A year ago, Mike Strickland was beaten and ended in the hospital for several months. His cameras were stolen, then returned with the drives wiped clean. He has video of the attack, but the authorities refused to prosecute. Recently, Mike was threatened by a mob of anarchists and Black Lives Matter activists again. This time he protected himself.
Victoria Taft has written a well researched article, with video, that shows Mike Strickland defending himself from the mob in Portland. The link has it all. From victoriataft.com:
Mike Strickland was arrested and charged in Portland for pulling a gun at a Black Lives Matter/anarchist protest when a mob converged on him. But now he sits in jail. As one person put it, “[Mike Strickland] is now a political prisoner in Multnomah County.”
Showing how intolerant and censorious college campus administrators have become, he has been banned from two local campuses. From oregonlive.com:
Strickland, the man charged with waving a gun at protesters last week at a Don’t Shoot PDX march, has been banned from Portland State and Portland Community College’s campuses.
The two schools confirmed Wednesday that Strickland will not be allowed to set foot on campus if and when he is released from custody. Portland State is banning Strickland for two years. PCC’s ban is indefinite, but Strickland could appeal the decision. Both schools informed Strickland of the ban last week.
So there you have it. Be beaten and put in the hospital for months, with video proof, have your creative work stolen/destroyed, then have the authorities refuse to prosecute. Then, when you continue to exercise your First Amendment rights, you are threatened again. You refuse to be a victim. The authorities throw you in jail, with ridiculous bond requirements.
As James O’Keefe of Project Veritas attests,
Mike Strickland is someone I know. I respect him because he makes little to no money going to these events trying to hold people accountable. He’s fought for both the First and Second Amendments for half a decade and he does so at great risk to himself.
The court set bond for Mike at $250,000.
I have become cynical over the years, but this is outrageous. The local authorities will keep Mike jailed to prevent him from doing his citizen journalism. If I had been in Portland, I could easily have been in Mike’s spot, so it hits close to home.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
It looked like a tough call, but it also looked like the guy was about to get beaten or killed. I’m sure he believed he was about to be beaten or killed and depending on the state that might make the legal definition of a good DGU. Well if he can convince the jury of that of course.
Unless some serious shenanigans happen with respect to the jury pool, selection, and confirmation process, I am pretty sure that any trial for him will end in a hung-jury … which will force the court to declare a mistrial. And then the prosecutor will eventually drop the case.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but jury pools in democrat controlled counties in the US are routinely rigged in all high profile and high dollar cases. The court clerk will select a pool of known “good democrat” folks who know exactly which way to vote. Trial lawyers will let the clerk know which cases to fix and the clerk will also select just the “right” judge to hear the case. The process usually results in one of those ridiculous verdicts you read about.
This fellow will get a jury of 2A haters and a hanging judge.
Yeah dropped eventually. There is a murder case in NY that is going on its fourth mistrial. No body or weapon have been found. So they don’t mind wasting taxpayers money.
That would explain why I’ve never been called for jury duty…
I can’t tell from the videos how threatening people were to him. I doubt filming those protests is a very safe activity for a white person though. He certainly did look scared. Not an expert, but I don’t see a crime, only foolhardiness. I would expect to be charged if I did the same thing. I also wouldn’t have gotten close to the protesters, so I probably wouldn’t have done the same thing. Is there a crowd funding effort for his legal defense. I don’t think jail and $250k bail is appropriate.
So, what you’re saying is that the Black Panthers and BLM folks should not only be allowed to do whatever they want on a public street but also to prevent anyone from filming them while they’re doing it, is that right?
So, you are saying that you will heroically be at the next angry BLM protest to film the protesters a few feet away? That is such a brilliant and valuable public service that I’ll send flowers to the hospital/funeral home or a file in a cake, whichever is more appropriate.
Not saying that I’d want to do it, but having audio and video recordings of these “protests” from someone outside the usual Marxist media seems useful. Perhaps Strickland should have kept his gun holstered until the “activists” began beating him, assuming that the first blow didn’t incapacitate him. Then there’d be no question.
I agree, “she shouldn’t have worn that dress” is a perfectly valid argument; so what if it drives leftists ape?
I should have just answered you question directly the first time, I was wrong not to. No, I don’t think BLM and BPs should be getting away with the violence, intimidation, and obstructions that they have been indulging in.
