Portland police, now some of which are Federal Deputies, didn’t even wait for the protest to begin last night before accosting BLM protesters. Without cause or warrant, they searched citizens and seized their property. This after a weekend where police protected and safely escorted an armed paramilitary group called the Proud Boys.

SIDE STORY
I know I said last time I would be talking about the new version of the Declaration of Independence, but there are so many new things popping up each day, I’m finding it difficult to keep up! I will briefly touch on this New American Manifesto and then link to both it and the one I wrote a few months back on my personal blog, so you can read for yourselves. 

The Declaration of Independence was written by a group of people who were revolting against an oppressive government. It was political sedition, make no mistake. This country was built on political sedition. The largest religion in this country is centered around Yeshua bin Joseph, aka Jesus, who was also a political revolutionary. So both church and state are built from political sedition. 

The Medium article linked in the show notes at thedailyrosepodcast.com rewrites the Declaration of Independence in modern language, and they do a great job of it, along with some contemporary examples. Here are first 5 of 26:

1. He is lawless. He has no respect whatsoever for the rules of this country

2. He has interfered with state Governors’ abilities to take care of their states in times of crisis, constantly breaking promises and being unreliable, just to wear them down so that they will do whatever he wants and then neglects them even when they do it.

3. He has abused the powers of the Presidency, leveraging people’s rights for business purposes.

4. He turns public events into personal campaign stunts, wearing all the rational people down with his antics and erratic behavior

5. He has repeatedly fired the heads of critical agencies for refusing to support his illegal and abusive orders.

Back on July 4th, I also wrote an updated Declaration of Independence on my personal blog, revising it with the style of the original language to incorporate what’s happening today. Remember, this was a document outlining reasons they were leaving English rule and establishing their own government, including a list of grievances against King George. I’m still amazed at how very little I had to change to make it relevant to the current Trump Administration. 

Think about that for a moment. Mere minor changes to the Declaration of Independence—the very document that started the United States of America due to the oppression by England—made that document relevant today. 

Well worth a read, and then a good, long think about it. 

MAIN STORY
Onto the main topic, which dovetails rather well with the Declaration of Independence and its subsequent Constitution, as the police in this country continue to criminalize dissent. In early June, I wrote an article by that name, which is linked in the show notes as well as my article on the Declaration of Independence. When I say they’re criminalizing dissent, I mean exactly that. The first amendment of our great Constitution gives American Citizens the right to peaceably assemble. 

Nightly—except for a brief hiatus during the fires when the air quality was hazardous—the police have consistently brutalized nonviolent protesters for 124 days since they started as of tonight for a total of 113 days. The last episode I talked about the threatened violence from the Proud Boys, an alt-right, white nationalist group. If you recall, they had applied for a permit and were denied, but they showed up anyway. I can’t fault that because nowhere in the Constitution does it say we have the right to peaceably assemble if we get a permit. 

Keep that in mind for two reasons: how the cops responded to the Proud Boys and how the cops responded to the BLM protesters. 

So, the Proud Boys who estimated 10,000 people coming from all over the state and adjacent states, threatening violence and even political assassination, showed up. . . all 200 of them. Armed with paintball guns as well as real automatic weapons. 

The police *escorted* them to the park where they were denied the permit.
They didn’t confiscate their weapons or their shields/body armor, except in one surprising incident on one truck at a gas station. 

Basically, the Proud Boys are all talk. Bark worse than bite and all that. No show of violence except one, which was awful, and there is a video going around how they attacked a journalist, knocked him to the ground, and started kicking him in the face. 

Real nice guys. 

No shooting, not even marbles out of paintballs this time. That was this past Saturday. For more details on the threats, please listen to my last episode, the 9th one, called Proud Boys Back in PDX. 

That same day, there were 1500 counter protesters, that is to say BLM protesters. Guess what happened to those peaceful and nonviolent, *unarmed* protesters? You got it, the police accosted them and confiscated their shields (which is illegal). 

Nevermind that there was a U-Haul-sized truck that delivered shields to the Proud Boys, as the cops didn’t confiscate those. They didn’t confiscate their weapons either. Nope, they escorted them to the park and protected them while there. 

Can you imagine what it would be like if the BLM protesters came armed like these white nationalists? You think the cops are violent towards us now!

Remember last time when I mentioned that Oregon Gov. Kate Brown sent the OSP and had some of the PPB deputized as Federal Officers? I said in that episode it would mean that the Proud Boys would have their local Police buddies there, and I was right. What it also means is that any arrests these now-federal deputies make (always on the BML side) can be tried by the U S Attorney’s Office. This now makes Kate Brown as complicit as our ineffective, incompetant mayor and police commissioner Ted Wheeler. Well, to be fair, Ted is either complicit or incompetent, neither is acceptable. It’s disastrous, obviously.  

