# So in Portland..."Free Speech Rally" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 4, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138 "2017-06-04T22:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/41 "2017-06-06T23:26:12Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > So… > > Were the anti-fascists protesting a “free speech rally”, presumably being held by pro-fascists? Is “free speech rally” the dog whistle for “fascist cook-out” or something these days? > > Just trying to piece this all together from the contextual clues in the discussion here. > > Or was it the anti-fascists who were holding the “free speech rally”, decrying how terrible fascism is and such? Really unsure whose side I’m supposed to be on, especially with “free speech rally” having been in scare quotes for the OP. Here’s what I interpreted the story as: you know how the guy who stabbed the three people aboard the Oregon tram yelled about free speech in court? I think the rally was a reaction in support of him. I could be wrong, but that’s how I took it this entire time. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/42 "2017-06-06T23:34:31Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Here’s what I interpreted the story as: you know how the guy who stabbed the three people aboard the Oregon tram yelled about free speech in court? I think the rally was a reaction in support of him. I could be wrong, but that’s how I took it this entire time. No, that is not at all correct. The rally was to show support for the oppressed christian majority in this country. “_Please let us speak out, everyone should just get along, Sharia law is the worst evil there is and we must fight it tooth and nail. Because, jesus._” The Max-train attacker had been at some of these rally things as a face in the crowd, but the organizers have disavowed him and his actions. They want to save muslims from islam. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/43 "2017-06-06T23:41:09Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The rally was to show support for the oppressed christian majority in this country. So, a group of insane deluded people staged a protest, and the fact that somebody who liked them was a murderous psychopath incited an angry group of other people to come out in force to protest their ignorant bigotry? And somebody threw something at the police at some point. Is this close? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/44 "2017-06-06T23:51:11Z")
No, I think antifa was going to face off with these guys anyway. The train incident was not a catalyst. The “free speech” guys are not racists at all, they just want the niggers to leave them (and their sisters) alone. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/45 "2017-06-07T00:19:10Z")
The “free speech rally” had been planned before the train stabbing incident. The “free speech” part of it was essentially alt-right people protesting for their right to be bigoted without suffering consequences for their words or actions. The mayor of Portland, in a well-intentioned but poorly thought out and stupid move, asked for their permit to be revoked after the murders because of the strong emotions and therefore potential for violence. As noted, this was exceptionally idiotic for him to do because it fed directly into their complaints about lack of free speech. He was rightly rebuffed in this attempt to shut down the protest. The counter-protesters, of whom antifa is a small percentage, would have been out anyway. The murders swelled those numbers and amped up emotions on everyone’s side. The train killer had previously marched with the alt-right group carrying nazi flags, a bat, and shouting racist things. The alt-right organizers now say they disavowed him, but they didn’t seem to be working to hard to get rid of him at previous rallies. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Sanchez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rick\_Sanchez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Sanchez)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/46 "2017-06-07T00:19:36Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I’m showing my ignorance, but what is Antifa? Antifa is short for “Anti-fascist”, but don’t let the name fool you. They’re violent thugs who beat up people they disagree with. Antifa are as authoritarian as they come, and are anti-fascist in the same way that the Democratic Republic of North Korea is a democracy. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/47 "2017-06-07T00:55:33Z")
> [@Rick\_Sanchez](#): > > Antifa is short for “Anti-fascist”, but don’t let the name fool you. They’re violent thugs who beat up people they disagree with. Antifa are as authoritarian as they come, and are anti-fascist in the same way that the Democratic Republic of North Korea is a democracy. And it seems that they stop short of all the ‘killing people on trains’ bullshit that their opponents provide the civilized world with. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/48 "2017-06-07T01:16:32Z")
I know not who threw what at police. I only know that… in a perfect world… it would have only been… Convfefe… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/49 "2017-06-07T01:21:18Z")
Danny Trejo is Covfefe in…Covfefe. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/50 "2017-06-07T02:01:17Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Danny Trejo is Covfefe in…Covfefe. Tag Line Trailer- In a world of Walls… _insert clip_ Russian Spies… _insert clip_ and Traitors In The White House… _insert clip_ …its come down this… _insert long fight scene clip_ “If ever a Man from Mexico was Pissed at Covfefe… its Danny Trejo…!” Trejo turns to camera, angry, “I will _Own-Us_ some _POTUS_, Pendejos…!” A Quentin Tatarntino Production… ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138/51 "2017-06-07T14:05:24Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I’m showing my ignorance, but what is Antifa? Thank you for asking. I was wondering why some woman named Antifa was so controversial. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-in-portland-free-speech-rally/788138.md?page=2)