Over the weekend, Antifa reportedly attacked Christians, including children, during an open-air prayer event in Portland, Oregon.
On Saturday at noon, Christians convened at the prayer event, which was held at the Battleship Oregon Memorial in Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The event was organized by Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski, who made headlines earlier this year after he kicked out police and health officials imposing mask mandates at his church in Calgary, Alberta.
According to video footage by Andy Ngo of The Post Millennial, a large group of Antifa carrying shields and weapons arrived at the prayer event in an attempt to shut it down.
"Shocking video recorded in Portland show[s] a large group of antifa (sic) carrying shields & weapons move in to attack & shut down a family Christian prayer & worship event on the waterfront. Police did not intervene," Ngo tweeted.
A woman who attended the event described Antifa as "ruthless" as she detailed what had transpired.
"Antifa just rolled in like an angry mob, started throwing flash bombs at everybody, macing everybody ... rotten eggs," she explained. "They threw a flash bomb into a group of kids that were out there from four months old to like 10."
A woman attendee of the family Christian prayer event at the waterfront in downtown Portland describes what happened when antifa attacked them. pic.twitter.com/OtbHVftDor
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 8, 2021
Suspected Antifa members, who shouted profanities at the worshippers, also reportedly destroyed a sound system and other music equipment by throwing it in a nearby river.
One member, as heard in the video, says, "All cops are b*****ds in the name of Jesus, Amen."
Another member yelled, "Where is your God now?"
One male attendee explained that one of the pastors, who tried talking to the Antifa members, got sprayed in the face with mace.
"Walked up to ask them to stop throwing things at the children," he explained. "There's kids down there, I mean, they're toddlers, and they sprayed me too."
According to KOIN, members of The Proud Boys, a far-right group, clashed with Antifa members in downtown Portland following the religious event.
Portland police were criticized for their lack of intervention as no arrests have been made.
Portland Police Bureau spokesman Derek Carmon, however, told KOIN that both confrontations were made "prior to any police response."
"As the groups left, there was a report of another small fight that was over prior to police response," he explained. "No arrests were made, and no one came forward to report any crimes that we are aware of. Police had no interaction with either group today."
In a separate worship event on Sunday evening, alleged Antifa members also tried to invade a "Let Us Worship" event hosted by worship leader Sean Feucht. The event was held in the exact location as the Saturday prayer event.
Feucht, who has been hosting "Let Us Worship" events across the nation for at least the past year, noted that Antifa members were throwing projectiles at the stage.
"Though ANTIFA is surrounding us on both sides working to intimidate, God is setting people free!! KEEP PRAYING!!" he tweeted. "Needles, pills, drugs, blades, dope, marijuana being thrown on the stage!!!!"
Though ANTIFA is surrounding us on both sides working to intimidate, God is setting people free!! KEEP PRAYING!!
— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) August 9, 2021
Needles, pills, drugs, blades, dope, marijuana being thrown on the stage!!!!
🙏🏼😭 pic.twitter.com/0KW5ZRHaKu
Photo courtesy: Zach Savinar/Unsplash
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