I was downtown that day (passing through for a meeting), but didnt witness him clearing leather. Being White was not exactly a problem there, but the guy was there to troll for reactions that he could post to his blog for e-points, and basically played a stupid game and got his stupid prize.
Gun laws in Oregon are pretty lax. Shall issue, open carry, no NFA restrictions, etc. Hell its even legal to be intoxicated and carry. Pulling a firearm after IRL trolling at a political rally to cause a ruckus to put up on you blog is however not something thats going to play well.
That stupid game being the exercise of his first amendment rights, I suppose? Or was it exercising those rights around people who wouldn’t like it, the way some black fellow trolling the Klan march deserves to be threatened with mob violence?
The stupid game being going out and intentionally provoking people into hostile reactions to post as blog content for personal profit and being unable to control the situation.
I’d have the same words for a black person going to a Klan rally doing the same thing. Don’t insert yourself into a situation you arent in full control of when you’re intentionally going out to start arguments for a blog and pull a gun when you get nervous.
A lot of people here seem to be big fans of the heckler/thugs veto. Provocative speech, that likely to make people angry, is the *most* important to protect. If society adopts an attitude that “he shouldn’t have done that, because he should have known they were likely to respond violently” then you are allowing the most violent and thuggish members of society to set the limits on public speech. That’s a good way to kill a free society.
The first amendment applies to protection from the government.
That’s pretty much what I say every time a slut gets raped wearing slut-wear: “she played a stupid/slut game and got her stupid/slut prize.” A woman who wears slutty clothes and carries a gun and shoots some guy who tries to rape her? That’s first degree murder!
“I can’t tell from the videos how threatening people were to him.”
The black guy moving into his personal space was an attempt to close—regardless of the situation that’s definitely a threatening move. If he’d done that to a cop he’d probably get shot. If someone did that to you in a dark parking lot, you’d damn well better have your gun out. But the lynch-pin threat was the the white guy who moved behind his left side. At that point both guys were in easy striking distance. As to whether or not the photographer should have been there, I don’t think being provocative is necessarily a bad thing. Granted it’s a test of civility that that’s not a bad thing, either. Giving anarchists and BLM protestors license to threaten people presumes a moral imperative that I don’t think they should have.
I think he should have put a couple of them monkeys down…so sick of these BLM crackheads doing Soros’ bidding. You can lawfully resist an unlawful arrest with any and all means necessary…not that the cops wouldn’t have killed him and blamed it on the gun…not the socialist unamerican scum in the street. Disgusting.
i think he made a bad move, He could have used the camera to gain the advantage. the gun has to be the last resort. He could of just pulled his coat back to show the weapon and that might have done the trick. Tough call but you got to know that there is going to be a high level of tension at that rally.
Looks more and more like the political prisoners in the USSR. Next step will be to declare him incompetent and place him into mental treatment facility, forever. Welkome to Amerika!
In a state where 1 in 15 people have a CHL, with no restrictions on NFA items, legal open carry and shall issue concealed carry, state preemotion of local firearm ordnances, and where its even legal to carry while under the influence, methinks the problem isnt with an antigun establishment in this case so much as a part time blogger playing a stupid game, losing control of the situation, and winning his stupid prize while trolling for content for his blog.
Multnomah county is notoriously unfriendly to the 2nd amendment. This wouldnt be happening in a lot of other municipalities of oregon.
Had this happened in Salem, or Eugene, or Corvallis, or Bend, Strickland almost certainly would have been arrested just the same, and have been told as much by a Salem PD officer.
There isnt really anywhere else where you’d get a situation like this (i.e. a large political march) except maybe Burns, and those gentlemen are enjoying state accommodations about 700 feet from my office right now.
So your point is unequal treatment by/before the law in the progtard havens of Oregon? Sounds right.
Muih, holds the twisted view that somehow, someone (white) just shouldn’t be there. (This bullshit racist rationalization is never applied to blacks) Reginald Denny got exactly what was coming to him – he should have known that he would provoke the animals. Amirite?
Meanwhile, this has never happened to any of the hundreds of insanely loudmouthed, foul-tounged blacks that have regularly invaded “doze raciss” Trump events.
Hmmm…
Well, it was, once upon a time. Look at how the “provocation” doctrine in self-defense law developed in different jurisdictions. You’ll find that liberal (small “l”) interpretations mostly prevail, saying merely being present in public where others might want to unlawfully harm you is not provocation. However, where courts found the opposite, such as the District of Columbia in Laney v. United States (1923), the defendant has almost always been black.
