{"id":59921,"date":"2020-07-21T07:22:44","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T07:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/navy-veteran-beaten-by-federal-agents-in-portland-they-came-out-to-fight\/"},"modified":"2020-07-21T07:22:44","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T07:22:44","slug":"navy-veteran-beaten-by-federal-agents-in-portland-they-came-out-to-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/navy-veteran-beaten-by-federal-agents-in-portland-they-came-out-to-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy veteran beaten by federal agents in Portland: ‘They came out to fight’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Navy veteran stands passively in Portland, Ore., amid swirling tear gas. One of the militarized federal agents deployed by President Trump swings a baton at him with full force. With both hands. Five times.<\/p>\n

Under the assault, 53-year-old Christopher David seems like a redwood tree \u2014 impervious to the blows. But in a video shot by a reporter, another officer \u2014 wearing green military camouflage, a helmet and gas mask \u2014 sprays David full in the face with what appears to be pepper gas. <\/p>\n

Video <\/a> of the Saturday night incident has gone viral. Accounts of it have been reported by news outlets in the United States and around the world.<\/p>\n

Today, David, who suffered two broken bones in his hand, finds himself a reluctant symbol of the protests taking place in Oregon\u2019s largest city and the federal response to it. Militarized officers <\/a>from a handful of agencies have been using tear gas, flash bangs, pepper spray, \u201cless-lethal\u201d impact weapons and other munitions to disperse crowds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t about me getting beat up. It\u2019s about focusing back on the original intention of all of these protests, which is Black lives matter,\u201d David said in a phone interview Monday with the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has deployed officers to Portland, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident that David recounted. The department said in a statement about Saturday night\u2019s events that some of the protesters were \u201cviolent anarchists\u201d who had launched objects at federal officers, including fireworks and bags of paint, and tried to barricade officers inside the federal building.<\/p>\n

Some vandalism, including graffiti, has occurred in the Portland protests<\/a>, now in their 53rd day, and federal officials say they\u2019ve responded to protect property and help restore order. One protester was arrested after allegedly assaulting a federal officer with a hammer. <\/p>\n

But people peacefully protesting police brutality and racism, including a county commissioner and religious clerics, have been subjected to riot-control munitions. One demonstrator was hit in the head by an impact munition, shattering bones in his face and head. Some were snatched off the streets by the federal officers and stuffed into unmarked vehicles.<\/p>\n

David, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a Navy veteran, was so disturbed by what he\u2019d heard that he came to a protest site outside the federal building in downtown Portland on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

He put on a sweatshirt with \u201cNavy\u201d emblazoned across the chest and a Navy ball cap, figuring the federal officers would be, like him, a military veteran. He figured they\u2019d listen as he reminded them \u201cthat you take the oath to the Constitution; you don\u2019t take the oath to a particular person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they were doing was unconstitutional,\u201d David said. \u201dSometimes I worry that people take the oath of office or the oath to the Constitution, and it\u2019s just a set of words that mean nothing. They really don\u2019t feel in their heart the weight of those words.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no talking. The federal officers, in full tactical gear, came charging out of the federal building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came out in this phalanx, running, and then they plowed into a bunch of protesters in the intersection of the street and knocked them over. They came out to fight,\u201d David said. One officer pointed a semiautomatic weapon at David\u2019s chest, he said, and video shows another shoving him backward as he tried to talk with the officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took a couple steps back, straightened up, and then just stood my ground right there, arms down by my side,\u201d David recalled.<\/p>\n

One officer began whacking at David with the baton. When he doesn\u2019t fall or even flinch, another officer sprays him full in the face. David then retreats a few steps while making an obscene gesture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are thugs and goons,\u201d David said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t recognize anything tactically that they were attempting to do that was even remotely related to crowd control. It looked to me like a gang of guys with sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n

David will need reconstructive surgery with pins and plates on his ring finger that was shattered. A bone in his hand was also broken.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not going back out to protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy ex-wife and my daughter would kill me if I did that. They\u2019re so angry at me for doing it in the first place because I got beat up,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not a redwood tree. I\u2019m an overweight 53-year-old man.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Navy veteran stands passively in Portland, Ore., amid swirling tear gas. One of the militarized federal agents deployed by President Trump swings a baton at him with full force. With both hands. Five times.Under the assault, 53-year-old Christopher David seems like a redwood tree \u2014 impervious to the blows. But in a video shot…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[7590,479],"class_list":{"0":"post-59921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-beaten","9":"tag-veteran"},"yoast_head":"\nNavy veteran beaten by federal agents in Portland: 'They came out to fight' - Virus Reports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/navy-veteran-beaten-by-federal-agents-in-portland-they-came-out-to-fight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Navy veteran beaten by federal agents in Portland: 'They came out to fight' - Virus Reports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Navy veteran stands passively in Portland, Ore., amid swirling tear gas. 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