Liberals cheer as antifa violence escalates

In the early hours on Saturday, police in Tacoma, Wash., rushed to the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. An armed man was firebombing the building and nearby vehicles. Police killed him in a shootout after he attempted to set off a large propane tank connected to the facility. Antifa social media accounts subsequently identified their fallen “comrade” as Willem Van Spronsen.

The underreported incident marks a new chapter in the return of armed left-wing terrorism to the United States. It also triggered a flash of memory in my mind: I had crossed paths with Van Spronsen in December, when a group of rifle-carrying antifa militiamen tried to prevent me from filming their protest outside Seattle City Hall.

Little did I know then that I would soon have a more immediate encounter with antifa violence. Two weeks ago, I was left hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage after a mob of mask-clad rioters beat and robbed me while I was covering a demonstration in downtown Portland, Ore. The attack, claimed by Rose City Antifa, was caught on videos that went viral online.

As shocking as my unprovoked beating was, I’m hardly the first to be cruelly beaten by antifa. I have been covering antifa since the days after the 2016 election, when Portlanders woke up to find that downtown had been ravaged by black-clad vandals and arsonists overnight. Since then, the militants have repeatedly brutalized the city’s population. They have learned from experience that city government and police lack the political will to protect citizens.