Antifa urges members to destroy evidence to avoid arrests from shooting and riot in Portland

An account with the username LaneCoAFA, which stands for Lane County Anti Fascist Action, posted to Twitter on Monday its warning.

"On 8/22 PPB chose to not engage. They later announced that they'd make arrests in due time. Tiny's arrest, if related to that day, may be the start of follow through," the group wrote. "If so, I think we'd be wise to consider that fash might not be the only ones going down for that event."

"If you were there that day & haven't burned your bloc yet, or deleted your comms, now would be the time to do so. As well tighten up on any other loose ends, OpSec or otherwise, which may be used to incriminate you," they continued.

"As of Sept 1st of last year, according to the previously attached article, PPB was interested in 6 people associated with 8/22, half of whom are presumed to be antifascists," they added.

On Aug. 22, hundreds of black bloc Antifa arrived at Portland's Waterfront Park to counter-protest the "Summer of Love: Patriots Spreading Love not Hate" event which was scheduled to begin at 2 pm.

The event, however, had been moved to a different location at an abandoned K-Mart parking lot in NE Portland to escape threats of violence.

Antifa eventually made their way to the new event site, launching an attack as they arrived, and at one point crashing a white van. Some of the Antifa members were seen armed with various weapons, including guns.

The Portland Police Bureau had stated that it would not be intervening to protect residents from the riots that would take place, though police eventually responded to the scene and made an arrest in connection to a shooting that occurred.

Video evidence shows a male suspect firing a handgun as well as bullets whizzing past him. The incident resulted in no injuries. Following the dispersal of the event, Antifa erected an "autonomous zone" at Salmon Springs Park in Downtown Portland. A vehicle arrived at the autonomous zone and passed out riot shields and gear to the group of Antifa.

In the days following the clash, Portland police released a tweet asking the public for help identifying six suspects from that day. Suspects included individuals from both groups that were there that day in question.

"In addition to the unidentified individuals, detectives have already identified over a half-dozen individuals involved in violent behavior and possible assault crimes and those investigations are ongoing," a statement from the police read.