There actually are lawless criminals fucking up the streets of Portland and destabilizing communities across the nation. They go by the name of DHS, ICE, Border Patrol, and the fascist jack boots employed as the National Guard. And this is abhorrent. The pigs in 2020 protected Proud Boys and other fascists assaulting Portlanders in these city streets. The pigs worked with DHS in assaulting and kidnapping Portlanders in these city streets. Tear gas cakes the residential neighborhoods and family homes, courtesy of the Portland Police Bureau. All this under the guise of protecting the public. Protecting the public from “violent rioters,” they say. Anarchists and criminals terrorizing the community, they say.
Yet, it’s 2025, the fascist autocrat deployed DHS, ICE, and the National Guard to come and terrorize Portlanders. DHS and ICE assaulting, gassing, and terrorizing Portlanders in these city streets, this being done in front of the Portland Police Bureau, a body meant to protect the public from violent criminals. And… what is DHS and ICE? They are, even by Kotek and the mayor’s own words last night [10/5], violating the rights of their citizens.
They’re using excessive force and assaulting people in front of Portland Police Bureau. And what did they do? Nothing. When a Portlander asks for aid, and the Portland Police Bureau says they weren’t told what to do, that’s dereliction of duty. And when the governor tells reporters that if, or rather when, Trump violates court rulings and deploys National Guard, that she can’t do anything about it, and the mayor’s Portland Police Bureau can’t protect their citizens from being assaulted, that they can’t even guarantee a lawsuit — that is far beyond dereliction, that’s far beyond abandoning your post. You’re a failed leader.
They’ll act bold and brave to protect Proud Boys and Trump supporters. They’ll brutalize and criminalize protesters, murder unarmed Black and brown minorities, pack their prisons with poor minorities, yet fail every time to act to protect the most vulnerable. Sweeney shot someone, Proud Boys violently beat people with the pigs next to them. The Proud Boy who was stopped in downtown Portland was stopped by one of us, the people. When cars careened through crowds, it was us who acted. The pigs abandoned the people every time. Why? Because they protect capital and property. The reason Portland Police Bureau will not act is because they are, no matter what, on the side of the oppressor.
DHS, ICE, Portland Police Bureau, Border Patrol, all pigs by a different three letter name. It’s no skin off their back, you being assaulted. That’s why they won’t protect you. But should you hurt the feelings of DHS, watch Portland Police Bureau hunt you down. Use direct action and defend yourself and your people, and surely Portland Police Bureau will arrest you. The AG will prosecute you. The mayor will say that your actions have no place in the city, and Kotek will stand by him. Meanwhile, they won’t even file a lawsuit against the DOJ’s unlawful actions in assaulting their citizens. They’re on the same team, and you’re not on it.
Trump’s actions make them uncomfortable in exposing them for the weak and feckless leaders they are. Trump pardoned all of his people. Your leaders won’t protect you. They won’t even file a lawsuit for you. They’ll virtue signal and hold press conferences and tell you to stay calm and don’t take the bait. Like if you were tied to a chair, being beaten viciously and tortured, and the person watching this happen, stands by rather than step in, tells you exactly what’s happening to you, and then says, don’t let them get you mad.
Like they told the slaves to turn the other cheek. Or natives to forgive because this is “our land.” Like they tell Asians to forget the past racism and segregation. How soon we forget the Exclusion Act and internment camps. They tell immigrants to trust the process, as they’re herded onto buses and packed like sardines in camps, deprived of basics and even lawyer access, then shipped out. Don’t worry, the justice system works slow, but it works, they say.
They say that because they can. They’re sitting pretty and comfy. They’re not housing insecure, food insecure. They aren’t in the desolate job market. They aren’t threatened with violence daily. They can say this, like politicians can shut down the government and still get paid. No agreement on a budget, but they all agree, they should be paid.
This breaks my heart to hear ’cause I love Portland. I love my people. I love my Portland family. It aches to hear the few who still have hope in this whole thing, and they are brutalized by DHS in front of Portland Police Bureau, and Kotek and the mayor acknowledge their brutalization but refuse to act. They refuse to have their pigs act.
