Portland's 'autonomous zone' occupied by armed Antifa militants

Portland's zone was established by Black Lives Matter, Antifa and other left wing extremists who repelled police and created the zone in north Portland to protect "The Red House on Mississippi," being illegally occupied by squatters.

The zone is in the middle of a residential street. Dozens of Portlandians are prisoners in their own homes. This "autonomous zone" is in the middle of a working class neighborhood.

After the initial stage of the occupation, Mayor Ted Wheeler, who had marched with the activists earlier this year, vowed "There will be no autonomous zone in Portland."

There are tires and spike strips placed after the barricades. These barriers were home made, unlike the ones that the Seattle CHAZ has appropriated after the police left them behind.

Three days after the zone was established, there was not a single police officer anywhere nearby, and the zone remains. The militants attacked and chased away the police when they showed up.

Inside the zone, there was anti cop graffiti and barriers had been erected. These barriers, made of what looked like stolen material from the neighborhood, blocked almost every way in. Those inside the barricades demanded that photos not be taken by visitors, especially not of their faces.

The people inside were white, Antifa activists dressed in black bloc, they were armed, and very confrontational, demanding to see the phones of visitors. Antifa activists in the zone had assaulted a TV crew on Thursday.

Tents and trash everywhere and a fire was burning in the middle of the street. There were children present, some looked to be ten and younger. Weapons, security guards, barriers, make the area feel like a war zone, and access to the area is strictly limited.

A resident outside the zone, who wanted to remain anonymous and has lived in the area for 48 years, said that activists had been stockpiling weapons and molotov cocktails in the Red House for weeks. They said that this undertaking was pre-planned, and that they'd been using molotov cocktails in the neighborhood.

"On the day they stated all this, within two hours they had it set up," they said.

"They started stealing fencing and whatever else they could find.When they put out the call for supplies and help, people started showing up to donate lumber. It was coordinated."

As to how the neighbors are fairing, they said: "The construction guys have been here around the clock protecting their sites but they stole a bunch of stuff out of another construction site down the street. That restaurant over there, one of the family members killed themselves and these guys stole their benches, the family has enough problems and these guys are stealing from them."

The rationale for the activists to have set up their "autonomous zone" at this particular house was that those who had owned the house, the Kinney family, stopped paying their mortgage in 2017 and were ordered out of the house, after missing 17 payments, in 2018.

The family claimed that they are sovereign and not subject to laws. According to The Oregonian, they've argued that the moratorium on foreclosures should protect them, but a judge in September ordered them to leave. The Kinneys mortgaged their home for $96,300 to afford a lawyer for their son. They refinanced for $126,524.92, in 2004.

William Kinney III was 17 when he ran a stop sign while travelling 45-60 mph and collided with another car which resulted in the death of Fred Goetz, 74. He was driving with a suspended license, and was charged with manslaughter and assault. His license was revoked for life.

In 2007, he was caught driving without a license and with cocaine. In 2010, he was arrested while driving a van with his brother Michael and another passenger, who was a fugitive. He was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison, and was found in contempt of court 12 times.