Portland Shooting, man shot to death as Pro-Trump supporters and protesters clash

By Krishna Menon

3rd September, 2020

The Police try to take control

(Source- The Epoch Times)

A man was shot to death on Saturday night, during clashes between Pro-Trump supporters and protesters against police brutality and racism in downtown Portland, Oregon. There have been civil unrests and protests in the area ever since George Floyd’s death over police brutality.

The man who was killed, has been identified as 39-year-old Aaron J. Danielson. He was a resident of Portland and had been associated with a far-right group called ‘Patriot Prayer’. The group had been known to cause some commotion and violence at the protests in the city. Aaron was also a Pro-Trump protester. The medical examiner confirmed that Aaron died from a gunshot wound to the chest and homicide was the most probable cause. Among his peers and family, he was known to be a good man and was not associated with violence.

The backdrop of the event took place on Saturday night, when members of the ‘Trump 2020 Cruise Rally’ headed towards Portland in hordes of trucks, donning 2020 Trump flags, American flags and Thin Blue line flags. These blue line flags are commonly associated with the support of the police, which could have been an instigating factor in the clashes between both the groups.

The incident is said to have started, when the Pro-Trump supporters took a diversion from the highway, and the Portland police found it hard to monitor and deal with the scale of the rally, and the protesters. Finding this loophole, a batch of the supporters headed downtown towards the protesters. The tussle and clashes are said to have taken place during this time. Amongst the carnage, several supporters in the trucks are said to have carried paintballs and other devices to disrupt the crowd. The crowd reciprocated by throwing what they could gather from the ground. This soon evolved into brawls and aggravated forms of violence. During this confrontation, several witnesses and a short video, have shown evidence of gunshots taking place and a man collapsing to the ground.

The president so far has not addressed directly about the incident, Portland authorities are looking into the matter, and have reprimanded several people involved with the violence and protests. No arrests have directly been made in the shooting. Authorities have been informed and are investigating the leads of one suspect. The department is looking into the matter and are coming with ways to diffuse the blazing protests.

Sources: CNN, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, FOX 12 and The New York Times.

Edited by Hrishit Roy