Journalist Andy Ngo Recounts Brutal Beating at the Hands of Portland Antifa By Caroline Downey
Independent journalist Andy Ngo was brutally beaten late last month while reporting on an Antifa riot in Portland that was organized to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the group’s months-long courthouse siege. He described the incident in an exclusive interview with National Review.
The Friday demonstration organized by Antifa marked the one-year anniversary of the first outbreak of post-George Floyd violence in Portland, when activists stormed the local courthouse and set it on fire. After that first instance of violence, rioters dressed in Antifa’s tell-tale black bloc gear laid siege to the courthouse for more than 100 consecutive nights last spring, causing millions in property damage and hospitalizing dozens of police officers and federal agents dispatched to protect the property.
Ngo, who initially described the assault in a series of Tweets posted Thursday morning, has developed a reputation for going undercover to film leftist violence in the Antifa stronghold of Portland. He returned to the area the night he was assaulted to report on the commemorative chaos for a new chapter of his previously released book, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy.”
Masked and dressed head to toe in black, Ngo marched with the protestors for several hours to observe the destruction he was sure they would unleash. He wasn’t wrong; they hurled projectiles at law enforcement and the police station and committed other acts of violence. After some time, Antifa grew suspicious of Ngo, who wasn’t engaging in criminal activities alongside them, and turned on him.
Ngo said that four other journalists were standing by, but only started photographing when police arrived at the scene and never recorded any evidence of Antifa wrongdoing. He argued that there’s a small cabal of journalists who comply with Antifa rules to avoid the repercussions, such as assault or property theft. Ngo himself knows first hand the consequences meted out to journalists who report on the group’s wanton destruction; he was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage in 2019 after being attacked by an Antifa mob while reporting in Portland.
“You can’t even depend on establishment media, who are ostensibly neutral, because the journalists are sure not to disclose to viewers that they’re following these rules,” Ngo said.
Noticing that Ngo’s body language didn’t match that of the rioters, a member of the group approached him and asked “Can you see with those goggles on?” Ngo recognized the warning signs from his previous run-ins with the group and knew he had to evacuate. He hurried away, only to be confronted by another mob dressed in black just one block over. One member of the crowd then asked, “Why do you look so nervous?”
Ngo, now panicked, heard someone say “I think it’s him.” He started north, walking briskly, until more Antifa members caught up to him and demanded he remove his facial covering, Ngo said. When Ngo refused, someone pulled off his mask, exposing his identity. They yelled, “It’s him! Get him! Get him! It’s Andy!,” Ngo recalls.
After sprinting several blocks, flagging down traffic and running down the middle of the street, Ngo was viciously attacked by a member of the mob. The aggressor beat the back of his head repeatedly. Bleeding in several areas, Ngo managed to escape from his clutches and bolted away again, he said.
With many businesses in Portland boarded up in response to the constant destruction, Ngo said he had limited options for refuge at 11:30 p.m. He finally found shelter in the Nines Hotel, but upon entry was immediately asked to wear a mask and then exit, despite his many frantic pleas to “Call the police.”
“It felt like at any moment the hotel security were going to feed me to the wolves,” Ngo commented.
The angry crowd soon gathered outside the hotel, trying to break in, and a blonde-haired Antifa woman, who Ngo recognized from previous riots, ran inside to videotape the unfolding situation.
“Andy’s at the Nines Hotel,” she said, addressing the livestream she was hosting on her phone.
After hotel staff refused to call for help, the injured Ngo was led through an employee exit area, where an ambulance and police car were waiting to escort him to the emergency room.
At the hospital, a police officer interviewed Ngo to write-up an incident report. Ngo provided him with additional evidence after he was discharged, including the livestream video the Antifa woman recorded and photos he had snapped inside the hotel.
While Ngo received a call from the cop to confirm receipt of the information, he has yet to hear from the detective, who was tasked with investigating the incident and was supposed to gather surveillance footage from local businesses and follow up with Ngo. Almost a week after the event, Ngo has heard nothing else from the Portland Police Department. A department spokesman declined to comment on whether charges would be filed against Ngo’s attackers.
Ngo said that political violence has proliferated in Portland because the police are overwhelmed and strapped for resources, and his reporting is intended to highlight how Antifa capitalizes on the law enforcement vacuum. The city, which reduced police funding in response to political pressure last fall, has experienced an 800 percent increase in homicides since January compared to the same period in 2020, according to the Fraternal Order of Police.
When asked whether the repeated threats on his life have persuaded him to stop reporting on Antifa, Ngo said “If Antifa thinks I’m going to stop reporting on them, they’re wrong.”
“My reporting is probably the biggest threat to their existence. They’ve been selling a lie since 2015 that they are anti-fascist and anti-racist, but they’re not,” he continued.
“They’re an anti-government, anarchist insurrection movement, they carry out political violence against the state and citizens, and they have fundraising from crowd funding. I won’t let them win because that would show that terrorism works in a free country.” Ngo said.
When asked whether he plans to remain in Portland, Ngo stated, “I can never live in Portland again as my home.”
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