Ummmm…so he put himself in the middle of black lives splatter BS? Stupid people-stupid places. I didn’t know what to think when this dude was “featured” the other day either. Citizen journalist means pretty much nothing… but I wish him well in his windmill tilting. Brandishing your gat was a dumb move.
Yeah, anywhere those people congregate is a stupid place for you and me to go. Let’s hope that they don’t decide to assemble in front of the polls this fall, but apparently it’s their choice.
Gee slick I don’t intimidate easily. I may be old but I’m still big and scary-with or without any weapon. Me and my black wife and kids will vote no matter what black lives splatter bunch “protests”. This little fella’ is a blogger gadfly-but nice try trolling me…
Only troll here so far is you.
Some of the greatest photojournalists in history are “citizen journalists”. They put themselves in unsafe situations all the time to do their job. Whether or not you approve of their credentials, there is no difference. Some amazing images have come from semi-professional journalists. Additionally, he is protected under the first amendment just like any other journalist. I would doubt you would say the same thing if it were James Nachtwey.
Of course I would. Your heroes are equal to…ME. I’ ve posted literally THOUSANDS of times here and elsewhere. Am I blogging? If millions read my words I’d say YES. Hey my wife has a very successful decorating/DIY blog with millions of page views and thousands of followers- I don’t hate bloggers but this little fella’ acted like an IDIOT 🙂
Your Illinois roots are showing again. Want to know where liberty has gone? Start with the man in the mirror. The exercise of 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th ammendment protections from government encroachment and a living, free society haven’t been stengthened by people thinking as you do. Export your mindset out of the progressive gulags into more free territory and we only get the spread of slavery. Do me a favor, will you… Please stay in Illinois until you really understand the principles underlying a free society. Thanks.
Your Illinois roots are showing again. Want to know where liberty has gone? Start with the man in the mirror. The exercise of 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th ammendment protections from government encroachment and a living, free society haven’t been stengthened by people thinking as you do. Export your mindset out of the progressive gulags into more free territory and we only get the spread of slavery. Do me a favor, will you… Please stay in Illinois until you really understand the principles underlying a free society. Thanks.
Next thing he’ll be tried by a black judge and jury.
The sticking point is going to be the fact that he aimed it at a large group of people, at least some of whom probably weren’t approaching him.
^ This. “Bare fear” is rarely a defense however justified it might feel. At best I could see a misdemeanor brandishing charge, not this media circus. I don’t see how the shitbags threatening him are also not culpable.
Oh wait, I thought we were in America…
He has a nice high index with his trigger finger and what seems like good muzzle control, at least in this picture. He’s either had some training or he read the comments on TTAG by safety nazis who complained about posed photography by Oleg Volk.
There’s guns in Oleg Volks works?
I just don’t understand why a white dude would be there, especially if there is no money in it. I feel bad for him, but when you play with fire….
I think he is a journalist and activist. As such being where the news is happening is part of his job.
So, freedom of movement on a public street is out the window now, too.
Good to know.
I didnt catch the draw incident, but I was downtown that day and saw some if the stuff going on beforehand.
This guy was going out of his way to get inflammatory reactions to spin as content for his basement politics blog and was playing more than his part in escalating things and lost control over what he wss trying to create. He’s had issues at other places as well before this.
He was playing a stupid game for stupid reasons and got a stupid prize. Lets not make this guy the face of gun rights activism.
“Lets not make this guy the face of gun rights activism.”
There is no “face of gun rights activism” just like there was no leader to “GamerGate,” so please stop with this horseshit.
This guy did what he did. The only questions we should be asking ourselves is “Is it right and proper to be jailed for defending yourself when threatened by multiple attackers in THIS case and if so, is $250,000 bond reasonable in THIS case?” A third valid question might be “Can he get a fair trial in Portland?”
Your arguments were noted the last time this story came up and duly dismissed. You have a bug up your ass for him and whether that is rightly or wrongly earned, I can say this:
You sure as HELL don’t speak for me or “gun rights activists” and you sure as HELL don’t get to frame the discussion of ‘gun rights’ by declaring who we should go to bat for or who we shouldn’t.
I have a bug up my ass for stupid people playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes and then getting made out to be martyrs for it, regardless of who it is.
Thats what I have a bug up my ass about. Had he been just a passer-by my tone would be very different but he manufactured the situation he found himself in.
