A popular McMinnville church has canceled a May 1st fundraiser for Michael Strickland because of the outcry of a Portland protester.
A member of the Church on the Hill in McMinnville organized a concealed carry handgun class fundraiser at the church. Funds raised would go to Strickland’s defense fund at the Oregon Firearms Federation. (Please go and donate here.)
Strickland, a freelance journalist, drew his legal, licensed concealed hand gun while covering a Black Lives Matter/Don’t Shoot PDX march and rally July 7, 2016.
After covering the event for awhile, Strickland was assaulted by a group of protesters who admitted in court they conspired to throw him out. They assaulted him once and then came back after him. Strickland was forced to draw his weapon to stop the protesters who converged on him. The mob came from three sides in order to attack and stop him from covering the rally.
Rightly believing he was in danger, Strickland swept the black bloc attired mob, without his finger on the trigger, to stop the threat coming at him from the left. He then protected his right flank, sweeping the people converging on him from the front.
His self defense move worked long enough for him to back away from the mob. When he got to relative safety, he surrendered to police–who had just arrived about a block away.
Initially Strickland faced only a couple of misdemeanors. Then, outrageously, the Multnomah County DA’s office overcharged Strickland with ten felonies and eleven misdemeanors for defending himself. More outrageously, the DA’s office used the self same attackers as “victims” in Strickland’s act of self defense.
The real victim here, of course, is Strickland who in February was convicted of all 21 charges after a week long trial. He’ll be sentenced in May. There will be an appeal.
According to executive pastor Jeff Cox, the Church on the Hill has allowed several groups to hold CHL classes in the past, but this one was different.
Pastor Cox told me that they canceled the event because Portland protesters got a whiff of the event.
Correction, make that one protester got a whiff of the event and wrote an email of complaint:
The emailer wrote:
“Why would you allow a fundraiser for a convicted felon who stalked african americans [sic] and women and pulled a gun on a crowd to be held at your church?”
Aside from the fact that the emailer lied about “stalking African Americans” “women” and that Strickland pulled a gun on what he hoped to convey was an ‘innocent crowd,’ the only thing true about this email is that Strickland was convicted in a hyper partisan Portland courtroom.
It was enough to spook the the church that has had its share of bad publicity lately.
Pastor Cox told me that he thought the fundraiser was for a “cancer patient or something” and didn’t realize there was anything political about the event. Of course, there really wasn’t — except in the minds of the leftists who have tried to ruin Strickland’s life by charging him in a bogus criminal proceeding and saw the effort to help him as an affront to their political views.
Cox said he wanted to clarify that there were no massive amounts of protesters threatening the church. Maybe that was a way to salve the concerns of his parishioners who were afraid of the out-of-control protester culture would invade their bucolic town.
Interesting, the event he canceled, perhaps for the safety of his flock, represented the very reason why there needed to be a fundraiser to help the victim of the same protesters.
You don’t need to look far to find the outrageous and violent antics by Portland’s protester crowd to understand his reticence:
Anti-Trump protest becomes a ‘riot’ in Portland, Oregon
Demonstrators have taken to the streets across the US for a second day to vent their anger over Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. They fear the b…
However, it’s understandable if church leaders were concerned about inviting the violent behavior of Portland protesters.
Recently, frequent protester Jessie Sponberg was with the usual band of scarf covered thugs and admitted to cold cocking a counter protester reading Bible verses at the Portland airport, knocking him out and sending him to the hospital.
People have had it up to here with the thugs overrunning the streets, blocking the freeways and stopping them from catching their airplanes because the snowflakes are butthurt over whatever the cause du jour is.
One photographer captured an angry woman confronting a black bloc attired protester in downtown Portland who was blocking the street. She used the only weapon she had to go after him – a bottle of Tide:
In the last few days in Portland, the story about a man being attacked by a protester, during which the protester ripped the man’s glasses off his face, resulted in these comments by people disgusted with the unchecked violence by these thugs.
A commenter called “OregonJelly” observed the obvious problem with the leftist protesters:
OregonJelly 11 hours ago
… Personally, I think the larger danger is the violence and intimidation this crowd tends to exhibit towards anyone who disagrees with them. They defend the right to protest, while denying the same rights to anyone who doesn’t share their beliefs. The hypocrisy of activist leaders nullifies any good intentions they may have had.
And this one from “ThoseArePeopleWhoDied” said someone should stop the rampant street violence:
ThoseArePeopleWhoDied 16 hours ago
Once a protestor or anyone for that matter, lays hands on someone, drop the hammer on them. That’s a huge step up from blocking streets, disrupting public meetings, or vandalizing cars. That’s a line that’s gotta be drawn.
And later that commenter cited the Strickland case:
ThoseArePeopleWhoDied 21 hours ago
@0zymandias Lay a hand on someone and take their property (something as personal as eyeglasses to boot) and pay the price…which is felony robbery. DA didn’t have any trouble laying 13 [sic] felony counts of unlawful use of a gun on Michael Strickland for pointing a gun at these kind of super-peaceful protestors when they tried to give him a group hug. Even-handed I’d say.
And then there are the myriad property crimes that have gone unchecked by the Portland leadership:
I’ve asked the church emailer if he would like to write up a 500-800 word essay outlining his problem with Strickland, but either that’s a phony email address or he is confining his writing, bad as it is, to complaint emails and attempted to send disgusting comments to this website.
Meantime, this latest lone wolf protester needs to be answered by making as large a donation to Strickland’s defense fund as possible. Strickland’s sentence and his appeals process is just around the corner. This couldn’t be more important.
A new fundraiser for Strickland will be announced soon.
And let’s not forget: if you capitulate to one keyboard warrior, you’re a bigger loser than he is. We’ve got to be made of tougher stuff to help right this travesty of justice.
Previous posts about this case:
Perjury: Counting All the Times Ben Kerensa Lied on the Stand in Strickland Gun Case, Part 1
Seldom Seen Video of Mob of “Victims” Surrounding Strickland Before He Draws Weapon in Self Defense
Oregon Firearms Federation Responds to Strickland Gun Conviction
Here’s What 4 Cops & a 2-A Activist Saw When They Watched ‘Man Pulls Gun on PDX Protesters’ Video
Violent Protesters Show EXACTLY Why Strickland Carried Gun to Cover Protests
‘He Makes Fun of Us:’Reason Why Anarchists Conspired to Attack Strickland at Portland Protest
Bomb Threats, Activism, Anarchy: ‘Victim’ in Strickland Gun Case Is a Convicted Liar
Witness Against Strickland In Gun Case Is Federal Felon; Anarchist
Strickland Hearing Today & the Defense Has a Surprise for the DA
Strickland Indicted on Gun Charges; Ham Sandwich Next In Line
Strickland’s Gun Case Similar to Portland Case That Just Ended In Not-Guilty Verdict
The Exoneration of Portland Citizen Journalist Mike Strickland, ‘Laughing at Liberals.’
Citizen Journalist James O’Keefe Spotlights Mike Strickland Case
Here’s What 4 Cops & a 2-A Activist Saw When They Watched ‘Man Pulls Gun on PDX Protesters’ Video
Watch This Guy Advance on Mike Strickland Right Before He Pulled Gun At BLM Protest
