A lefty Portland videographer, who goes by the nom de guerre “Mike Bluehair,” has told police for the second time that reporter Mike Strickland pulled a gun on protesters in self-defense. Bluehair told a detective at the scene the night of the incident at the Black Lives Matter protest that Strickland drew his weapon in self defense and reiterated the same in a follow up phone interview. Bluehair recorded the conversation which is below.
Bluehair has taken the most compelling video seen so far of the moments during and right after the Portland reporter drew a weapon and pointed it toward protesters converging on him. Strickland’s own video, which he says exonerates him, has been seen neither by the public, nor at this writing that we’re aware, by district attorney investigators. Strickland has been in jail since July 8th and will be in court tomorrow to answer to two felonies and two misdemeanors relating to unholstering his weapon at the protest.
The charges, which were increased at his first hearing, are being seen more and more as being transparently politically motivated by anti second amendment Multnomah County prosecutors.
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PORTLAND POLICE INTERVIEW ME ABOUT MICHAEL STRICKLAND https://t.co/1nxdExAzYF via @YouTube
In one exchange, Bluehair even drew a picture for Officer Sarah Taylor on why Strickland drew his weapon:
Officer Sarah Taylor: You don’t get the sense that he was out of control.
Mike Bluehair: No, he was being very measured. … If you look at my video off to the left, you can clearly see a guy, seconds before he pulls a gun out –rather large black gentleman — drop a back pack and move in towards him quickly.”
And, as I’ve reported previously, black bloc protesters also came at Strickland with their flagstaffs.
Here’s one guy showing how they’re used:
Mike Bluehair also told Officer Taylor that others in the crowd felt Strickland was in danger too:
“Some of the people who helped Strickland feel safe, believe it or not, were anarchists. I have a friend that was in black bloc attire that was there that turned around and helped me keep the crowd from Strickland.
Like I said, I think he [Strickland] was feeling the need for self-protection, but I didn’t see what happened leading up to that. There will be testifying that I know about the situation.
I think he was being very measured and controlled in his movements. He put the thing in his retention holster, or whatever, when he felt that there was no danger.”
Strickland also believes that Mike Bluehair was trying to warn him before the incident happened. I asked Mike Bluehair about that. Here’s what he said:
“I told him something to the effect of watch his ass or some such. I don’t remember the exact words I used. That said, I’m pretty sure his camera was rolling When I said that. People in that crowd looked more Agro than usual.Thanx Victoria for covering mikes story. I wish people would get to through their thick skulls that if we don’t stand up for mikes liberty we are ultimately eroding our own. [sic]”
Bluehair sent me his video of the conversation he held with a Portland Police Bureau officer. See it below.
He also told the cop:
“I can pass along the names of two individuals that saw the entire thing. And they’re both willing to, you know, testify as to what they saw.”
I asked him for information on the two and he demurred.
The officer on the call told Mike Bluehair that she was glad for his “impressions” of what happened but felt some of what he said was hearsay.
At this point, I have to shake my head. In court, the District Attorney used worse than hearsay — let’s call it derivative hearsay — to increase the charges against Strickland. She took the word of a leftist protester who was pissed off at Strickland over texts he sent. The protester labeled Strickland a “white nationalist” who sent him “possibly race based threats.”
Because of the protester’s conjecture about why Strickland asked them particular questions about a previous protest, he was labeled a racist and the district attorney’s office used that hearsay to increase the charges against him — perhaps destroying his career and livelihood. Worse, costing him his freedom.
Strickland sits in jail on $250,000.00 bail on trumped up additional charges because someone got their feelings hurt.
Strickland will be in court for a bail hearing Monday at 1:30.
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