Man Pulls Gun on Crowd of Portland Protesters
Andrew Dymburt, KOIN 6, July 8, 2016
Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Portland and cities across the United States following fatal shootings by police in Baton Rouge and Minnesota.
One person was arrested after drawing a gun on the crowd but no shots were fired. Police were not there when he pulled the gun, but acted quickly once they heard the commotion. They had him on the ground in cuffs within 2 minutes.
The man said he pulled his gun because people were coming at him and he was outnumbered.
“I’m backing up, they kept coming towards me. They kept coming towards me. That’s why I drew. I was outnumbered, they were pushing and shoving me, they were using their flagstaffs as weapons. I was backing up, they kept coming towards me. I feared for my life they had weapons,” he said.
Former mayoral candidate and Portland activist Jessie Sponberg talked the man, later identified as Michael Strickland, into putting his weapon away. Most people did not realize what was going on and continued to approach him while his gun was drawn.
Strickland, 36, was booked for menacing and 2nd-degree disorderly conduct. He will be arraigned on Friday.
The crowd marched through downtown, and returned to Pioneer Courthouse Square, chanting “Black Lives Matter.”
[Editors note: This is a very misleading article. As is clear from the video below, BLM agitators were pushing Mr. Strickland and knocked him to the ground because he was not sympathetic to the protest.]
