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Christopher David, a 53-year-old disabled Army veteran, was so angry to see federal officers sweeping protesters on the last nights on the streets of Portland, Oregon, that he decided to go talk to them about it.
The city resident, who served more than eight years with the U.S. Navy, hopped on a public bus on Saturday and addressed a protest in front of the city court hoping to ask them some questions. .
“I was furious simply because I didn’t think they were taking their oath seriously or were compromising their oath,” said David. The independent. “So I actually fell because I wanted to talk to them about it.”
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However, his advances were rejected and he was the victim of a brutal attack that was captured on video and went viral on Sunday.
In the video, first shared by a reporter from the Portland grandstandMr. David is seen receiving a series of baton hits from a federal agent, without reacting to any of them, before he is finally forced to back off by pepper spray on his face.
“I stood firm at that point and stayed there … I did nothing provocative. They just started hunting me for whales, and I left them, ”said David.
“I probably could have gotten a lot more stick hitting if they hadn’t sprayed pepper spray on my eyes,” he added.
The use of federal agents to quell protests in Portland has drawn strong criticism from local and national leaders. Federal officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Protection Service from the Department of Homeland Security have been deployed to Portland by order of the Trump administration.
Their mandate was to protect federal buildings, but they have been accused of driving unmarked cars and driving people off the street in recent days in the city, which has seen nightly protests for racial justice since the police murder of George Floyd.
David detailed how federal officials exited the court building on Saturday night and immediately began “pushing people down at the intersection.”
“It was just chaos,” David said of the moment. “It was then that I wanted to approach them and speak to them because they did not fulfill their oath.”
Did any of you enlist? Why don’t you keep your oath of office? Mr. David yelled at the officers at the noise of the crowd.
The moment was described as chaotic by David because officers were already taking “aggressive” and “crazy” measures against protesters within minutes of leaving court.
“There didn’t seem to be any design, strategy or plan for what they were doing,” he said. “It was weird. It almost seemed like they were scared. “
The images then showed Mr. David standing in front of the officers with his hands at his sides. He carried nothing in his hands and only carried a backpack with his ID and wallet.
Then an officer started hitting him with a cane when another sprayed a pepper spray into his eyes, encouraging the man to finally walk away from federal agents and head back toward the crowd.
The moment went viral after it was first shared on Twitter, with people calling David “Captain Portland” and congratulating him on not moving when officers used aggressive force.
“That guy is a brick. And wow. I can’t believe this is how someone harmless-looking is treated, ”wrote a Twitter commenter after viewing the images.
The images stopped with Mr. David walking away, but that was not the end for him.
A street doctor named Tav, who uses the pronouns they / they, helped draw the man away from the crowds because the pepper spray left him struggling to see. Then, with the help of friends, the doctor took Mr. David to an ambulance to be taken to the nearby VA hospital.
Although the altercation with the officers was brief, the moment left the man’s hand severely damaged after a baton hit his knuckles.
“It is quite damaged. I’m probably going to have to have surgery, ”said David.
It was in the emergency room that David discovered that he had become a viral star for his confrontation with federal agents.
“I exchanged phone numbers with Tav so that I could call them later and thank them for rescuing me from the park,” he said. Tav was the one who called him and revealed that everyone was now referring to him as “Captain Portland” after the altercation.
“I didn’t have a damn idea,” he added.
State and local officials have spoken out against the Trump administration for using federal agents to quell the protests. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has called for agents to be removed from the city, calling their use “a direct threat to democracy,” but the Trump administration has not moved.
In a tweet published Sunday, Trump claimed that his administration was trying to “help” Portland, not “hurt him.”
“We must protect federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE. These were not simply protesters, these are the real deal, “he wrote.
But residents like David saw the administration’s response as an effort to create discontent in “any big blue city.”
“This is only the first domino to fall,” he said. “She’s trying to see how far she can go in Portland and create some kind of model for other cities so that she can cause enough chaos and discontent to try to win the election again. All of this is duplicating in its strategy of division and chaos. ”
David admitted that there were protesters who displayed more aggressive behavior during Saturday night’s protest, including knocking down fences outside the courthouse and placing them against front doors. But how federal officials responded, he said, was not justified.
“His response is incredibly disproportionate and is designed to incite anger, division, chaos and riots,” he said of federal agents. “That is the only reason they are here. They are not trying to stifle the city or dominate it. They are trying to cause chaos, because this is how Trump operates. “
Despite the injury to his hand, David was considering attending another protest in Portland. But now he’s considered using his voice in different ways after his altercation with the officers.
“I would do it again, but sometimes I have to listen to other people’s best advice,” he said. “I am 53 years old and I am not indestructible.”
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