‘CONSIDER THIS A WARNING’
Portland State University’s student media are covering the riots against President-elect Donald Trump in their city, and someone apparently doesn’t want the attention.
Mike Bivins, who writes for the Pacific Sentinel campus magazine and has been on a tear with video from the protests, got a threatening letter that ended:
STOP FILMING. CONSIDER THIS A WARNING.
His colleague at the Vanguard student paper, Andy Ngo, posted the flyer that Bivins received. It pretty baldly demands that student journalists stop reporting – which might incidentally help police identify suspects – and start advocating for the protesters’ causes.
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/797869339621801985
Bivins said he got the same flyer as a direct message on Twitter, just in case the paper version wasn’t convincing enough.
that flier also came through my direct messages :-/. It's definitely dangerous out there.
— Michael (@michaelbivins44) November 13, 2016
Bivins said he also got the warning in person before someone decided to reinforce it with paper and digital copies.
I wasn't gonna mention it, but at the outset of the Pioneer Square march masked protesters warned me not to film them. #PortlandProtest
— Michael (@michaelbivins44) November 13, 2016
As Ngo’s tweet referenced, the Portland Police Department said protesters had “attacked a film crew” overnight on Saturday.
Some protesters attacked a film crew. Bottles being thrown at police. Distractionary "bang" devices being used to effect arrests.
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) November 13, 2016
Ngo told The College Fix in a Twitter message that the Vanguard hasn’t received any anonymous warnings like Bivins did.
Much of the violence in Portland has been blamed on the region’s anarchists – the Pacific Northwest has a vocal and protest-happy anarchist population – so it seems plausible that these are threats from anarchists, particularly given their police-specific demands.
Here’s one scene Bivins captured where protesters actually followed police as they were leaving.
Riot police literally marched away and protesters followed. Situation escalating. #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/XWzX4VHvif
— Michael (@michaelbivins44) November 13, 2016
And some run-of-the-mill wanton destruction.
Group is leveling the pearl. I'm in shock. #TrumpRiot pic.twitter.com/smLgvEoRQ5
— Michael (@michaelbivins44) November 11, 2016
Watch your back, Mike. Some people haven’t learned the message that photography is not a crime.
#PortlandProtest #TrumpProtest pic.twitter.com/zA700A5AJ2
— Michael (@michaelbivins44) November 13, 2016
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