This week, the “tolerant” Left in Portland threatened to attack members of the Multnomah County Republican Party if they were allowed to march in Saturday’s 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade: “We will have two hundred or more people rush into the parade into the middle and drag and push those people out…You have seen how much power we have downtown and that the police cannot stop us from shutting down roads…”
A group named Direct Action Alliance (along with Antifa and several others) organized Facebook event pages to carry out these threats. Refusing to make any distinction between thousands of peaceful Republican Oregonians and racist white supremacists, they equate all Republicans and conservatives with fascists, encouraging violence against them, as this poster illustrates.
Antifa meme posted by Direct Action Alliance on their FB event page
These groups are anything but peaceful. As we have repeatedly seen since November, they are responsible for inciting violent riots, destroying property and blocking traffic in Portland. Back in January, Direct Action Alliance demanded the resignation of the Portland Police chief, threatening to block bridges and streets if their demands were not met. During the ensuing protest, they threw rocks, bottles, flares, and other items at Portland police. 14 of them were arrested.
Their threats to disrupt a family-friendly parade simply because those they politically disagree with would be included cannot and should not be tolerated. We cannot have a civil and free society if free speech can be suppressed by threats and violence. We hope that these threats will be will be dealt with by the authorities, to the fullest extent of the law, and that all Portland residents, regardless of political affiliation, will be able to enjoy the Rose Festival events without fear of intimidation or violence.