As someone who lives where this incident took place, holds a CHL and carries every day here, is registered to vote here, goes shooting here, buys firearms and ammunition here, votes here, works here and who was present that day at some of these events and saw the lead up, and not some keyboard jokey abusing capslock 3000 miles away, I sure as hell have a bit more standing than you to frame the argument 😉
This guy is a poster child for the anti’s to hold up when pushing legislation to restrict our rights, not someone for us to rally around.
So if you want to continue going to bat for stupid people and bemoaning their martyrdom when they get themselves into trouble and have to face the consequences of their actions, be my guest, but lets be real about who’s standing is greater here 😉
So, we should all take a crap on Miranda by your logic?
This guy does not speak for you, me or anyone else. We REALLY need to get off this “he represents us” crap. THAT is the kind of thinking that feeds into the anti’s.
But, I doubt you’ll understand that, since you’ve already defined him as “stupid person doing something stupid.” That’s all the justification you seem to need to say his natural right to self defense is null and void.
In other words…are we all to be held to judgment as to what YOU declare “stupid?” That’s mighty nice of you to declare yourself the arbiter of how people get judged outside of a court and due process.
Again, I refer to Miranda. He was no saint by any stretch of the word, yet his case defined the very application of natural rights we all now enjoy in regard to self incrimination and right to counsel.
Well what the hell where YOU doing there and did you have your hat/head on straight?
Well what the hell where YOU doing there and did you have your hat/head on straight?
And what is your dog in this event? You have a dozen posts about what a terrible guy this dude is but no contrary/supporting evidence.
Spot on, as usual, Jr_in_NC. Progressives have had a significant hard-on for this guy for a while. They even have a hit-site in his honor.
http://whoismichaelstrickland.com/
“This guy was going out of his way to get . . .”
In much the same way we expect the police to go TO stupid people and stop them from doing stupid things, we expect journalists also to go TO stupid people and document them doing stupid things. This is especially important when it is things we disagree with.
“He was playing a stupid game for stupid reasons and got a stupid prize. . .”
He was doing his job. The one you and I expect him to do. Doesn’t matter if you or anybody else agrees with him or any other journalist. We just expect them to get the news and report it, usually with whatever spin we have come to expect from them.
Me making a special trip to go down there for no particular reason . . . while I have every right to be in that public place, there are lots of public places I avoid. Ones where stupid people do stupid things regularly without warning. Me making a point of going to that rally for no particular reason would be winning stupid prices. By the very structure of our constitution a reporter has more of an obligation to be there than the police. While he has no more right to self defense than any other person he has a potentially elevated need because of the role society expects of him.
Or I suppose he could get a job with the MSN and type up a fluff piece about what a success the rally was without ever leaving his cubicle. That always makes for such compelling news.
Except thats not really his job. He’s about as much of a Journalist as any random person is. He runs a political spin blog, and thats about it.
Even if we do accept that he was a journalist however, the problem was that he went about trying to *create* a story, not covering one, and wasnt able to manage it. When you start arguments and fights with people to try and pass off as “content” and then pull a gun when it backfires, nothing good is going to result. Thats where the problem lies.
“Except thats not really his job. He’s about as much of a Journalist as any random person is. He runs a political spin blog, and thats about it.”
I would say the same about CNN, MSN, even FOX news. I am not familiar with this guy’s work or his blog. If he pays his bills by reporting on events like this then he gets the same standards for finding and reporting the news. Even if I we don’t agree.
“Even if we do accept that he was a journalist however, the problem was that he went about trying to *create* a story, not covering one, and wasnt able to manage it. When you start arguments and fights with people to try and pass off as “content” and then pull a gun when it backfires, nothing good is going to result. Thats where the problem lies.”
I have not watched every clip of it from every angle. I agree that he did not make much effort to deescalate the situation but he appears to be on the defensive from the very start. Other words may have worked better, but he started with words, then tried putting distance between himself and the mob, one of them intentionally bumped/shoved him, and eventually cleared leather when there were many potential threats already within lethal distance.
Fleeing backwards into a street from an angry mob that has already been physical and is within striking distance seems like a damn good definition of a credible threat to me. Good luck to the DA finding 12 people to agree that he wasn’t in danger. 12 non BLM members that is.
Is a $500k/yr from CNN or other pseudo “media” that pass to become a “journalist?
