Democrats and their media lackeys are trying to find any way possible to blame the chaos and violence coming from their rioters on the federal government. But in the process of shifting the responsibility, they keep admitting the left is out of control.
In a moment of inconceivable stupidity or hubris, depending on how charitable you want to be, The New York Times (NYT) published its “five lessons” for cities like Portland, Chicago, and Memphis that have found themselves in President Donald Trump’s criminal crackdown crosshairs.
Each lesson started with one of these five sections: “‘A sudden escalation,’ ‘Extremists in the crowd,’ ‘A cause quickly forgotten, The president’s bully pulpit,’ and ‘An ‘isolated’ police force.’” The underlying theme is that this is a cautionary tale of what happens when the federal government (read the Trump administration) gets involved in chaos and disorder caused by the left’s organized violence.
Wow. In Oregon’s emergency lawsuit to prevent the President from sending troops to protect federal property, a disturbing email from @PortlandPolice Sergeant Andrew Braun (badge #56961) was included. In it, Braun blames the victims of Antifa violence for their own assaults and… pic.twitter.com/yhM73KrX0z
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) October 4, 2025
And while the author, Anna Griffin, urges left-wing rioters like Antifa to learn from their mistakes and not play into Trump’s narrative, she still blames federal agents and the Trump administration for escalating the situation. All of this without correctly identifying that the 2020 Portland riots were not caused by Trump or federal law enforcement and were already a full-scale, destructive storm before the White House intervened. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)
The primary blame for the violence during the 2020 Portland protests, much like what’s happening today, rests with the rioters themselves, particularly the subset of leftist anarchists and extremists (Antifa) who engaged in coordinated attacks on federal property and law enforcement.
Griffin claims federal intervention worsened the situation by supposedly drawing larger crowds, which invited counter-protesters (Antifa), and a communication breakdown between federal and local law enforcement. However, the evidence shows destructive acts were already rampant long before federal agents, including the most chaotic events involving deliberate, organized violence from rioters rather than a reflexive response to federal presence.
In July 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documented more than 50 nights of “coordinated violent attacks by anarchists” on government facilities, including the Hatfield Federal Courthouse. In September 2025, DHS documented rioters launching commercial-grade fireworks as weapons and using lasers to blind officers over the summer.
“In Portland, what we see is almost two months of coordinated violent attacks by anarchists against a federal courthouse and the federal law enforcement officers sworn to protect it,” DHS said in 2020.
ICYMI: @BillMelugin_ is on the ground in Portland, OR — where he witnessed violent clashes during anti-I.C.E. protests overnight. pic.twitter.com/XI9Yjew5fj
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) October 3, 2025
And Griffin, despite how hard she tried to do the opposite, admitted these rioters, not the federal government, turn cities into “tinderbox[es].” It’s not Trump or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who start the chaos, but the leftist vigilantes. (RELATED: ROOKE: Trump Admin and Democrats Are Playing A Potentially Deadly Game Of Merry-Go-Round)
Similarly, Democrat Oregon Rep. Maxine Dexter posted a video urging Portland “protesters” not to engage in Trump’s and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s “political theater,” accusing federal agents of “brutalizing peaceful protesters.” Dexter did Olympic-level heavy lifting in her video, trying to portray Portland rioters as innocent lambs being entrapped by the Trump administration.
Kristi Noem is in Portland today. She should see the real Portland—a city that’s peaceful and filled with people who care for one another. Instead of feeding Trump’s political theater, she needs to rein in the federal agents brutalizing peaceful protesters. pic.twitter.com/LYMvyBTpj8
— Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (@RepDexterOR) October 7, 2025
Still, the fact that she had to post a video asking leftist extremists to refrain from going near federal agents and buildings while Noem is in town is an admission they will be caught on video causing mayhem and destruction, fueling the narrative that the local government has allowed inmates to run the asylum.
NEW: Last night at the Portland ICE building, we witnessed anti-ICE protesters burning an American flag. @nicksortor then grabbed it from them, put the flames out, and took away what was left of the flag. Nick was arrested later in the night by Portland PD after videos appear to… pic.twitter.com/tQVjEEkLRw
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 3, 2025
Americans have watched in horror as Antifa and other similar groups turned Portland into a no-go zone. Not only are crime, homelessness, and drug use a daily occurrence, but violence and chaos in the name of left-wing causes are as well. While Democrats and their media friends try to shift blame to Trump, eyewitness accounts from the ground, including those from embedded reporters, highlight rioters’ proactive aggression, like using wire cutters on fences or throwing Molotov cocktails.
Blaming the government overlooks how local inaction and ideological extremism from groups like Antifa turned demonstrations into sustained riots that burn down cities. This pattern isn’t unique to Portland. Similar dynamics play out in other cities, such as Chicago, which is why the Trump administration is forced to intervene. Local governments are refusing to prevent the violent chaos.
And despite their best efforts, Democrats can’t help but admit their Antifa foot soldiers are responsible.
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