By David Futrelle

Today in Portland, members of far-right street gang Patriot Prayer and assorted other brawlers on the fascist right are rallying around the banner of #HimToo, a trollish antifeminist response to the #MeToo movement suggesting that many rape accusations are simply false.

I don’t know about the “false” part, but many in and around Patriot Prayer certainly have experience with accusations.

Rose City Antifa has put up a lengthy post documenting that a stunning number of those invited by organizers to the rally today, or otherwise associated with Patriot Prayer or the group’s close ally The Proud Boys, have been arrested in the past for domestic violence and sexual assault. One man formerly associated with Patriot Prayer pled guilty to the sexual assault of a 14-year-old, and a regular videographer for the group “was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy on a victim under age 13,” according to Rose City Antifa.

“Men are certainly also victimized by the sexual and domestic violence and rape culture,” Rose City Antifa declares.

However, [rally organizer] Haley [Adams] and Patriot Prayer’s usage of the #HimToo hashtag has overwhelmingly ignored the possibility that men might be victims of violence in favor of simply “triggering the libs,” and publicly mocking and discrediting any claims of sexual violence.

The hypocrisy is especially ripe given the histories of so many of those involved. Rose City Antifa notes that

Not only is the premise of a “him too” rally ridiculous on its face, the behavior of Patriot Prayer, Proud Boys, Street Preachers and other associated far-right and white nationalist groups, both on the streets of Portland and in their private lives, shows that they are the exact the sort of threat described by the concept of “rape culture.”

Yep.

Local antifascist activists have organized a pushback march highlighting the experiences of sexual assault survivors; as I write this, the counterprotest has attracted several hundred, easily outnumbering the twenty or so who have shown up at the #HimToo rally. See live coverage of the even on the Twitter hashtag #PushbackPDX.

Here’s what the #HimToo rally looked like about a half hour ago:

I'm watching… I dunno what I'm watching now. I guess this is the rally? They have a poorly made #HimToo banner that is basically the @pornhub logo—is that… On purpose? #pushbackpdx #PushBack pic.twitter.com/aeHyeuohTQ — Donovan “It was the blurst of times” Farley 💻🐒 (@DonovanFarley) November 17, 2018

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