It’s a well-known stereotype, and this scenario would have made an amusing sketch-comedy piece if reality hadn’t beaten it to the punch.
Coming off a nation-wide campaign to #StopAsianHate, following a string of incidences in which the majority of perpetrators didn’t quite match-up with the presumed white-supremacist angle, Antifa decided that there could be no better PR move than to attack an Asian guy. On Friday, during another evening of disquiet since the riot declared on May 26th in Portland, several of the thugs patrolling the streets became suspicious of a fellow black-clad attendee. The reason? The man was Asian and became panicked when the mob inquired if he was the renowned journalist, Andy Ngo. Reading the room, the man fled and a foot-chase ensued – apparently taking some damage in the process. The singled-out man eventually making it to The Nines hotel and taking refuge.
But was this man Andy? Reports thus far have been conflicting; The Independent Sentinel publishing a piece insisting that the man was, in fact, Andy Ngo. However, Andy has not issued a statement affirming that he was present in Portland at that time. Ngo had been violently beaten by a mob of Antifa rioters in Portland nearly a year ago today. Why he would return to the city amidst another “summer of love” raises a lot of questions, considering that Antifa has proven itself no ally of real journalism. The identity of the man who was attacked has also not been made public, clouding the incident yet further.
The circumstances and the timing of this incident are curious, but what is for certain is that black-clad mobs running rough-shot over city streets hardly seem the type to take their anti-fascist facade seriously. Were their activities above-board and their ideals coherent, they would seek-out and invite the independent press to make inquiries. They do not. Ngo was attacked last year specifically because he was a journalist who wrote about Antifa in an appropriately unappetizing light, and Antifa wasted little time affirming those pieces. Just as they have yet again.