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Portland’s Antifascists Punch White Supremacists. Are They Also Helping Trump?
Williamette Week ^ | August 7, 2019 | Katie Shepherd

Posted on 08/07/2019 3:08:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

With antifa under greater scrutiny than ever before, WW sat down with a half-dozen Portland antifascists in the past two weeks. None of them wore a mask.

Portland was supposed to be a peaceful escape for Tim Ledwith.

He came to the West Coast fleeing his hometown of Boston—a city where he says he suffered childhood sexual abuse, spent time in juvenile detention for attacking a classmate with a wrench, and where he lived when his uncle was murdered by a white supremacist.

He wanted to be a standup comedian. But Ledwith, 35, carried his strong aversion for bigots across the country with him.

"I've always hated Nazis," he says. "I've had Nazis in my life that have done fucking bad things."

That's why, after the 2016 election, when far-right brawlers began to use Portland as a playground for beatdowns, Ledwith started suiting up in a black tracksuit and a cheap black bandanna.

He's an antifascist. Antifa. And he fights.

(Excerpt) Read more at wweek.com ...


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: anarchists; antifa; domesticterrorists; occupywallstreet; oregon; trump

1 posted on 08/07/2019 3:08:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"I've always hated Nazis"

Oh how bold and "edgy".

Changing my tagline now...

2 posted on 08/07/2019 3:15:25 PM PDT by boop ("I've always hated Nazis")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

He fights? More likely he sucker punches victims.


3 posted on 08/07/2019 3:15:50 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Since two of my friends growing up were raped by blacks, I think I’ll go out and punch every black guy I see...NOT.


4 posted on 08/07/2019 3:21:28 PM PDT by Amberdawn
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“That’s why, after the 2016 election, when far-right brawlers began to use Portland as a playground for beatdowns,”

When did this happen? It was all antifa, all the time as far as I recall.


5 posted on 08/07/2019 3:25:58 PM PDT by bk1000 (I stand with Trump)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
when far-right brawlers began to use Portland as a playground for beatdowns

I'd like to know when that happened.

This is a puff piece for the little fascists.

6 posted on 08/07/2019 3:27:31 PM PDT by MileHi (Liberalism is an ideology of parasites, hypocrites, grievance mongers, victims, and control freaks.)
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To: boop

Were they from Illinois?
I hate Illinois Nazi’s.


7 posted on 08/07/2019 3:33:56 PM PDT by Finatic (Sometimes I think it would be nice to just get it on and get it over with. Once and for all.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

White supremacists? Seeking validation on these claims. Crickets........


8 posted on 08/07/2019 3:38:52 PM PDT by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Tim Ledwith deserves an a$$-kicking.

He is an Antifa domestic terrorist.


9 posted on 08/07/2019 3:40:52 PM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (Ban liberals, NOT guns.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I have never in my life met or even seen a single Nazi, or a white nationalist. My opinion is, if they even exist in America, all of them together could not fill the bleachers of a Class 1A high school basketball gym. One might easier be able to find a unicorn or bigfoot.


10 posted on 08/07/2019 3:45:35 PM PDT by rigelkentaurus
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To: Finatic

Aside from a few MC’s like ALR, they’re basically extinct here.

Great reference, too. One of my favorite movies.


11 posted on 08/07/2019 3:47:23 PM PDT by Tacrolimus1mg (Do no harm, but take no sh!t.)
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To: boop
“when far-right brawlers began to use Portland as a playground for beatdowns”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If this were an article about conservatives, the above would be followed with, “Without Evidence!”. So?....If the “Without Evidence” editorial comment is good enough for conservatives, why not progressive fascists? ( Just wondering.)

12 posted on 08/07/2019 3:59:03 PM PDT by wintertime (Stop treating government teachers like they are reincarnated Mother Teresas!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Found among the comments at the end of this article...

chris n John Retzlaff • 2 hours ago
steve scalise is a white supremacist scumbag and it’s a shame that he survived, and christian is a right-winger


13 posted on 08/07/2019 4:45:42 PM PDT by Flick Lives (MSM, the Enemy of the People since 1898)
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To: MileHi

“Puff”... nope. Fluff.


14 posted on 08/07/2019 5:14:05 PM PDT by MortMan (Americans are a people increasingly separated by our connectivity.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

He says he “spent time in juvenile detention for attacking a classmate with a wrench...”

