The older woman takes a video of me and describes me to her audience as "a BLMer" Cool
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The next speaker, Michelle, talks about what a supportive friend Jay was. Pappas also talked about this The thing I remember about the far right is that this is probably true. There is camaraderie and kindness there. You'd hardly believe they're capable of cruelty to others
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Michelle is crying, realizing she'll never see her friend again I wish we lived in better times
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Michelle demands that the media get it right. She says he wasn't a Nazi or a white supremacist. No. He loved his president and Patriot Prayer The crowd chants "Get It Right." It's deafening "We will fight to keep his good name!"
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The crowd chants "USA" and the media scrambles to snap pictures of the maskless crowd
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The next speaker does not give her name. She asks everyone to demand peace. She quotes Martin Luther King: "Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that" Look I'm just reporting what's happening ok?
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The next speaker, David with Oregonians for Trump, emphasizes the diversity of the crowd He calls on the dishonest media to report this accurately so I will: Yes, there are people of color in the crowd. Yes, it's mostly white
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David says they could organize something violent that eclipses the America unrest so far, and that they'd be justified to do that He says they're choosing not to
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These messages can be seductive to newcomers because the speakers truly believe what they're saying about the power of love and rejecting hate. You can feel the sincerity But when they attack leftists on the street, they believe they're right about that too
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The far right sees no contradiction between words of peace and actions of violence, because they have left truth behind. What they do is right. What others do is wrong. It is truly that simple Someday, God willing, I will go to grad school and write books about this
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David urges prayer: for Trump, the government in Washington, and even for the "dishonest media" (a phrase repeated several times throughout this speech)
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Like many speakers who did not know Jay personally, Daniel urges people to view Jay as an example of how to be and how to act. As an image of a follower of Jesus This mythmaking goes somewhat beyond normal eulogizing
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Gibson announces there will be a candlelight vigil for Jay at 8:00 tonight here in Vancouver
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Joey Gibson just said he's not going to get political and I do not laugh sometimes my job is really hard He demands an apology from Ted Wheeler and Kate Brown for Jay's murder and subsequent slander "He has built a city of violence" and advanced lies of white supremacy
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Gibson decries people for getting on megaphones and celebrating Jay's death I have not heard that happen, not once He is building a narrative that Portland is either indifferent or celebratory of Jay's death. The crowd is loving it
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The Christian band is back. The crowd starts to get up and mingle. I gather this is the portion of the memorial where people eat food and talk
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I'm eavesdropping on a group of Proud Boys talking about how they're accepting a lot of new pledges. They're not wearing their Perry Masons and they are not aware of their surroundings
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A small cadre of on-duty police relax at the periphery of the Patriot gatheringpic.twitter.com/xsGCBlcj5n
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And I broke the thread again
https://twitter.com/1misanthrophile/status/1302400868638105602?s=19 …
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End of conversation
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