As reported here on the Gateway Pundit a couple of weeks ago, the antifa terrorists once again took over the streets of Portland to cause havoc, this time focusing their rage toward independent media. The event was originally to be a counter-protest to a KKK rally, but the KKK canceled and antifa attacked several videographers, pepper spraying them and chasing them down the streets. All the while Portland police in riot gear stood near the steps of their headquarters and watched it all happen. When the police finally jumped in and made an arrest, they arrested one of the videographers, Brandon Farley, who was running away from the threatening antifa gang.
https://twitter.com/OpticsDotMedia/status/1226518132384137216
Note that the walk light is green and he’s in the crosswalk. You get arrested in Portland for crossing the street the right way if you’re not a crazed communist.
One of the other videographers targeted that day was Nate Millsap. Known for his YouTube channel, Stumptown Matters, Millsap showed up to the protest to film and document the day’s events. As soon as he showed up, antifa chased him away, too. He ended up on the steps of the police headquarters, where officers told him to pound sand. In Portland, the police and city officials don’t see antifa as the problem, they see people who show up to film antifa as the problem.
The Gateway Pundit caught up with Millsap to ask him about what happened that day and what on earth is going on in the Communist People’s Republic Of Portland.
The Gateway Pundit: How did you get started doing this kind of street videography? What inspired you to go out and start recording this stuff?
Nate Millsap: Back in 2016 I started a taking interest in the Ammon Bundy/Malheur occupation trials. This led me to attending the protest surrounding the trials. Then I started to attend the bigger protests such as black lives matter. I started filming these events and it sort of took on a life of its own so to speak. The events were exciting to me and people standing up for their rights and standing up for various causes is something that resonates with me personally. Also seeing the confrontational side of protests and the drama that comes with it I found to be very fascinating, exciting and at times humorous. After covering 4 or 5 protests, I was hooked.
TGP: What is it about protests that hooked you?
NM: The excitement of it all as well as the psychology of the participants playing out before me! Passionate rally goers vs angry counter protesters. Then there are the riot police forces interacting with both sides to contain the scene. I would say that these three ingredients of humanity at work are what it the most fascinating for me. Especially the way the police engage the protesters and watching the strategies they implement to influence, direct or control the crowd.
TGP: As you’ve risen to prominence, Portland has seen a rise in these dueling protests between Trump supporters and antifa. What is it like being the middle of it all when things start getting out of control?
NM: Over the past few years I’ve seen a lot of crazy things attending these protest between Trump supporters and antifa. In 2018 I filmed a full on riot take that place in downtown Portland. It happened on main street in between the justice center and the federal courthouse. There were explosives being thrown by antifa and there were police flash bangs, Crowd control gases deployed, and a fog of pepper spray that seemed to consume the entire area. All of this was happening while several hundred trump supporters and antifa members were brawling in the streets. This was one of the more extreme examples but time and time again, if there is a heavy antifa presence there is always trouble and danger brewing. From my experience, Trump supporters are very peaceful. When there are no antifa agitators or provocateurs present I see no violence coming from the Trump side. They will however fight back when provoked or attacked. When Antifa and other masked black block protesters arrive on the scene in significant numbers, violence is often initiated by them and things can escalate rather quickly. Riot Police are often very present and active with Flash bangs, riot control weapons as well as police line positioning and moving their police lines strategically to clear protesters. Situations like this can be dangerous. I’m always trying to observe these situations, learn from them, and then roll them into my next experience so that I can position myself accordingly in the safest manner possible. I always want to stay in optimal viewing range to film without putting myself in too dangerous of a situation.
TGP: What happened on Saturday, Feb 7th? Set the scene for us, as you’re coming up on the area.
NM: I was arriving on the scene just before noon at the justice center. I had heard moments before my arrival that the KKK had cancelled the event. I didnt know anyone personally that was in the scene when I got downtown. As I walked through the undercover area of the justice center, I could see a large congregation of about 400 to 500 people in the park block in front of the federal courthouse. Probably 200 masked people were there amongst the crowd that was there to counter demonstrate. As I walked down the walkway of the justice center, 30 to 40 riot cops were congregated by the front entrance of the justice center. They all then proceeded to go into the justice center and then I walked through the covered walkway and down the stairs to the corner of the federal courthouse. Which is where my video begins.
TGP: Can you guide us through what was happening as the video starts playing?
NM: So the video begins with me standing on the corner with my camera down at my side. I was planning on leaving and I didnt really feel comfortable recording the counter demonstration. There were too many masked antifa on the scene and I had no support, friends or familiar faces on the scene. Ironically I did feel safe where I was standing though. I did want to leave but not until I gazed upon the crowd to estimate the numbers of their turnout. Then I hear the voice of Luis Marquez calling me out by name. Luis has been associated with Antifa and other radical leftists in Portland. He has been a figure in the protest scene for the past three years or so. He has never really messed with me until this moment. His introduction brought me to the attention of the antifa protesters and they wasted no time mobilizing to attack me.
TGP: And what happened next?
