Portland’s ‘Antifa war camp’ was really just set up to house homeless during COVID-19

September 3, 2020

During the recording the videographer notices Camillo Massagi aka "Trumpet Man" who is a fixture at Portland riots and has an extensive arrest record.

September 2, 2020

Also while filming, one of the other camp residents comes out and begins using a slingshot to fire what appear to be rocks at the videographer.

Does one rioter and one person with a slingshot constitute an Antifa War Camp? Upon further investigation, the encampment was one of three that was opened by the city of Portland for homeless people during coronavirus.

The Oregonian covered the opening of the camps in April at the height of the pandemic outbreak.

"The three sites — two on Southeast Water Avenue and one near the westside base of Broadway Bridge — will also group residents in a way that has rarely been done in Portland shelters. One site will give priority to LGBTQ people and one for people of color. Anyone who wants the services specific to those sites will also be allowed to camp there. The third site will be for everyone, with an emphasis on older people. Each location will have 45 tents on platforms with cots inside for an individual person or couple.

"The city will provide sleeping bags and tents to ensure they are clean and hygienic. People will be able to store their belongings, including their own tents and sleeping bags, while staying at the camp. The camps are intended to be temporary measures to group people near bathrooms, showers and other amenities to help insulate them from the spread of COVID-19. Each tent will be on a 12-foot-by-12-foot plot of land. Each of the three locations will be fenced off from the public.Officials say the camps will comply with social distancing measures and will be routinely disinfected."

Almost 5 months later, these temporary measures appear to show no sign of being removed and are now housing some of the people rioting nightly in Portland. But it is hardly an Antifa War Camp.

Some have called Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. While it seems that each cell of Antifa chapters, operate independently, Antifa members travel between cities for protest activity. Social media posts by each faction puts out similar messaging. In Kenosha, Wisc., half of the people arrested during the riots do not live there. Riots and protests draw people from out of town who want to cause chaos in other cities.

Last week, Members of Riot Kitchen 206, "a no charge kitchen serving protestors, activists, movements and those in need in Seattle WA "were arrested by authorities in Kenosha after police suspected that they were "…preparing for criminal activity related to the civil unrest." They had come in from the Pacific Northwest to join the riots in DC but then diverted to Kenosha for the riots there. Riot Kitchen members supplied food to the armed occupants of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle earlier this summer. Their vehicles contained gas masks, helmets, protective vests, illegal fireworks and suspected controlled substances.

This week, the Department of Justice announced that Jesse Herman Bates, 38, of Seattle, Washington, has been charged with civil disorder after shooting a firefighter with a ball bearing during a protest in Portland on July 13, 2020. These are only 2 of the many examples of Antifa activists travelling to different cities to cause chaos and riot.

Antifa also has well placed members of local governments. The Post Millennial reported in February that the then leadership of local democrat parties in Seattle as well as city council members were involved in Antifa. Some of the new democrat leadership has been spotted with Antifa at recent anti-police events.

While Antifa members come from various backgrounds, it appears that the rioters in Portland are following a Seattle model of using the homeless for activism. Seattle Marxist Council Member Kshama Sawant will often work with city funded homeless groups in Seattle most notably SHARE.

According to David Preston who operates Safe Seattle and did a full investigation of SHARE practices "SHARE shelter residents get 'participation credits' for attending political demonstrations and rallies. Each resident must earn a number of these credits each week. Otherwise, they face immediate eviction. Other options for earning the credits include doing trash pick-up, guard duty at camp, and other menial tasks. Compared to doing hours of trash pick up or standing sentry at 2 AM, sitting through a meeting at City Hall must look good. Using the participation credit system, Morrow can virtually guarantee a good turnout at rallies. Or protests."

At city council meetings, I have witnessed people filling out the credit sheets after protesting for the Tax Amazon movement in exchange for lunch and a t shirt.

In Seattle, residents of encampments can list an encampment as an address to register to vote. Seattle attracts people from all over the country who come to live on the streets and immediately get benefits including money, food, phones and even drug paraphernalia.