"Violence Escalates in Portland as Riots Enter Their 60th Consecutive Night

BY JACK CROWE

July 27, 2020

One person was shot and six federal agents were injured on Friday night, the 58th consecutive night of rioting outside the federal courthouse in Portland.

Thousands of people descended on the courthouse shortly after dark, ramming their bodies into a steel barricade that had been reinforced earlier in the day and using power tools in an attempt to breach it.

Federal agents were shot at with ball bearings launched from slingshots, pelted with frozen water bottles, and hit with commercial-grade fireworks, one of which hit a federal agent in the head and left him with a concussion. Other federal agents have lingering vision problems thanks to roving bands of black-clad anarchists who milled about the crowd of “largely peaceful” protesters and women in yellow “summon momma” shirts pointing lasers into the eyes of anyone in uniform.

We no longer have to rely on shaky, selectively edited amateur video to understand the level of anarchy on display in one of America’s great cities. We now have a reliable account of the chaos, courtesy of Associated Press reporters Mike Balsamo and Gillian Flacus, who decided to abandon the euphemism employed by most of the mainstream press in favor of simply reporting what they saw during a night spent inside the courthouse with the officers.

Smaller Portland imitations cropped up in cities across the U.S. and Canada over the weekend.

In Austin, 28-year-old protester Garrett Foster was fatally shot after showing up to the protest armed with his legally-owned AK-47. The shooting occurred after a motorist was surrounded by a crowd of protesters who were blocking a city street. The as-yet unidentified motorist claims that Foster approached his car as he was being surrounded and pointed the AK-47 at him, at which point he drew his pistol and shot Foster three times. The motorist subsequently turned himself into police but has not yet been charged with a crime.

Some protesters who witnessed the shooting have disputed the motorists’ claim that Foster pointed the rifle at him before he opened fire and the police are urging more witnesses to come forward to help clarify the conflicting accounts.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said guns were to blame for the lawlessness.

“In a split moment, three guns were drawn, eight shots were fired, and a protester was tragically killed,” he tweeted. “This is horrible as is all gun violence. There are too many guns. Our City is shaken and, like so many in our community, I’m heartbroken and stunned.”

Portland Protesters Injure Six Federal Agents With Fireworks, Lasers

At least six federal agents were injured during demonstrations in Portland Friday night when protesters launched fireworks at them and shone lasers at their eyes.

Protests have been nearly constant in Oregon’s largest city since the police custody death of George Floyd in May. Local officials have called for federal law enforcement agents deployed by the Trump administration to leave as nightly violence continues to rock the city. Some protests have been peaceful, but demonstrators who remain on the streets after dark have engaged in property destruction, throwing rocks at police, marking buildings with graffiti, and setting fires.

One agent had his hearing deadened and suffered bloody lacerations and burns on both his forearms after protesters shot a firework over the fence, the Associated Press reported. Other agents helped him to strip down to his boxers and T-shirt so his injuries could be photographed for evidence. The injured agent said he was more worried about his hearing than the injuries on his arms. (AP)

Kudlow Says Coronavirus Relief Package Will Include Second Round of $1,200 Direct Payments

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Sunday that the coronavirus relief package being rafted by Senate Republicans will include a second round of direct payments to Americans as well as an extension of the moratorium on evictions for renters.

“There’s a $1,200 check coming, that’s going to be part of the new package,” Kudlow said in an interview with CNN.

The $1 trillion stimulus bill, which will be the fifth coronavirus relief package if passed by Congress, will also include an extension of the federal eviction moratorium, put in place in late March when states implemented lockdown measures and businesses began laying off employees. (CNBC)

Sen. Hawley Sets New Pro-Life Standard for Supreme Court Nominees

Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said Sunday he would not support any Supreme Court nominee unless they had publicly acknowledged that Roe v. Wade was “wrongly decided” prior to their nomination.

“I will vote only for those Supreme Court nominees who have explicitly acknowledged that Roe v. Wade is wrongly decided,” Hawley told the Washington Post, referring to the 1973 ruling that established federal protection for abortion. “By explicitly acknowledged, I mean on the record and before they were nominated.”

“I don’t want private assurances from candidates,” the former law professor added. “I don’t want to hear about their personal views, one way or another. I’m not looking for forecasts about how they may vote in the future or predications. I don’t want any of that. I want to see on the record, as part of their record, that they have acknowledged in some forum that Roe v. Wade, as a legal matter, is wrongly decided.” (WaPo)

Supreme Court Rejects Nevada Church's Challenge to Coronavirus Restrictions

In a 5-4 decision Friday, the Supreme Court denied a request from a Nevada church to block enforcement of state restrictions on attendance at religious services due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The church argued that the policy, which limited in-person church attendance to 50 people, violated the constitution by treating church services differently than other large gatherings such as casinos, gyms and restaurants.

Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal justices in denying the request, marking the second time the chief justice has voted to reject a church’s request during the pandemic. He also lent his vote to the liberals in a 5-4 decision against a California church challenging limitations on the number of people who could attend services back in May.

Chris Wallace Says Biden 'Not Available' For Interview

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has been dodging Chris Wallace’s interview requests, the Fox News host said Sunday.

Though Wallace interviewed President Trump last week, Biden’s team has said this week the former vice president is “not available” for an interview, feeding into criticism that he avoids press scrutiny.

“We’ll keep asking every week,” Wallace said.

“The fact is, the president is out there. He’s out there in this broiling heat with me for an hour, he took all the questions,” Wallace told colleague Bret Baier. “You can like his answers or dislike them, but he had answers and Joe Biden hasn’t faced that kind of scrutiny, hasn’t faced that kind of exposure.”

It has been nearly five months since Biden last sat down with Wallace for an interview two days before Super Tuesday. (Fox News)