Antifa thugs pummel 'fascist' flag-waving Bernie Sanders supporter
Brad Hunter
Published:
August 21, 2018
Updated:
August 21, 2018 12:32 PM EDT
Paul Welch was pummeled at a protest by antifa thugs in Portland.PAUL WELCH
Whoops!
Black-clad antifa thugs pummeled a flag-waving American patriot at a rally in Portland, Oregon.
The problem was: The man they beat up wasn’t a neo-Nazi or a Proud Boy, he was a Bernie Sanders supporter.
According to The Oregonian, Paul Welch, 38, was marching peacefully when he was confronted by the mini Maoists, who demanded he ditch the Stars and Stripes. It is, after all, a fascist symbol, he was informed.
He refused, and a tug-of-war over his flag erupted. Welch took a club to the back of the head, leaving him a bloody wreck.
“I didn’t come as a part of any one group,” Welch told The Oregonian. “I was just protesting outsiders coming here for their tacitly fascist event.”
Protesters were taking aim at the right-wing Patriot Prayer when they mistook Welch for a “fascist.”
“I had felt like showing that a liberal, free Portland — or any major city, really — is much more American and much more numerous and strong than any of these interloping groups,” he said.
A registered Democrat, who describes himself as a “slightly progressive leftist,” Welch said he supported Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary.
He said he brought his flag to the rally because he wanted to take back the flag as a symbol for all Americans, not just the right wing.
At one point, Welch said he feared he would be beaten to death by the trio who attacked him. The result was a concussion.
“It strikes me as the worst sort of political theatre,” he said. “It’s kind of like you’re playing into your opponents’ hands when you do that sort of thing. That’s not what I was there for.”
A spokesman with Popular Mobilization, a group that helped organize the counter-protest at city hall, declined to comment.
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http://oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2018/08/he_brought_an_american_flag_to.html
http://torontosun.com/news/world/antifa-thugs-pummel-fascist-flag-waving-bernie-sanders-supporter