So when he discovered Antifa, they just felt like a warm, welcoming family.


15 posted on 08/07/2019 5:27:29 PM PDT by mumblypeg
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Tim Ledwith portrays himself somewhat differently when talking about his comedy career.

"He came to humor, he says, almost as a reflex—forced to come to grips far too early with the darkness in the world as a survivor of childhood sexual trauma.

"I make people laugh in jail. I make people laugh in shitty jobs, in drug deals—but that's a necessity," he says, not only as a means of warding off violence but of dealing with trauma. "I was trying to make sense of it all by the time I was 10."

Ledwith describes the life that followed his abuse as "criminal," saying he did so many drugs they "damaged my brain." He was sent to juvenile hall at the age of 13 for the premeditated attempted murder of a bully.

"I was having problems with this kid. He was like 6 feet tall, I was tiny," he says. "Yeah, I brought a ratchet to school and split his head open. I guess it was premeditated, but I wasn't trying to kill him."

In juvie, he was constantly terrified, carrying a tattered Howard Zinn book around as a totem—and when he returned to the outside world, he fell into a life as a teenage sex worker. Once, he says, he unsuccessfully tried to extort money from a Plymouth city official who'd found him in an AOL chatroom."

Source: Willamette Week

Being an Antifa member probably gives him an excuse to continue to act out violently as he has since he was a teenager. Ironically, he went to the police when he lost in a fight with some Proud Boys. He's anti police, except when he wants to use them against his enemies.

What a sad story.

16 posted on 08/07/2019 5:32:02 PM PDT by freeandfreezing
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“I’ve always hated Nazis,” he says. “I’ve had Nazis in my life that have done f***ing bad things.”

He hates Nazis, but loves having them around in his life apparently. Socialists attract NAZI’s like sh!t attracts flys.


17 posted on 08/07/2019 6:15:58 PM PDT by Bommer (2020- Vote all incumbent congressmen and senators out! VOTE THE BUMS OUT!)
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To: rigelkentaurus
"I have never in my life met or even seen a single Nazi, or a white nationalist."

Me either.

I've met some people in my life who have used the n-word, and maybe don't trust "foreigners".

But would they ever espouse "white supremacy"?

No.

Not even once.

18 posted on 08/07/2019 7:54:18 PM PDT by boop ("I've always hated Nazis")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I am sure they are very proud of their fellow gang member. He protested the Klan and killed mostly black people.

19 posted on 08/07/2019 7:58:08 PM PDT by BookmanTheJanitor
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To: boop

If someone is threatening me and tries to commit a battery I will shoot them. I am old and cannot defend myself with my fists or run away, but I qualify on the range as a retire peace officer. I will defend myself in court rather than have someone assault me and not know how far they will go. I will also defend my first amendment right to free speech.

I haven’t met a white supremist since I worked in prison. Retired 1998. Many of the inmates were just claiming for group protection.

Never read about American Nazi’s much any more. The Klan’s influence is greatly reduced. Radical leftist have taken the shootings and now formed a new issue with which to hate conservatives and white people. White supremacy which very few believe in the US. A big push now by dems as the war on women was years ago. A faux meme. The dems are the real racists in the US. And people like Booker, Waters Cortez and Omar openly hate white people.

That being said, i am a white nationalist. I believe European culture which spawned technology, science, medicine, art, explorations and democracy; and the religious background from Israel and Christianity, coupled with democratic values from Greece, have formed the greatest culture and country in the history of the world. And the most free and least racist.

I regret the deterioration of that culture by the overwhelming presence of Latin American and Islamic peoples. I support a great reduction of immigration of these groups, and i support more immigration from Europe and australia, in order to sustain our traditional culture.

I resent being called a racist. I do not hold that any race is superior. Races are made up of many sub groups. I judge people as individuals. There are many factors, as I named, that make up our country and it’s culture. Races which congregated elsewhere simply did not have the same elements at play to develop a civilization as we did or they would now be more advanced.

I would like to see the european historical influence and judeo-christian values continue as dominating factors in our country. Why don’t we have the right to sustain our culture and values as we have in the past?

I realize by speaking on this issue i am in a minority, but I believe many others believe as I do.


20 posted on 08/07/2019 8:01:33 PM PDT by morphing libertarian ( Use Comey's Report, Indict Hillary now; build Kate's wall. --- Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)
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