The reason this is notable is because our new, awesome Mike Schmidt knew police were making arbitrary arrests to terrorize nonviolent protesters, because he has seen some of the countless videos of unprovoked police brutality and actually took action, unlike our disgraceful mayor/police commissioner. Mike decided he wasn’t going to prosecute misdemeanors because he knew the police were abusing their power. 

So making these bully cops Federal Deputies got around that. Now they can be prosecuted federally. It’s repugnant. 

Kate Brown has been decent so far during this—far better than TearGas Teddy, the nickname Ted Wheeler has deservedly earned—and while I’d normally be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for her decision to send State Police and Federal Officers (and deputizing some PPB as Federal Officers) to monitor the threat of violence from the Proud Boys, not realizing it would be used against Portland citizens in this way. 

I’m not giving her the benefit of the doubt because this has been going on FOR OVER 100 DAYS! Consistently. Without variation. Local police. Sheriff dept. Federal officers. All meet nonviolent citizens protesting police brutality with MORE POLICE BRUTALITY!

Also, since TearGas Teddy finally said the local police were to stop using teargas, after nearly 4 months of it nightly, now they can use it again as they are “federal deputies.”

Ted Wheeler has made it very clear he doesn’t care about Portland or its citizens. The ones on the street or the ones in their homes, as several nights where these chemical weapons are sprayed directly in the faces of protesters then waft into neighborhoods where families are watching TV and children are sleeping. Chemical weapons that are illegal to use in war—banned by the Geneva Convention. Poisoning our citizens. 

Yesterday, even before the protest started, the police raided a park where people were gathering before the march. They proceeded to search and seize items without warrants and without cause. Just because they can…and they can get away with it because the people of this city and by extension this country still tolerate police violence. Because our Mayor appears to think it’s acceptable behavior. 

The Portland Mercury reports: “• Portland police took their aggression against protesters a step further yesterday by attempting to break up a protest before it had even begun. As protesters gathered in Kenton Park last night, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers tore through the park, taking people’s shields and signs—including a “Register to Vote Here” sign—and prolifically pepper-spraying people. Once protesters made their way to the police union building nearby, PPB declared the sidewalk in front of the building closed. PPB arrested 24 people in total.”

Remember these arrested individuals who did nothing except gather in a public park getting ready to exercise their first amendment rights can now be prosecuted by the U. S. Attorney’s Office. Police confiscated shields, signs, even a water bottle because they said it could be alcohol. Shields. The police have said that the protesters wouldn’t have shields if they weren’t looking for a fight. 

Um. They wouldn’t need shields if police didn’t shoot them with less-lethal ammunition from point blank range. If police didn’t bull rush them and beat them with batons. If police didn’t rip off their gas masks to spray them with chemical weapons. 

These officers are no longer even displaying helmet numbers anymore, not to mention name plates or badge numbers. They are unidentifiable, so they cannot be held accountable for their actions and unlawful use of force—for their unconstitutional search and seizure. Police commissioner and mayor Ted Wheeler seems to think this is acceptable behavior, as he does nothing to stop it. He doesn’t reprimand bully cops who have been caught on video time and again, often the same ones perpetrating the worst and most shocking violence. 

Is this acceptable to you? Is this the country you want to live in? If you’re finding yourself thinking that these people *must have* done something for the police to behave this way, please 1) go listen to my previous episode (5) called “Cultural View of Police & Police Brutality Bonds,” and 2) consider that thinking and rhetoric is victim-blaming rhetoric. It is the rhetoric of oppressors and of abusers. It’s like asking a woman what she was wearing the night a predator raped her. 

Think about it. Language matters. 

Educate yourself. See what’s really happening by people on the front lines, there are countless videos and images nightly. See the show notes for independent journalists to follow on Twitter to see what’s really happening out there. 

Then DO SOMETHING! — anything!

SOURCES
Medium: A New American Manifesto
Christine Rose: A New Declaration of Independence

Christine Rose: Criminalizing Dissent
OPB: Deputized Police Will Remain Federal Agents for the Rest of the Year
OPB’s Sergio Olmost (aka) MrOlmos on Twitter. Follow for excellent on-the-ground reporting on the Portland Protests
Mike Schmidt: Portland District Attorney
Portland Mercury: Portland Police Aggression Escalates (Again)
OPB: Portland police move early to quash Monday night protests

The Daily Rose, Ep 5: Cultural View of Police
18-min video of the Federal Occupation in Portland, July 2020: The Revolution in Portland

Independent Journalists on the front lines in Portland:
Sergio Olmos: @mrolmos
Laura Jedeed: @misanthrophile
Zane Sparling: @PDXzane
Cory Elia: @TheRealCoryElia