PORTLAND─On Saturday night, July 18, a black man with an American flag was seen standing in front of Portland’s Federal Courthouse and telling the protesters “none of you guys represent black lives.” The demonstrations have been held for more than 50 days and led to nightly unrest.
“If you stand for justice come here and stand with me, stand with me because I stand for justice,” said Gabriel Johnson, a Marine veteran who lives near the federal courthouse. Johnson emphasized that people who had all the destructive actions such as destroying the fence or spray-painting did not represent black lives.
“On Friday night I counted 82 explosions. House full of gas. I’m on the 12 floors here it reminded me of being in Iraq and my experience of being Iraq not here in Portland not where it’s supposed to be safe not where it’s supposed to be peaceful,” said Johnson during an interview with Fox12Oregon.
Johnson also mentioned that he has tremendous PTSD, so 85 flash bangs and tear gas in his apartment is very triggering. He expressed his supports to people who want to make changes but also emphasized that violent protests were not the ways to fight for social justice.
On Saturday night, there was a confrontation between law enforcement and protesters in downtown Portland. Federal law enforcement had deployed tear gas outside the Federal Courthouse and some protesters had set fire at the Portland Police Association building.