It hurts because I’d die for the people. I’d not hesitate to act for my Portland family. All enemies, both foreign and domestic, that silly oath I swore. I swore that oath, not to a flag or nation, though. I would and I still vow to fight for and defend the people, the oppressed, as a mujahideen should. I vow to beat back the oppressors wherever I find them. So both foreign and domestic, regardless of your three letter name, an enemy of the people is an enemy of me. Your enemies are mine, and Portland must know us is the only thing that we have.
All we got is us. No one is coming to save us. No one. Not one, not in Portland, not Governor Newsom in Cali, not Pritzker in Chicago, not Mamdani in New York. All we got is us. They have their team. They’re in their camp. Fight for us. Fight back. Pacificity won’t save you, and there will never be a time when all of the masses are ready. No, rise up now. Resist. Fight for each other, protect yourself and each other. You’re a frog in boiling water, and they’re saying it’s fine ’cause they’re not in the water.
In a fascist autocracy, loyal opposition is just that. Loyal to their opposition. Trump may lock up or bankrupt his opponents, but most will know how to survive as loyal opposition. Useful only to keep you in line and hopeful in the system that’s killing us. In a fascist police state, Kotek, Gavin, Pritzker, none will fight back. Not for you. A lawsuit is the best you can hope for. And when it gets overturned and/or Trump does what he wants anyway, when the streets are full of troops, DHS, ICE, Border Patrol, and other militarized jack boots, and the checkpoints and midnight raids of apartment complexes, dragging folks from their homes is a daily occurrence, and the scope of deplorables expands to not just Black or brown immigrants, but queer, disabled, houseless, transient, and all non-Christians, and others, being rounded up, branded, and labeled, like in Nazi death camps, Kotek, Pritzker, and Gavin won’t be beside you. AOC and the Squad, Bernie Sanders, they won’t be helping you or sitting with you. They’ll be at the same dinners as Trump. They’ll live in their gated communities with private security. They’ll oppose him just enough to get elected, maintain loyal opposition, while us suffers.
Don’t wait ’till you’re in the camp to react, and resistance seems futile, and you have no other options, and you’d rather fight and die than be brutalized, abused, and worked to death. Recognize that that is now. None of this is sustainable. You have no options now. Our planet is dying, genocides occur unabashed, and oppression is here — now. The poverty and genocidal conditions of capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy are inescapable. You’re being brutalized and abused now. You’re being worked to death now. So resist and act now, boldly and united in solidarity and faith, with revolutionary love for the people because the pigs won’t act for you. They’re not here to protect you.
DHS, ICE, and Border Patrol are not your friends or neighbors. They’re the oppressor, the enemy, fascist jack boots. And the nicest one you know will drag a child from a mother’s arms and put them in a cage if told to do so. They lowered the age for these agencies to 18 and raised the cap to 60. Why? Because there’s no jobs, and retirement is impossible, so the avenue they created is to become a part of the oppressive force. So there’s one dichotomy, the oppressed and the oppressor. Fascism conscripts everyone.
Only, this war is being fought against us, at home, so these people have chosen their side. You would not say that a Nazi or a Brown Shirt was your friend, right? So don’t delude yourself. The National Guard can refuse to call. Contrary to popular belief, these people being deployed first are volunteers. Yeah. They want to do this. The ones that don’t can say no. Do you look at the israeli iof zionist cucks as friends or neighbors? No. And those who refuse to call, those who chose not to participate in genocide, are the better of them. The guards here have the same choice.
The only ones that matter are us. The people. The only ones who will suffer and fight and die alongside you is us, the people. The path to liberation can only be trod together in solidarity and armed, collective, direct actions, with those that matter, against those that seek domination and power over. If you pursue liberation for Palestine, native land, immigrants, Black and brown, women, and queers, you must see who the real enemy is, and don’t be fooled by those who would seek to deceive you and lull you into pacificity, begging you not to act while they “handle it,” by doing nothing.
See, oppression breeds contempt, which breeds more oppression, which breeds resistance, and then increased oppression. Only one thing can happen. The end to the oppression by the destruction of the oppressor. The oppressor will not destroy itself. It will not give you the tools to dismantle it, and it won’t aid you in its destruction in any way, other than wearing a target for you to direct that revolutionary love, rage, and solidarity.