You sure claim to know, first hand, a great deal about this guy and the riot of the special treatment class. Document it.
We don’t, in theory, have a credentialed journalist class in this country. Anyone who decides to investigate or report on anything for any type of publication — blog, web site, printouts stapled to telephone poles — is engaging in journalism. In this country, being an amateur journalist entitles you to the same rights and protections as any other journalist (or citizen). Amateur journalism is extremely important. It’s not something you want to “leave to the professionals.” Look where several decades of that has gotten us: the mainstream media are Democratic operatives with bylines.
We need to make an example of anyone who attacks someone for simply engaging in their right to free speech, or of the press, especially if the speaker is provocative. And we should thank those provocative people for the chance to provide object lessons for the thugs: no matter how mad someone makes you with their speech, it does not justify you physically attacking them. Do it, and go to jail.
This guy was betrayed by the system once. I don’t blame him at all for drawing before he got the crap beaten out of him again.
If the hecklers/thugs veto is allowed to rule in this country, our freedom is dead.
Pulling your gun should be a last resort and you should only present and use it to prevent imminent bodily harm or death.
If he was physically accosted, held down, or prevented from escaping the mob and the mob was aggressively closing in with intent to harm, then it would be reasonable to use deadly force as he would have disparity of force on his side.
But as far as I could tell, no one in the crowd brandished a weapon or lethal intent. He also had the means and opportunity to escape the entire time…
Putting himself in harms way repeatedly instead of escaping makes him an instigator or aggressor.
“If he was physically accosted, held down, or prevented from escaping”
George Zimmerman was physically accosted, held down and prevented from escaping and still wound up in court on a murder rap.
Here’s the only way to be sure that you’re not going to get criminally charged — let the BG kill you.
“Putting himself in harms way repeatedly instead of escaping makes him an instigator or aggressor.“
Absolute Bull Freaking Snot.
He was on a public street. Being in public is not instigating or being aggressive. This is what you are saying…that by BEING THERE, he was instigating.
How does that even work? This sounds like the ‘victim blaming’ that goes around…”Well, if she had not been out alone at 9pm, she never would have been raped. She caused her own rape!”
If your argument is that he was instigating by shouting racist slurs, that’s different and you should state your meaning clearly. But you actually said that simply because he did not LEAVE that he became the aggressor.
That is quite simply absurd.
This is the newthink – decent, honest citizens are to fear the reaction from a group who is apparently unable to control it’s violent tendencies. And the cops are gonna stand with their hands in their pockets – as ordered to.
Rights, schmights. Someone ‘upsets’ ghetto blacks who the progs swear are equal, yet in the same breath tell us we can’t actually expect ghetto blacks to behave like civilized human beings and follow the same laws as we expect ghetto whites to follow.
How racist is that?
“But you actually said that simply because he did not LEAVE that he became the aggressor.”
Not at all. I simply stated the journalist was willfully putting himself in harm’s way repeatedly by engaging the mob verbally even after it was obvious they had some aggressive people in there looking for a physical confrontation.
If this guy’s goal was to record himself in a justified self-defense situation, he went about it all wrong.
You can clearly see he wasn’t retreating out of fear for his life, he was grandstanding for the cameras and social media. Backing up at a snails pace and pointing at the faces of his “attackers” is the opposite of deescalation.
If he turned and walked or ran away immediately, he could’ve escaped the initial confrontation because they likely would not have expected that behavior, and he would’ve created distance. That would’ve been the smart thing to do, because if they pursued him, they wouldn’t have a defense — they would clearly be the aggressors giving chase.
Instead he was pointing fingers and yelling while walking away backwards slowly. Numerous times he was looking at cameras around him to make sure he was in frame before continuing to confront the two guys that were following him. That’s not deescalation. That is looking for a confrontation on camera.
And sure, violent behavior is unwarranted by the two guys accosting him. But they had no clear weapons. Where was the intent, opportunity, and capacity?
There was verbal yelling and pushing. Where was the imminent threat of bodily harm or death?
So lemme get this straight, they. were looking for a reason to break the law, so he should have not been there attempting to ‘provoke’ them.
You statist, racist trolls make me sick. He has the right to stand there and ‘provoke’ them however he chooses, they have no ‘right’ to assault him for that speech.
“So lemme get this straight, they. were looking for a reason to break the law, so he should have not been there attempting to ‘provoke’ them.”
