Published: April 2, 2022
By: Nick Monroe
A report released Wednesday by the Oregon Secretary of State's Office offers ways the state can do more in its attempts to counter "domestic terrorism" and "violent extremist attacks," citing cases of far-left violent extremism by Antifa in Portland.
While it doesn't mention Antifa directly, the 31-page report suggests actions the Legislature, Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ), and Oregon State Police (OSP) can take to mitigate the risks posed by domestic, violent extremism statewide.
The advisory report outlining how the state could be more prepared to respond to the "alarming risk" of domestic terrorism and violent radicalism also focuses heavily on concerns related to the far-right and white supremacy, without offering the same level of scrutiny and topic exploration of far-left militancy.
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Such a discrepancy is a concern in a report which argues that education on political extremism is paramount in building solutions to counteract it. The paper's objective of formalizing communications in terms of response is stonewalled by the ideological bias of leniency against far-left extremists on display therein.
The report doesn't mention Antifa by name even once. Bluntly speaking, success on the front that's described requires overcoming the political polarization and spite of far-left rioters wanting to see private and government property being burned down. But this report doesn't meet the mark. It mentions a "far-right" instance at the Oregon state Capitol on Dec. 21, 2020, but fails to see the comparisons between the prolonged Portland courthouse siege and the Jan. 6 riot.
Or lest we forget: leftists rioted during Trump's inauguration in January 2017.
Overall, the report advises that the state should focus on new laws and other measures to state governance, addressing threats within the government, securing infrastructure, and leveraging state grants designed to help prevent, prepare, and respond to catastrophic events, including "acts of terrorism."
The opening pages of the paper provides a breakdown in statistics about incidents of domestic violent extremism. The report's highlights label 2019 to 2021 as a turning point, with 11 such cases happening in 2020 alone in Oregon, amounting to half of the total overall of related incidents between 2011 to 2020.
"That alarming trend manifest itself dramatically in 2020 both nationally and within Oregon, culminating in violent attacks on the State Capitol Building on December 21, 2020 (see photo on the cover page), and the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021," it says, noting Oregon witnessed the sixth-highest number of domestic violent extremism incidents in the nation over the past decade.
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A persistent theme within the document is not mentioning the prolonged siege of Portland's federal courthouse during violent Black Lives Matter summer 2020 riots, even though that was a place of prominent far-left Antifa activity.
Antifa rioters frequently use “Roman candle” mortars to fire directed shots at law enforcement protecting the Portland federal courthouse. Video by @ElijahSchaffer. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/o89MFm4ja5
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) July 27, 2020
The federal Mark O. Hatfield courthouse was a repeat target of Antifa extremists who tried to repeatedly burn down the building during the riots in 2020.
Wednesday's report mentions events like the Ruby Ridge Standoff, the Oklahoma City federal building that was bombed, and 9/11. But nowhere in the report's timeline of significant events through American history is a breakdown of the 2020 mass looting in Chicago. The merit of bringing that up is within the paper's own definition of aspects for consideration, that in part includes property damage.
In the aftermath of the initial days of the first and most destructive George Floyd riots, Minnesota had $55 million in repair costs ahead of them, alone. By early 2021, proposals had cost estimates in the range of hundreds of millions.
(Meanwhile, a timeline of Antifa protests-turned-riots between the year 2017 through the year 2019 would be very intense and violence-filled.)
"According to the FBI, the greatest terrorism threat is posed by lone offenders, often radicalized online, who look to attack soft targets, such as schools, places of worship, or businesses, with easily accessible weapons," the report says.
The closest allusion to Antifa is a reference to admitted Antifa member Michael Reinoehl who shot and killed Patriot Prayer associate Aaron "Jay" Danielson in August 2020. "This tension culminated in an act of domestic violent extremism when a member of the far-right group was shot and killed; a member of the far-left group was charged with his murder but was shot and killed days later by law enforcement officials," the report reads. Danielson's shooting death is summarized in the report's timeline as well under Portland's summer 2020 protests.
The report does itself a grave injustice for including graphs like the one above, without bothering to mention the July 2019 firebombing of an ICE facility in Washington state by Willem van Spronsen. It's an omission that's amplified given how the 69-year-old firebomber left a manifesto that expressed "I am Antifa."
Another prevalent theme throughout the report is how it relies on "anti-government" beliefs as an indicator of extremism. But the definition of "expressing hatred or intolerance of U.S. society or culture" took on very different meanings between the former Trump administration and the current Biden White House.
A difficult question that Oregon officials face is how Black Lives Matter riots fit within the framing of the report. In February 2022, BLM Louisville activist Quintez Brown allegedly attempted to assassinate mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg. The local BLM chapter reportedly bailed Brown out of jail.
The matter reaches the levels of now-Vice President Kamala Harris, who in June 2020 promoted the Minnesota Freedom Fund to bail out BLM rioters.
If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota. https://t.co/t8LXowKIbw
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 1, 2020
Where, as it turned out, the progressive bail fund group's money was in part used to release a domestic abuser charged with murder in a road-rage slaying.
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