Published 13:45 IST, September 9th 2020

US: Pro-Trump ‘Proud Boys’ thrash BLM protester in Oregon, 2 arrested

Chaos ensued after US alt-right group descended into violence, smashed a BLM protester on the ground, fired pepper spray, and beat him with a baseball bat.

World News
4 min read

Follow:

null | Image: self

At least 2 Trump supporters were arrested by the police after armed pro-Trump group and alt-right ‘Proud Boys’ clashed with BLM protesters in Oregon’s capital city of Salem. In footage that emerged online, chaos ensued after an alt-right group descended into violence, smashed a BLM protester on the ground, fired pepper spray, and beat him with a baseball bat. Meanwhile, another MAGA supporter sprayed a fire extinguisher. Hundreds arrived at a small town south of Portland for Oregon for trump 2020 caravan rally as pro-Trump white supremacists and counter-protesters emboldened far-right ideology and spoke about “shooting” Democratic Party politicians in a Labour day Cruise Rally.

According to local media reports, the Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys engulfed the suburbs of Portland where they rallied in front of the state capitol. Several of these pro-Trump supporters were clad in body armour and fatigues and brandished rifles, baseball bats, paint guns, and Trump flags. In a usual Portland’s “new normal”, that marked the 100th day of protests, the pro-Trump supporters and Defund The Police BLM protesters had a confrontation and spar broke out on the street. Meanwhile Black Lives demonstrators accused “radicalized right” of taping the license plates to camouflage identities as they engaged in violence.

Read: Belarus Opposition Figure Maria Kolesnikova 'kidnapped' Amid Ongoing Protests

Read: Hong Kong Police Slammed For Tackling 12-year-old To The Ground During Protests

At the caravan rally, a MAGA hatter was heard saying, “I think these democratic leaders need to be shot dead”, according to sources of local broadcasters on-ground. Trump-supporting onlookers received such violent speeches with cheers. Vehicles unfurling the republican party flags, QAnon conspiracy theory crowd in favour of the police, assembled at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City. “A smaller group of members of the right-wing group the Proud Boys went on to Salem, where a crowd of several dozen pro-Trump supporters had gathered,” an AP report confirmed.

Fired paint-gun pellets and attacked

Eventually, the right-wing protesters charged against the several counter-protesters, firing paint-gun pellets at them and attacking them, leaving several injured. While chaos was spewed and protesters were thrashed, the vehicle rally organizers said that they hadn’t planned to enter the Multnomah County of Portland. In one such caravan rally on August 29, Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a Patriot Prayer member was shot dead in Portland after a pro-Trump caravan entered Portland’s downtown. A scuffle had broken out after the protesters and counter-protesters hurled paintball canisters with suspected Michael Forest Reinoehl who was armed opening fire on the scene that claimed one life. He was later fatally shot by the police, according to an AP report. Reinoehl was an anti-fascists far-left-leaning militant group ANTIFA supporter.

[A protester is arrested during a protest at the Oregon State Capitol for a pro-Donald Trump rally at the Capitol in Salem, Ore. on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. Credit: AP]

[A right-wing protester carries a weapon outside the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore., on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. Hundreds of people gathered on Labor Day in a small town south of Portland for a pro-President Donald Trump vehicle rally. Credit: AP]

[Right-wing protesters unfurl a flag on the steps of Oregon State Capitol for a pro-Donald Trump rally at the Capitol in Salem. Credit: AP]

[Armed right-wing protesters in support of President Donald Trump stand in front of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Oregon. Credit: AP]

[A protester carries a Proud Boys banner, a right-wing group, while other members start to unfurl a large U.S. flag in front of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem. Credit: AP]