Wow, you assume a lot. Who says “they” were looking for a reason to break the law? They looked like they were just being verbally confrontational. It was a protest after all. Kind of the point. No weapon was used or threatened by the BLM people in this scenario (at least nothing on camera). Following someone around in broad daylight without a weapon does not constitute an imminent threat of bodily harm or death. You need intent, opportunity, and capacity. All I saw was very mild version of opportunity when it looked like 2v1. But it didn’t escalate to actual violence. Just pointing and verbal sparring.
“He has the right to stand there and ‘provoke’ them however he chooses, they have no ‘right’ to assault him for that speech.”
So you admit he was provoking them. That is not how you start or maintain a self defense case. And that was my point.
Of course I think the BLM guy was being a dick. But that doesn’t mean you can pull a gun on any asshat you disagree without expecting ramifications from the legal system.
“If he was physically accosted, held down, or prevented from escaping…”
Have you ever tried pulling and using a gun once you’re at the point when you’re being held down?
It’s possible… but not likely to be successful.
Obviously I’m not saying you should wait till you’re in a compromised position. However, pulling your gun early has lots of legal blowback.
This scenario is a bit gray due to possible disparity of force, but the same intent, opportunity, and capacity requirements apply. A mob of 10 people walking towards or near you is not assault.
On the other hand, if someone had a knife or any weapon visible that they were brandishing, he would’ve been good to go.
The only scenario I can think of where this guy would be justified legally to pull his gun is if the two people that were following him were reasonably identifiable as fighters (think mma). But no weapon, no opportunity, no capacity = crappy self defense case.
Course the bail is moronic and the judge seems to have it out for this guy. Our great legal system at work.
Not guilty.
he did not pull his gun…he pulled and then pointed it…thus now an assault, which might not have been justified (dont know the law there – is it equal threat or perceived threat, etc?). sad part, if he pulled, but did not point, he probably still been arrested.
My CCW instructor had two things to say about George Zimmerman. The first was that the jury delivered the correct verdict in his trial. The second was that he was a fool for unnecessarily putting himself in a bad situation. I think the same applies to Mike Strickland.
Saint Louis, Missouri lies between our home and the home of our nearest relatives. We were planning a visit at the same time the Ferguson riots were going on and demonstrators were blocking interstate highways. Just prior to our travel date, I paid careful attention to news reports so that I could decide whether we should go out of our way to avoid the entire Saint Louis area. Better a couple of hours of extra driving than getting caught in our car in the middle of a riot.
For now, it’s not illegal to stupidly put yourself in a bad situation.
No matter where you were coming from or going to, it was a 20 minute detour to avoid any of the Ferguson nonsense.
Ah, Portland, the Little California of Oregon. Best we could do is to give it to Washington..
I carry regularly in Portland, in fact, I’m doing so right now. Dont pull a gun after starting a fight for blog content and you’re generally ok.
Don’t ever be provoke anyone black verbally in any way, you can’t expect them to be civilized and have a proper argument, as white folks are required to do by law. Got it.
Geez, no thank you, WA has more than its fair share of little Californias, we don’t need another.
“If I had been in Portland, I could easily have been in Mike’s spot, so it hits close to home.”
Yeah, sure Dean. Do you make a habit of immersing yourself in a belligerent mob and provoking them with accusatory questions while pointing a camera at them? Yeah, me neither.
This guy will have a tough time convincing a jury that there was an imminent, credible threat to his life. The threat may have been very real, but proving it is another matter.
Here’s the thing: There was no shortage of “journalists” at that event. All of them except Mr. Strickland managed to survive without the threat of ballistic intervention. The preponderance of the evidence here leads me to believe Mr. Strickland is the problem.
This exactly. I was downtown that day and this dude was trolling for a showdown of some sort to post to his blog. He played a stupid game and won the stupid prize.
Anyone know if he had a permit or not? Whether it was morally justified or not, if he didn’t have an Oregon permit he’s screwed.
His being in s place where he may not have intelligently been does not negate his reasonable dgu. Hell, he didn’t even shoot.
If they can’t take words without mobbing him, that’s their problem, “trolling blogger” our not
Short of him calling out racial epithets, he didn’t instigate a mob threatening him. And being grossly outnumbered IS a disparity of force in every CCW or training course I’ve ever attended. We have stand your ground laws so people DON’T have to run away as their only option. If journalists, bloggers or even mere citizens can’t cover protests, what’s the point of the 1st Amendment? If you can’t defend yourself when exercising your 1st Amendment rights then you don’t really have them, as you can be intimidated or killed.
