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I can't stop thinking about this excellent @opb piece by @emilycureton, who chronicled how #BlackLivesMatters protests in rural Prineville have drawn forceful backlash from armed counter demonstrators. https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/24/in-rural-oregon-a-backlash-to-black-lives-matter-includes-threats-of-violence-racist-speech-and-indifference-from-local-police/ 1/*
Many of the undercurrents are similar to those I found in St. Helens earlier this summer, where a #BlackLivesMatter 
protest organized by a group of teenagers was shut down amid threats of violence before neighbors stepped in to save it. https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/threats-of-violence-canceled-a-student-led-protest-neighbors-stepped-in-to-put-it-on-anyway.html 2/*
protest organized by a group of teenagers was shut down amid threats of violence before neighbors stepped in to save it. https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/threats-of-violence-canceled-a-student-led-protest-neighbors-stepped-in-to-put-it-on-anyway.html 2/*
And a lot of this backlash originated from disinformation campaigns that pushed this idea of vans full of "antifa rioters" were bound for rural and suburban communities to raise hell. https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/5/21281581/antifa-bus-hoax-trump-misinformation-protests-police 3/*
Such threats never materialized, as anyone who's covered antifascist protesters can tell you. They typically turn out to protest institutions *in their own communities* or to counter against demonstrations they disagree with. 4/*
So it's quite odd to see rural demonstrators, spurred to action by the misinformation campaigns mentioned above, declare victory over a non-existent threat. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/klamath-falls-oregon-victory-declared-over-antifa-which-never-showed-n1226681 5/*
That story, in particular, inspires memories of Lisa Simpson's tiger-repelling rock. 6/*
Since this narrative has taken hold, I've often thought about the incursions led by a Vancouver, Washington-based group into Portland — for "free speech," against "liberal elites," etc. — for YEARS. https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/08/altercations_shouting_at_dueli.html 7/*
That's about where we are now. There are calls for pro-Trump, "All Lives Matter" demonstrations to rebuff Portland's nightly protests, many of which end in property damage and use of force by police. One such demonstration played out in Gresham yesterday: https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/opposing-protests-flare-in-gresham-on-91st-night-of-demonstrations-wednesday-live-updates.html
And although many of these homegrown demonstrations draw folks from other areas willing to travel and show their support, it's honestly a little baffling that some would come from ... west Texas? And to brandish a gun during a Portland protest, no less! 9/*
Per @MrOlmos and @_jlevinson, Portland police and the county DA are juggling who's taking the next move. Swinney, who, again, is here from Texas, reportedly organized the Gresham rally to protest a Black Lives Matter flag at city hall. https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/27/man-who-pulled-gun-at-portland-protest-returns-armed-at-gresham-event/ 10/10
Relevant to all of this is an absolute unwillingness to look past burning trash cans by some. Mike Pence has insinuated that a federal officer in Oakland died because of liberal protesters. Dave Underwood was shot and killed by a right-wing extremist: https://www.vox.com/2020/8/27/21403670/mike-pence-vice-president-boogaloo-boys-rnc-2020-dave-patrick-underwood
