(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)Gabriel Johnson, 48, a retired Marine lives around the block from the epicenter of the Portland riots. After becoming sick and tired of the anti-American destruction in his own backyard, Johnson showed up to promote patriotism with his American flag. Well, the Antifa mob did not like that and followed him home, and that’s when the Marine made them regret it. You’ll love this.
For more than 50 nights, Gabriel Johnson, 48, a retired Marine, has been kept awake by the sounds of rioting and explosions taking place outside his window in Portland, Oregon.
After two months of enduring the nonsense, at 3 a.m. Sunday he had had enough, “at that point I [had] counted 82 explosions and just thought, you know, somebody has to do something.”
Living only a block away from the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland, which has become an epicenter of violence that has overtaken the city, Johnson marched into the chaos with his American flag in hand.
While he expected his actions would be divisive to some, the retired Marine was not prepared for the reaction he got.
“I was being called the N-word by Black people. People were chasing me around with baseball bats,” Johnson told Fox News.
“I counted 82 explosions. A house full of gas, I am on the twelfth floor here,” Johnson said. “It reminded me of being in Iraq.”
Gabriel Johnson, a black veteran was filmed holding the American flag in Portland, Oregon, this weekend while telling protesters, “None of you guys represent black lives.” https://t.co/xR7pUeM2It
— Tom T. ن®🇺🇸 (Also on Parler) (@VRWCTexan) July 20, 2020
While the Marine Corps veteran experienced many eye-opening events that night, there was one thing he saw that shocked him the most.
“Antifa has infiltrated Black Lives Matter,” Johnson said as he described a woman dressed in Black Lives Matter gear who showed him threatening footage of protesters following him back to his home, and letting him know they were keeping tabs on him.
According to Johnson, this woman was also holding an Antifa pen and was communicating with others via walkie-talkie.
“These people have nothing to do with Black lives. Our Black community leaders need to stand up and lead because what’s happening is they’re letting a group of terrorists that don’t represent me use me, and that’s not right,” said Johnson.
Another scene that left him in utter dismay was seeing a 65-year-old Black veteran attempt to stop the burning of Johnson’s flag, only to be beaten by alleged Black Lives Matter protesters.
“He said, ‘there’s no way you’re gonna burn this flag.’ That was followed up by Black Lives Matter, Black men, running after this man, punching him in his face, grabbing the flag and throwing it over the fence,” said Johnson as he emotionally recalled the horrific incident.
The lifelong Portland resident blames the destruction of his city on the inaction of local leadership.
“The lack of police response, city response, response from our mayor has just given free rein to holy hell to take place at that 11 o’clock hour to 3 in the morning.”
As for the federal officers who have been sent by the Trump administration into Portland over the past week to end the violence, Johnson doesn’t oppose the extra assistance.
“In absence of the local police what do we expect?” he said. “If we as a city aren’t going to police ourselves, then we should expect someone to come in and police for us.”
“I look at everything from a patriot’s point of view. I’ve spent a lot of time fighting for our country. And so my belief in and my patriotism for this country is unmeasured … I fought for this country and this is not what I fought for,” said Johnson.
On Friday, Johnson told Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy he wanted to use the American flag’s symbol of unity to “bridge the divide” and possibly start a dialogue with protesters.
“I think the message has been lost at this point with the onslaught of Antifa, their tactics — this has to stop,” he urged.
“Have you thought about moving out of Portland?” asked Doocy.
“This is my city,” Johnson replied. “I was raised here. I will not let a bunch of terrorist thugs run me out of my city.”
Gabriel Johnson is doing his patriotic duty. He doesn’t see himself as a hero. So, these Antifa thugs following him home and threatening him only confirm to the world that they are a Marxist organization using Gestapo tactics on Americans.
The Marine veteran is also pointing straight at the Democrat leaders. He totally debunks their claims that Trump is using his “stormtroopers” in some type of fascist move. Can you imagine 82 explosions going off near your home? You bet you would be calling on the president to send in federal agents to stop this mayhem.