A quarter of a million dollars for bail is outrageous. He didn’t injure anyone. Unless he attends another BLM March, he’s is unlikely to repeat this “offense”.
bail would be 25k.
A bondsman would charge him $25k. His bail would still be $250k.
Quite frankly, we have no idea what was done or said leading up to him clearing leather. What we can see is someone backing up, attempting to leave, and being pursued by a group or “mob” of people. The mob continues to pursue the man who is defending himself, even after presenting a firearm.
If they mob was reasonable they would have broken off once the firearm was presented, however being willing to die to make a point is likely not far from being willing to kill/grievously injure someone to make a point.
He was in a hostile environment that he did not have to be at, however that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a right to be in a public place just like anyone else. He also may have said some controversial and unwanted statements while present, which is a stupid thing to do. Again, not illegal, short of him making threats or possible “hate speech”, as vague as that term is. Eventually I’d expect we’ll see some full video account of what happened, either from the bloggers camera, or someone else’s, that will detail what led to the events as seen in the video above. It’s not a far stretch to believe that a protester may have said “get outta here before I kill you” or something to that effect prior to the video starts rolling above.
I’m not saying he’s right or wrong, simply that I don’t feel there’s enough information to pass judgement either way.
If a mob is coming for you, making violent threats against you, that is disparity of force for the use of self defense. I believe then he was in fear of his life, being threatened by a mob threatening grave bodily harm. If in fact that was what happened. The journalist should be able to prove he was justified in projecting deadly force. I feel while he is jail, at least he is not in a grave. The firearm may have saved his life.
I have lived in Portland most all of my life and it is not a gun friendly town due to all the new “liberal thinking” transplants from New York and California. He will see no fair trial here in the Portland vortex bubble. When I go target shooting, I cover my gun cases with black trash bags so not to get the local stink eye from the new Portland locals.
I’m kind of amazed at how many “she shouldn’t have worn that dress” comments there are from spineless, racially-cowed cucks in this thread.
Yup.
F#ck progs’ stink-eye. It’s a badge of honor.
Well, first off, I’m sorry you need to cover a gun case with trash bags, that is rediculous and crazy that it has come to that anywhere in the u.s. let me put it simply, me, skinny white boy, if were being advanced by a group of angry blacks, i would likely have let lead fly, i think the whole blm movement is just another load of “my ancestors were slaves and I’m pissed about it” bullshit, guess what, I’m quite irish, do your homework and you will see, my ancestors were slaves long before any black folk, don’t see me or any of my red-headed brothers raising a stink about it? Didn’t think so, anymore white folk are the minority, and all we get to hear about is the poor blacks, that have more rights than we could dream of, black history month is cool, but if we tried for a white history month, we are racist, blm is the big hit, what whites don’t matter too? Give me a fucking break, looks like blacks are winning the race war they supposedly never wanted, driveby’s and all, so quit with all the whining and bitching about how shitty it is to be black, life is good for people of color, getting harder for anyone of a white background to live a peacfull and prosperous life. This guy was kind enough not to end a life, that anyone who thinks clearly would say he would have been justified to do, let him out and leave him alone, without the second amendment there is no way to protect the first, or any other amendment for that matter.
Filming while white is as harmless as driving while black. Whether you would have done it or not is immaterial; he was perfectly within his rights to question people at a protest. And protests do not entitle participants to indulge in such things as the destruction of property, stopping traffic, interfering in business activity, and beating up people they don’t like.
I don’t know what the Oregon Law is about use of deadly force.
But he drew and pointed his weapon.
Whether he actually felt threatened with Great Bodily Harm is a Judgement Call.
Some states will allow you to do just draw your weapon to stop a threat.
In my state, you can’t draw your weapon and point it at
someone unless you shoot somebody.
Essentially, someone has to die if you pull your gun.
We are trying to get our state law changed so that you can just point your weapon
if that is all it takes to stop the deadly force but that has not happened yet.
Click on the link, read the whole story, see what active and retired law enforcement in Oregon have to say about why Strickland was well within his rights and donate as his bail has been set higher than that of murderers. Strickland is being persecuted, the politicians are pandering and sacrificing him to the Leftist hordes for votes.
Instead of buying a box of ammo this week take a stand, help Mike Strickland.
