PORTLAND—In the early morning of July 25, a known conservative journalist was allegedly stalked and stabbed by an Antifa activist while he was recording the protest outside of Portland’s federal courthouse downtown.
The victim, 25-year-old Andrew Duncomb who works under the alias “Black Rebel,” is a videographer who travels to document different political demonstrations and events. He currently resides in Northern California and identifies as a Black conservative and Trump supporter.
Duncomb, accompanied by four other friends, was recording the violence that ensued during the nightly protests when a friend had pointed out a man wearing a gas mask that had allegedly been following them for a few blocks. The video shows Duncomb approach the suspect, Blake David Hampe, 43, and try to de-escalate the situation.
Hampe proceeded to stab Duncomb in the back. The incident happened at 2:31 A.M on Southwest Salmon Street and Fourth Avenue according to the police report. Other protesters were additionally caught on camera capturing and holding down Hampe until the Portland police officers could place him under arrest.
Hampe was brought in and booked at the Multnomah County Detention Center where he currently resides under a $250,000 bail for second degree assault and another $5,000 bail for unlawful use of a weapon.
Duncomb was taken to OHSU Hospital to assess the injury. The knife reportedly went in seven inches inside of his flank, but didn’t puncture any vital organs, Duncomb stated in a live video while at the hospital. He further discusses in the video the motives of the attack:
“He stabbed me to kill me,” he said. “I’m not saying he stabbed me because I’m Black; I think he stabbed me politically motivated. He was hunting us down for a few blocks.”
Hampe is an active follower of the anti-fascist political movement, Antifa. The group pushes their agenda of anti-government related policies through both violent and non-violent direct action. A resolution was introduced to Senate on July 18 to file any organization and group acting under the ordinance of Antifa to be deemed as a domestic terrorist organization.
Duncomb has had a history with the group targeting him for his political views and journalistic work. In 2017, Antifa had allegedly placed a $50,000 bounty on Duncomb.
Due to the rise in protests turning violent in Portland, Duncomb stated his “main goal was to show that it wasn’t just the feds creating the problems.” As of August 1, Portland has had 63 nights of protests against police brutality and other political agendas related to racism that were sparked by the death of a Black man, George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest in May.
On July 2, President Trump ordered federal forces to be deployed in Portland to try and control the crowds gathering. In the police report over the incident, PPB stated:
“For several hours a large crowd participated in criminal activity, which included throwing projectiles, lighting fires, and vandalism focused at government facilities and employees.”
Duncomb and Hampe appeared in court on July 31 but no additional information on the proceedings have been released yet. Court records show that Hampe was sentenced to serve 41 months in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release for distribution of child pornography charges back in 2008.
