Shouting 'Hands up, don't shoot' and 'I can't breathe,' more than 100 mostly black protesters disrupted Oregon Senator Ron Wyden’s town hall meeting and forced it to shut down
The ‘peaceful’ protesters forced their way into a town hall meeting at Portland Community College's Southeast Campus by threatening to break a campus cop’s jaw. The meeting had been planned by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden to discuss issues with constituents and to award a 100-year-old WWII navy veteran some medals. Following 'Hands up, don't shoot' and 'I can't breathe’ shouts, Wyden was able to present the medals.
However, the shouting continued and one protester announced “we are going to take time to pay respect to everybody who has been killed by police in this nation,” and another insisted the meeting “belongs to the black people.” Wyden then shut down the meeting. But afterwards the far-left senator made a statement that seemed to excuse the lawlessness of the protesters, saying they were exercising their First Amendment rights.
‘SHOW A LITTLE RESPECT’: 100-YEAR-OLD NAVY VETERAN WINS A LEGION OF FANS AFTER HE TAKES ON ANTI-COP PROTESTERS AT MEDAL CEREMONY
Black protesters shouted down Navy veteran Dario Raschio in his moment of honor and those who came to discuss issues with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden applauded when Raschio scolded them to 'show a little respect'
By David Martosko
Mail Online
January 5, 2015
A senator's town hall meeting in Portland, Oregon was called off early on Saturday after anti-police and minimum-wage-hike protesters shouted down a 100-year-old U.S. Navy veteran's medal ceremony,
Shouting 'Hands up, don't shoot' and 'I can't breathe,' more than 100 mostly African-American activists jousted verbally with hecklers from the audience who were assembled for a dialog with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden – and to honor Dario Raschio.
When the ensuing chaos reached a fever pitch, the centenarian Raschio took the microphone to scold the protesters.
'Give me a chance,' the soft-spoken vet said. 'Let's show a little respect for this occasion.'
'God bless America. And you people who are here for a cause, whatever it might be – show respect to Senator Wyden,' he urged, bringing an eruption of applause from the audience.
But the boisterous chants grew so loud – including shouts for a $15 minimum wage and the end of U.S. military intervention in the Middle East – that the meeting was disbanded 45 minutes after it was scheduled to begin.
Raschio's medal presentation was the only part of the day's agenda that actually happened.
The senator awarded him the U.S. Naval Aviator Badge, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the "Ruptured Duck" award and the U.S. Navy Honorable discharge pin.
He also received a flag that was flown over the U.S Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Wyden never got a chance to conduct his planned question-and-answer session with the public.
But the liberal stalwart seemed unperturbed, telling The Oregonian that 'the symbolism of having a veteran, 100 years old, who fought so gallantly so that those who disagree with government policies and want to exercise their First Amendment rights could be heard – that's what made today so poignant.'
Wyden is a far-left politician who has leveraged organized protesters in the past to help him pass legislation.
Campus public safety officers attempted to keep some of the protesters outside the building at Portland Community College, drawing threats from one of them.
'I'll bust your jaw, old man!' he shouted in an exchange caught on video.
Another argued with an officer who asked if there was 'a possible way that we could get on with the meeting.'
'No,' she said. 'We're taking over the town hall. This is our town hall now. ... it belongs to the black people.'
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