Antifa attacks Christian, family event in Portland, then clashes with right-wing group

Antifa attacked a family-friendly, Christian event in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, then clashed with a right-wing group in a later confrontation.

The event was held at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland by Artur Pawlowski, a Canadian preacher who has been arrested for violating COVID-19 restrictions while holding in-person worship services, Fox News reported.

After the event was announced last month, Antifa members organized to take action against it, according to The Post Millennial.

Antifa showed up to the event wearing black bloc and riot gear, carrying black umbrellas and shields as they destroyed sound equipment and pepper-sprayed a pastor.

"All Cops are B*******, in the name of Jesus, amen," a man said over the sound system.

Young children were also at the event, and a woman told a videographer, "They threw a flash bomb into a group of kids that were out there, from like four months old to, like, 10."

"Yeah, they were ruthless," she added, after explaining that Antifa also threw rotten eggs and paint at the attendees.

The event, which lasted roughly 90 minutes, continued with several speakers preaching to the crowd of about 50, the Portland Tribune reported.

Several counter-protesters showed up during the event with paintball guns and batons, standing guard around the event until Antifa forced them out and pepper-sprayed them.

The right-wing group, some of whom wore the black-and-yellow colors of the Proud Boys, responded with paintball fire.

A Portland Police car sounded its siren during the confrontation but took no other action.

"Antifa had threatened to beat people up and do what they do — and then they showed up and did it," an attendee from the right-wing group said. "The police were not even far from there, and they were laughing in their vehicles and doing their thing. It's probably hard to care as an officer in a place where they take away all your funding."

A PDX Proud Boys leader said his group had nothing to do with those who confronted Antifa during the event, calling them "unknown individuals … mimicking" outfits of the Proud Boys. He said the Proud Boys were cleaning up graffiti in downtown Gresham.

"Funny how acts of that nature never get publicized," the PDX Proud Boys leader said. "Nevertheless, we specifically warned the church group of the dangers the local government controlled domestic terrorist antifa would impose on them. Unfortunately, everyone now sees how the police will not show up, support, or protect women and children like we do."

The fight between Antifa and the right-wing group had broken out once the two groups met, but was "over prior to any police response," Portland Police Bureau's Derek Carmon told KOIN 6 News.

"As the groups left, there was a report of another small fight that was over prior to police response," Carmon said in an email, KOIN 6 News reported. "No arrests were made and no one came forward to report any crimes that we are aware of. Police had no interaction with either group today."

Independent journalist Andy Ngo shared screenshots of an Antifa member's Twitter account that said the group had thrown the sound equipment for the Christian event into the Willamette River and stole food and water from the people, then gave it to the homeless, Fox New reported.