
Further evidencing Patriot Prayer’s rejection of Jeremy Christian is an interview by Liberty Nation’s Doug Davis that preceded the stabbing by Christian. Davis interviewed members of Patriot Prayer who attended the April 29th rally in which Christian was removed and confirmed that Christian repulsed them. The members also stated that they are devoted to maintaining peace and free speech rights for all Americans, not just conservatives. It seems that Mayor Wheeler could learn and a thing or two from Patriot Prayer.
During the Portland city hall meeting, former adjunct professor Tiffany Craft urged Mayor Wheeler to disregard Patriot Prayer’s First Amendment right to free speech and shut down their June 4th rally. Craft referred to Joey Gibson as another “angry, bigoted white male” that “scares her,” and blamed such conservatives for the Portland stabbing. Regarding Patriot Prayer, she stated:
They are using misappropriated Christian ethics that purposely, intentionally, hurt women and minorities. That is what they are designing to do… These guys aren’t neutral, and nor are the cops.
It should be rather frightening that Craft was a former adjunct professor, who once “educated” our youth. In Mayor Wheeler’s response to Craft, he explained that he “appreciated” her statement. However, the so-called facts by Mayor Wheeler and Craft do not seem to add up. “Angry white males,” Christians, cops, and Trump supporters were not the reason for the stabbing by Jeremy Christian. The three men who defended the two teenage girls on the MAX train on the night of the stabbing were white males.
Jeremy Christian was not a Trump supporter nor a Christian; he was, however, a criminal with a violent record. For their part, police officers selflessly worked on the front lines after the stabbing to bring Jeremy Christian into custody. Mayor Wheeler has been inciting unrest while the families of the three victims attempt to mourn and recover from the horrible attack. Portlanders can only hope that Mayor Wheeler will discover that free speech is itself a repudiation of violence and honor his oath to defend it.
