Chris David, of Portland, was struck repeatedly by federal officers’ batons during a downtown rally on Saturday.
Christopher David is not the man of steel.
The Portlander earned that and other nicknames — some call him “Captain Planet” or “Supersoldier” — after he stood as solidly as a rock while federal officers pepper sprayed him and struck him at least five times with a baton during a rally outside the Hatfield Courthouse on Saturday, July 18.
Of the attack, captured on video by the Portland Tribune, David says he “just took it.”
“I knew I was never going to react. I was never going to fight back,” he said. “I’m a little too old to be beaten by a bunch of young guys.”
David, 53, is hardly an anti-establishment type. He says he attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland after high school, later serving with the Navy Seabees while becoming a commissioned officer and aeronautical engineer.
Federal police strike protester with baton, use pepper spray and tear gas outside courthouse in Portland pic.twitter.com/VX2xTVaaYq
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) July 19, 2020
The unmatched series of protests here have waxed and waned for more than 50 nights, but Saturday’s rally was David’s first, his attendance spurred by reports of unmarked vans snatching protesters off the streets without due process.
He arrived around 8 p.m. and was just planning on leaving when federal officers burst out of the bricked-up front of the courthouse around 10:45 p.m.
David said he slowly approached the officers, hoping to engage them in dialogue.
“I felt these gentlemen were violating their oath of office, and I wanted to talk to them,” he explained.
Things didn’t go according to plan.
As some federal officers rushed to push down makeshift barricades propped against the outer doors of the courthouse, one officer pushed David back. He stood stock still as several more officers swarmed forward, striking him with a baton and pepper spraying him. David says he lost his vision momentarily, due to the spray and clouds of tear gas engulfing the park.
…..
He sat down on a park bench, before being pulled back from the flashpoint by a street medic, Tav, who treated David and ensured that he was taken by an ambulance to the hospital. David says he has two fractures in his hand, and while it’s currently in a splint, he is expecting to need surgery later this week.
After a flurry of attention, David is hoping life will soon return to normal. While he never did speak with the camouflaged feds, he hopes they hear his message:
“That oath of office is essentially swearing loyalty to the Constitution of the United States, and what they’re doing is not constitutional anymore.”
- Discussion
-
Navy vet Chris David wanted to talk to police in Portland.
Instead, he was beaten. He hopes the feds still listen:
"That oath of office is essentially swearing loyalty to the Constitution," he says, "and what they're doing is not constitutional anymore"https://t.co/3MnjGWnxdj
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) July 19, 2020Portland is how it starts. pic.twitter.com/RgWWRujfqy
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 19, 2020
The Russians are coming! Are these Putin's little green men in Portland? So much for the old joke that in the USSR the police demand your papers while in the USA you demand the police's papers. https://t.co/k6Oojwscac
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) July 19, 2020
Yes. This. We all need to raise our voices now—the use of a federal, interagency shadow “police” force that functions outside the law is not something we can ever, ever accept in America.
— Jesse Damiani (@JesseDamiani) July 19, 2020
Beating a Navy veteran for asking Barr’s troops to remember their oath to the Constituion. This is what thrills the Trump chorus at Fox, ONAN, Sturmbart, Federalist, etc.
The performative cruelty is the point. It’s what’s left of Trump’s election strategy. https://t.co/1aDpYwwRhI
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 20, 2020
Every single GOP lawmaker should be bombarded with questions from journalists, about federal agents' unprovoked assault against Navy veteran Chris Davis, and whether they condone these actions by POTUS.
They should also be bombarded by constituent calls.
— Rogue POTUS Staff (@RoguePOTUSStaff) July 20, 2020
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.