To help defray the costs of Strickland’s defense case, Oregon Firearms Federation is continuing to take donations at its Foundation with a credit card or via snail mail. Checks to the 501c3 organizations can be made out to Oregon Firearms Federation Foundation (marked Mike Strickland defense) and mailed:
PO Box 556
Canby OR
97013
503-263-5830
And that’s why you should be streaming video to the cloud or other such place with storing video as just a backup. With a “dead man’s switch” on the video to go to several outlets should “things happen” involuntarily.
Yeah, it could be pricey. But then again, 250k is pricey.
Edit to add: Use WiFi and stream to a nearby laptop/device and have a colleague who is out of the line of fire, so to speak, who can capture and if necessary, disseminate.
The message from .gov is clear; give the Obama thugs room to destroy, the streets belong to the Soros gangs.
So, to back him up, you are citing James O’Keefe, who is notorious for making false videos for political purposes? This damages the credibility of the story. Nothing James has done has held up.
Not even the ACORN scandal? Even though some of the details may have been disputed, it did give the much needed spanking to the organization.
got exactly what he deserved. You people are ridiculously scared of the real world. Step outside your computer screens. Black people and liberals are not out to get you. Stop waving your damn guns around and educate yourself with non-biased media.
Full disclosure, I’m a lefty Portlander, and supporter of B.L.M.’s right to peaceful protest and civil disobedience (not a popular view here, I know.) I’m also an Oregon CHL holder and a firm believer in the right to armed self defense, and I have to agree that this guy got exactly what he deserved. I’ve followed this closely, watched all the video I could find, and I just don’t see a credible threat. Some people (whom he had apparently provoked, but it doesn’t matter) were yelling at and arguing with him. Yes, they had flags. Yes, some of them were, gasp, black. Whatever bad experience he had in the past is completely immaterial. He could have left the scene at any time, and filed a complaint if he thought he was being assaulted (police HQ being about a block away). Strickland pulled out his pistol and waved it indiscriminately at a large crowd of people, most of whom were not engaged with him in any way. After a bunch of people told him to calm the f***k down and put the gun away (including one real journalist who showed actual courage and poise in a stressful situation), he holstered and continued to argue. One black marcher actually offered to go have a cup of coffee and talk things over. Amazingly, given that this happened right by PPB HQ, it was at least five minutes before he was arrested, though there were cops undercover in the crowd, which seems to have added to his charges, since he pointed his weapon at them. Imagine a black guy pulling a gun while filming a Trump rally. Reporters interviewed him before his arrest, and it was like he had his prepared statement – “I was in fear for my life, yada yada.” Again, I’m all for gun rights, but cowardly white dudes like Strickland ain’t helping one bit. This is my first comment of on TTAG in years, I was driven away by the near constant racism, and more than a little bit of misogyny. The right to self defense is not the right to pull your piece out every time your adrenalin surges, especially if you choose to put yourself in confrontational situations with tons of innocent bystanders around. All this talk of “He was white at a BLM march, his life was obviously in danger!” So were about a third of the people at that march!
If Strickland has a smart lawyer, he’ll plead to the misdemeanors, pay a big fine, and lose his CHL. Seems from an above comment that O.F.F. is already trying to make him a martyr, which is probably not in his best interest.
Not my intent to troll here, just to offer another perspective.
I’ll probably just go back to keeping my mouth shut and enjoying the gun reviews and technical stuff on TTAG.
This has nothing to do with your post, but I noticed you said you are a lefty and also believe in 2A. I’m curious if you plan on voting for Hillary. If so, that would contradict your belief system. I trust you are voting for Johnson.
@Mark, I live in Oregon, so probably my vote is purely a statement, and not an actual vote. Hillary was pro-gun (sorta, Annie Oakley etc.) before she wasn’t. Trump was anti-gun (sorta) before he wasn’t. I’m not a one issue voter, and mostly I’m anti-war. I’m a gun-toting peacenik. So yeah, I’ll probably go for Johnson. I’m also a tree hugger, but the Greens don’t quite have their shit together. No party represents my views. I am not alone, but I am mostly unwelcome.
Lotta “awaiting moderation.”
This guy wasn’t “threatened,” he’s just a cowardly pussy, and now he’s getting exactly what he deserves for waving a loaded gun at a bunch of random pedestrians.
Hillary, is that you?
Random pedestrians, my ass!
(With that, I will stop feeding the troll.)
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