Antifa invade peaceful protest, throw smoke bombs and objects at police

Antifa demonstrators, who apparently disrupted a peaceful protest in Oregon and Washington, lit smoke bombs and starting throwing objects at officers on Sunday, leaving at least two people injured.

The Washington Post reports that the majority of people in attendance at the Rally and March Against White Nationalism in Oregon on Sunday afternoon were there peacefully, but once officers changed the route in an attempt to avoid confrontation with opposing groups, tempers quickly flared and the incident became violent.

According to police, demonstrators began hurling objects and smoke at officers in Vancouver, Washington. One demonstrator sprayed an officer with a fire distinguisher. By 1:30 p.m., officers were firing pepper spray at the demonstrators and making arrests. The Portland Police took to Twitter shortly after and asked members of the peaceful protest to leave immediately for their own safety.

Patriot Prayer considers itself a “First Amendment advocacy group” that often shows up at events where they feel free speech rights are being violated. Leader of the group, Joey Gibson, said that they planned to hold a peaceful rally in Portland, but relocated to Vancouver, Washington, for safety reasons. Critics contend that Patriot Prayer is nothing more than a “hate group that courts white supremacists.”

Groups Hell Shaking Street Preachers and the Proud Boys also showed up. As Antifa demonstrators and white nationalists collided, police ended up arresting at least seven people. One of the arrests came after a man tried to plow his truck through a crowd of Antifa demonstrators.

The arrests come a month after a 32-year-old woman was killed and 20 other people injured injured when a reported neo-Nazi alleged plowed his own vehicle through a crowd of people in Charlottesville, Virginia.

[Feature Photo: Beth Nakamura/Twitter]