NM: At least 8 masked individuals with pepper spray and melee weapons walked into the street and towards me. I told them to stay back. When they got with 10 feet of my my gut instinct was to flee to safety. I wasn’t about to stand my ground and wait for them to crowd around me so that one of them could blind me with pepper spray while the others attack me with steel batons, concrete chunks, or whatever weapons they had on them. I also had no desire to fight or hurt any of them. Nor did I want to be hurt myself. So the only option for me was to run back the way that I came. As I ran up the steps of the justice center, I looked back and It seemed like 30 to 40 masked individuals had participated in the chase. After reaching the top of the stairs, I could see the riot cops come outside the front door of the justice center. At this point an officer confronted me and told me that if I went back down to the street that they would not help me or protect me from them.
TGP: What emotions were going through your head as this was playing out?
NM: I was in a really relaxed and positive frame of mind when I arrived on the scene. When Luiz Marquez was calling me out by name, he wasn’t insulting me or yelling expletives. So right then it felt light hearted in a way. Then when the first wave of eight or so antifa members crossed the street I went from calm, peaceful and relaxed to fight or flight. I sprinted to safety and by the time I got to the top of the steps of the justice center I was very agitated and unsettled for lack of better words. It was very unpleasant. I was planning on leaving before all of this transpired but now I really wanted to leave. I was so caught off guard by everything that I was equally caught off guard by the response I got from the Portland police moments after I was chased. I was really taken back by their admission that if I went back down to the corner of the federal building that they wouldn’t protect me. I was all for leaving at that moment due to personal reasons but had I decided to stay and film the demonstration, I should be able to unabated. Journalists and filmographers filming isn’t the problem. Groups of masked weaponized attackers attacking them is the problem.
TGP: Did the police direct you to exit a certain way? Go to a certain area? Did they tell you want to do or not do?
NM: The police suggested that I leave but did not suggest a route or direct me. There were 5 or so riot police near the entrance of the justice center when I was talking to the one officer. They were positioned in a way that did not give me a clear path to travel the way that I came. I asked them if I could go past them and they agreed to let me through. I didn’t want to walk around and risk getting followed.
TGP: How did you feel when the police were telling you that they weren’t going to protect you? What was going through your mind as they were saying that?
NM: I was surprised and honestly a little confused. Confused in the sense that I wasn’t sure what would have happened if I did not leave when they told me too. If I decided to stay and was attacked again, would they refuse to help me? Would they also blame me for what happened because I didn’t do what they told me? These are serious concerns to me and it is disturbing that my right to stand on a public sidewalk is not only under the attack by antifa and other radical leftists but under attack of local law enforcement to some extent. The police attitude in Portland for the past 4 years has been that if you don’t want to be attacked at a protest then don’t go down there. This is not the correct mindset that our community officers have in regards to handling this problem.
TGP: What do you think would have happened had you fought back against antifa?
NM: I believe that if I stood my ground and attempted to defend myself, then I would have gone to jail and I would be facing legal and financial problems as a result.
TGP: Have there been other events where you faced similar circumstances?
NM: Over the past 3 years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve been caught in the wake of pepper spray and I’ve seen fighting and violence play out around me. This past year however has been more intense for me. On may 1st of 2019 I filmed the “cider riot incident”. On that evening alone I was pepper sprayed both directly and indirectly 3 to 5 times. I had glass bottles and other unknown objects thrown at me. At the end of that confrontation filmographers and patriots were vacating the scene. I was pressed back one full city block by three Cider Riot patrons. One of them had a weapon called a slap jack and another had brass knuckles in both hands. Luckily I got out of there without incident. In retrospect I am amazed that I have escaped without having a violent confrontation with these aggressors. It seems to me that it is not a matter of if but when I will have to defend myself against this behavior in a form of self defense other than running away or backing down.
TGP: Will the events of February 7th affect the way you film protests in the future?
NM: The events of that day absolutely will effect the way I film protests in the future. But then again this is just one event. I would go as far as to say that most protests I film influence my strategy in one way or another. I always try and reintegrate my experience into the next protest. Hind sight is always 20/20 and I always make a conscious effort to consider what I could have done better in a similar situation. When I get resistance and push back out in the field it makes me realize the importance of what I do. Not only for myself and my own rights but for anyone in this country that is a filmographer or a journalist. I know the danger and the risk and I will continue to do what I do while addressing those risks and dangerous situations as they present themselves.
TGP: And do you think the police apply the laws differently to different people?
NM: Yes I absolutely do. After covering events for the past three plus years now I’ve seen altercations play out on the streets. As far as the left right paradigm goes in Portland it seems blatantly obvious that the liberal left controls local law enforcement and the courts. Time and time again people on the left that get caught in the gears of the system get either a pass or their crimes are downplayed. When folks on the right get caught up in legal trouble their charges are over inflated and over dramatized. I didnt want to believe this but I have seen it play out enough times that it can no longer be denied.
TGP: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
NM: I love being a filmographer and I sincerely believe that my work is important. For the most part I do what I do for free. I do not enjoy the resistance or push back that I get for filming protests but honestly it doesn’t stop me or deter me from my objective. I will continue to document and archive Portland’s protest history in spite of the opposition.
