A Way to Douse Oregon?

Writing about the recent beating of journalist Andy Ngo by Antifa thugs in Oregon, George Parry offers a solution in an American Spectator piece. The former state and federal prosecutor notes parallels between the license granted to Antifa by Portland's government with that given the Ku Klux Klan by the government of Jim Crow-era Mississippi (and dramatized in the 1988 film, Mississippi Burning). Here is the crux of the legal portion of his argument:

Not only is the group's name highly ironic, the emblem on this flag reminds me of the pointed masks favored by Klansmen. (Image by Old White Truck, via Wikipedia, license.)

[W]hether Antifa acted under color of law under [18 USC] Section 242 or whether the mayor of Portland or other city officials can be held criminally responsible for those acts depends on the degree to which Antifa and the City of Portland combined, conspired, confederated, or agreed to promote or permit Antifa's campaign of terror and intimidation. To be sure, unlike the outrageous direct involvement of the Mississippi law officers in the murders of Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman, there has been no suggestion that Portland police actively joined in Ngo's beating. But the question remains whether or not Portland's hands-off-Antifa policy was part and parcel of a conspiracy to allow Antifa freedom to threaten, oppress, intimidate, and deprive others of their civil rights.

In that regard, the bad news for Portland is that such a conspiracy can be proven without direct evidence of a formal agreement. In fact, most conspiracy cases involve an informal agreement that can be legally inferred from circumstantial evidence. On that basis, the facts and circumstances of how and why the City of Portland has allowed Antifa's masked thugs to prowl its streets while wearing masks, brandishing weapons, and threatening others warrant investigation by federal law enforcement. In particular, it should be determined whether there was a nexus between Portland's hands-off-Antifa policy and the attack on Andy Ngo.

In addition to criminal liability, Portland may also be answerable in money damages if it can be proven that its official policy regarding Antifa was a substantial factor in bringing about Ngo's injuries... [bold added]

It is alarming (to say the least) that governments like Portland's are allowing this to happen, but heartening to know that we have defeated worse in the past. I am not an attorney, but Parry's particular idea seems worthwhile to me. More important, I fully agree with his (more general) call for the federal government to hold accountable officials -- such as those in Portland -- who invite such atrocities.

-- CAV