Another “mostly peaceful” left-wing event which ended in a riot, though the violence, in this case, wasn’t one-sided. The event started earlier in the day as a “festival of resistance” in support of anti-fascism and anti-capitalism. People put up tables hawking books about communism, etc. But just as Portland police were declaring the event a success, fighting broke out at a pro-Antifa bar called Cider Riot. This KGW report does a decent job summarizing the day but I’ll go into more detail below:

Reporter Mike Bivins was on hand as various left-wing people gathered in a park not far from where the Occupy ICE protest took place last year:

im at caruthers park in portland’s south waterfront for an anti-ICE #mayday protest. antifa is here, and portland police showed up.

reminder: an ICE building is only several blocks away.#mayday2019 #maydaypdx pic.twitter.com/7c8LFSpiUZ — Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) May 1, 2019

Some right-wing groups were also on hand:

far right-wing protesters associated w Patriot Prayer showed up. Joey Gibson and co. #MayDay #mayday2019 pic.twitter.com/GAaJ4U09fV — Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) May 1, 2019

Reporter Andy Ngo was also on hand and described the event in the park as a celebration of “Marxism, socialism & communism.”

"What's the number one reason people get stopped in this country & kidnapped?" asks a masked woman. "Skin color." She then says that every single white person there needs to use their unearned privilege to protect others. "F— the state!" #antifa #MayDay pic.twitter.com/bSkhjPJ4mR — Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 2, 2019

The left-wing group marched to the ICE building to protest:

anti-ice march now headed to the Ice building, which was the site of an occupation last summer. chanting “abolish ice!” #mayday #maydaypdx pic.twitter.com/zccKHJXJV1 — Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) May 1, 2019

Cops were surrounding the building so they couldn’t get too close but they did block the streets for a time:

Naturally, the left-wingers started chanting “All cops are bastards.”

#Antifa protesters scream at the federal officers protecting the @ICEgov building. ICE cannot rely on @PortlandPolice & @tedwheeler to uphold the law on & around the building they lease. Last year, Mayor ignored ICE staff's pleas for help when all exits were blocked. #MayDayPDX pic.twitter.com/FgKyrtcUyd — Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 2, 2019

This guy just decided to scream:

a far-right counterprotester/ICE supporter repeatedly says he likes ice as a black-clad antifascist protester screeches in his face pic.twitter.com/oULHbgxAtE — Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) May 1, 2019

Someone dressed in black with his face covered punched Andy Ngo. He reported it to police and they did nothing, saying they didn’t want to incite the crowd. Ngo also recognized one woman marching with the left-wing group as the woman who cut off the PA system at an event featuring James Damore last year.

I saw Heather Clark at the #antifa #MayDayPDX protest. Clark was the woman who tried to shut down the James Damore Portland State panel event last year by smashing & damaging the sound equipment when @HeatherEHeying spoke about biological sex differences. https://t.co/a2mPO4yTrk pic.twitter.com/vFHTlGu91K — Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 2, 2019

The same woman was later punched and appeared knocked out by someone from one of the right-wing groups. Whoever did this should be ashamed (and arrested). It’s really not clear from this clip who did it though it was pretty clearly someone from the right-wing group.

OMG A GIRL GOT KNOCKED OUT CLEAN, pic.twitter.com/C3wdqOKLIT — Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) May 2, 2019

Later on people from the right wing groups showed up at a pro-Antifa bar and that’s when things started getting really out of hand:

.@CiderRiot on 807 NE Couch hosted a publicly advertised event w/Portland Antifa for #MayDay. This is how the riot began, w/people spitting, spraying mace/bear spray, throwing bottles of urine & other projectiles. No @PortlandPolice in the area. pic.twitter.com/4lW0KgzHQf — Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 2, 2019

You can see in the clip below, both sides were spraying mace:

breaking: far-right protesters and Proud Boys have arrived at Cider Riot. Cider Riot has done benefits for antifa and has also been vandalized in the past. RIOOOT. huge fight! pic.twitter.com/PKeRdYCF6d — Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) May 2, 2019

Someone from the Antifa crowd, wearing a mask of course, sprayed a lot of bear spray including directly into Andy Ngo’s face. He was unable to see and was helped across the street by a stranger.

This is my last footage. I was sprayed point-blank in the face w/what appears to be bear mace. I was blinded & a woman on the conservative side took me away to help. I have reported this to police but the assailant's identity is still unknown. Please help: https://t.co/LlAsB1BVkc pic.twitter.com/F57ZcAPkGF — Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 2, 2019

I’m not sure if this next fight happened before or after the bear spray, but two guys had a kind of MMA brawl in the street:

round one of an MMA fight between guy in anti-communist action shirt and masked antifa outside cider riot pic.twitter.com/KOsjds9XS3 — Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) May 2, 2019

Eventually, the right-wing guy got knocked down and the crowd went wild. You can see Joey Gibson of Patriot Prayer shake hands with the Antifa brawler.

Personally, I wish there was a way they could both lose. This isn’t about free speech at this point. This is a couple of idiots brawling. They should both have been arrested. One of the lingering questions about all of this is why no one was arrested. Police took a statement from Andy Ngo about his assault but later released a statement saying no reports of assault had been received. Portland police have been under pressure for allegedly working with Patriot Prayer in the past. I wonder if they decided in advance it was best for them to make no arrests.

I hope this is a mistake rather than something more nefarious. @PortlandPolice said yesterday no reports of assault filed relating to #antifa May Day riot. Myself & another person have come forward disputing this. Link to full report by @BrennaKellyNews: https://t.co/EKccEseGfi pic.twitter.com/2mLdEa2mZJ — Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 3, 2019

Reporter Andy Ngo appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show last night to discuss May Day in Portland. The bottom line for me is this: People can scream and carry on all they want but anyone throwing punches on either side should have been arrested.