The usual suspects did their thing last week in Portland. Antifa did an estimate $500,000 in damage to various buildings as part of an annual remembrance for a man named Sean Kealiher who was killed two years ago after an argument in the street. As always, Andy Ngo has photos and videos of some of the damage.

#Antifa trashed a section of downtown Portland overnight & started fires. They rioted in memory of Sean Kealiher, who was hit by a car & killed when his comrades fired rounds at vehicle. Antifa refused to cooperate in police investigation. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/0vTAPpumWZ

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) October 13, 2021

Antifa projected their (German) logo on the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland last night just before they rioted. They broke into businesses & started fires in the street, doing more than $500,000 in damages. Police made no arrests. https://t.co/RzSgY98nDL pic.twitter.com/c8x3GEnd0v

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) October 14, 2021

A few more:

We also saw a few people lighting fires in the streets- looked like they were using flares to start them. Police drove around for awhile running lights & sirens- I’m not sure if anyone was arrested. @KOINNews pic.twitter.com/QxjxVaXdNG

— Jenny Young (@jennytyoung) October 13, 2021

Here’s how the Portland Police described the night’s activities.

A group of around 100 anarchists caused substantial damage to businesses and government buildings in downtown Portland Tuesday night….

At about 10:00p.m., the group began to march. Mostly within a time span of about 10 minutes, participants broke numerous windows and bank ATMs (photos). Officers were called to respond citywide, and all but the highest priority life safety 911 calls were left to hold so officers could be dispatched. At the same time, the group began to light garbage cans and dumpsters on fire in the street…

At this point the damage is believed to be in excess of $500,000, and reports are still being compiled. There were 35 separate locations that were targeted, including banks, retail stores, coffee shops, and government buildings.

No arrests were made and Saturday the Associate Press published a story explaining that police are not allowed to do much of anything as Antifa goes on a rampage like this thanks to new legislation recently passed in Oregon:

“The reason that we did not intervene goes back to what we talked about last month with House Bill 2928 and the restrictions placed on us in a crowd control environment,” KOIN reports that Portland Police Lt. Jake Jensen said in a neighborhood meeting Thursday.

Residents frustrated by the latest round of destructive demonstrations Tuesday questioned whether that meant anything goes now in Portland.

“Does that mean we are now like a lawless city?” Linda Witt asked during the meeting with police. Jensen replied saying people can still face consequences later.

The legislation in question is House Bill 2928, which prohibits the use of things like pepper spray and rubber bullets for crowd control.

The only exception to this rule is if police declare a riot. Last week they did declare an unlawful assembly and, if the vandalism had continued, they might have declared a riot. But the damage done last week all happened in a matter of minutes. By the time police declared a riot the whole thing was over and the people responsible had fled the scene.

The vandalism last week was planned in advance as a tribute to Sean Kealiher who was killed in 2019 outside an anarchist bar called Cider Riot. The exact reasons for his death still aren’t clear. There were initial rumors he may have been targeted by someone on the right but that wasn’t the case. He apparently got in an argument with a group of unidentified people outside the bar. That group got in an SUV and ran him over in the street. One of Kealiher’s friends pulled out a (legally owned) gun and fired at the SUV. Everyone inside ran on foot and the SUV was picked up by police. Kealiher’s friends didn’t want to call the police so they put him in a car and took him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The police know who owns the vehicle used in the attack but so far no one has been charged.

Kealiher’s mother was one of the people who organized the destruction last week to honor her son’s memory.

"It will not be family friendly."
"This is not a peaceful event and peace police will be kicked out period"

Laura Kealiher, the mother of deceased violent antifa member Sean Kealiher, has announced a riot in honor of her son for Oct. 12 outside the Justice Center in Portland. pic.twitter.com/DkAsUlZu5x

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) October 7, 2021

Kealiher’s mother is also a prison abolitionist who has said she doesn’t want her son’s killer to go to jail but does want him to apologize. That’s not how the system works though. Murder is a crime that should be charged if there is enough evidence to bring the charges. In this case, the only reason I can imagine why charges haven’t been brought is that everyone involved is Antifa and therefore no one will talk to the police. Without cooperation from eyewitnesses, there may not be much of a case.

Whatever the reason for the lack of charges in Kealiher’s death, police need to be able to respond to Antifa rampages whenever they pop up and start breaking things. The people who did all of the damage to private property last week need to be held accountable or it’s guaranteed they will do it again. Even in Portland, most people don’t want to live in a lawless city.