Protester arrested. Are you still surprised by the news? Before you make any judgments, let's look at what happened in the Portland rally below.
Protester Arrested: Did He Deserve It?
On August 22, in downtown Portland, city police arrested a far-right protester who brandished a weapon at anti-fascist protestors in a threatening manner.
Though no one was killed, the arrest (perhaps predictably) made headlines.
Indeed, this arrest has sent the usual debate attacks flying from either side of the politically charged subject.
Let’s review the arrest and take a closer look at what happened to determine what might develop as a result.
The Rally and Arrest
Alan swinney pulls a gun on the crowd. No shots fired. pic.twitter.com/f0jKX6nmNv
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) August 22, 2020
Everything started on the afternoon of August 22, 2020.
Protesters had gathered in the morning throughout downtown Portland to protest fascism, the police, and various other subjects depending on who was asked by local media sources.
As with many protests and rallies, things had the potential to escalate out of control, but the police kept a tight lid on things for a while.
It wasn't until far-right protesters arrived to harass and attack the anti-fascist side of the rally that things began to get ugly.
Due to reported staffing shortages, the police did not intervene when far-right protesters began using baseball bats and paintball guns to start assaulting their political opponents.
But the police were forced to intervene when Alan James Swinney, a 50-year-old man from the Portland area, drew a gun and began pointing it at protesters.
Swinney announced himself as a member of the Proud Boys: a far-right organization and designated hate group that engages in street violence quite frequently.
They're the opposite of responsible or respectable conservatives who know the danger and power of firearms and give many gun rights advocates a bad name.
By brandishing a gun and waiting around, Swinney caused the police to descend upon him quickly and arrest him for the unlawful use of a weapon, multiple assault charges, and for pointing a firearm at another person.
Immediate Aftermath
Of course, social media quickly blew up as people on both sides began flinging virtual mud. Liberals accused all gun owners of holding similar views as Swinney (a blatantly untrue assertion). Meanwhile, some far-right protesters continued their attacks in the online space.
Swinney, for his part, is still being held at the Multnomah County Jail. He’ll likely be sentenced to some months in prison since he didn’t actually hurt anyone or discharge the firearm. However, his trial has not yet been held and there isn’t any indication as to whether the trial will be widely reported or forgotten by the time it finally gets to court.
What Does This Mean for the Greater Gun Control Debate? 
Unfortunately, Swinney’s actions are bad optics for gun rights activists across the country.
Not only is Swinney allegedly associated with a far-right hate group, but he also spewed lots of pro-Trump cheers as he threatened protesters and was taken away.
Anyone reasonable understands that gun owners are, by and large, not like Swinney at all. Indeed, most gun owners are responsible and safe with their firearms.
Hunters, sportsmen, and patriotic Americans who own a firearm only for self-defense should not be associated with Swinney in any way, shape, or form.
Yet it’s likely that they’ll be associated with him regardless.
Today’s political landscape is extremely volatile, and people enjoy painting others with broad brushes.
Pro-gun activists and Second Amendment originalists will need to be sure to disavow Swinney and his reckless actions (for he could have easily killed somebody instead of just threatening them).
In the meantime, the gun control debate will likely continue to heat up until after the November election.
Only then, when things are decided one way or another, will people calm down enough for more reasonable discourse to dominate once again.
What's your take on Swimney being arrested? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!
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Guess he should have waited until his teeth were knocked out
I am familiar with Alan Swinney and the Proud Boys. Your biased report of what happened and why is quite a skewed view with much more opinion being expressed than fact. This writing is an extremely poor example of reporting. I expected so much better coming from American Gun Association. smh
#1. why put yourself in that position…dumb. give it time, it’ll come to your neighborhood. 2. just because you carry, doesn’t mean you have to pull it. learn discipline and stay out of harms way. keep prepping and just be ready.
I’m in agreement with you Tom, why the hell is he pulling his gun. He instigated the confrontation to start the trouble, it seems to be a Neanderthal mentality. Why don’t people grow-up and be adults.
So the people showing up with helmets, shields, and ball bats were there for a peaceful rally and not to instigate anything with the police or anyone else? Ok…….
Sounds like theater by the left , to discredit the right .
I’m also wondering why he is still in jail as well….when BLM or Antifa riot, loot into the millions, beat up folks and brandish weapons…they are arrested and released. This seems pretty harsh. Maybe this should be done to everyone pulling this crap. Everyone.
Who wrote this article? Proud Boys are not a hate group except in the eyes of rabid leftists and ANTIFA and BLM.
I saw a lot of attacks from the left side and defending from the right. But since i did not have a program, it was difficult to identify the players. I will say one thing. ANTIFA and BLM are the cause of the violence. And the efforts of groups on the right seems to be to stop the left from destruction and violence. But of course that is not allowed by rabid leftist DAs and judges.
Damn you got that right. It looks like the life is always right and the right is always wrong but not to worry the left will start the next civil war and will lose very badly.
Why didn’t Kamala bail him out? Isn’t she the one who bails protesters out of jail when they’re arrested?
I would start by reviewing the films of the incident frame by frame, to see what caused Swinney to pull that firearm out. Maybe you missed him being threatened by others with bats, guns or clubs…..try looking at the facts to see what happened, interview others that were there. Don’t just make it fit your narrative or what the other side said.
VERY poor reporting. Proud Boys, the “white supremacist, hate group,” is led by Enrique Tarrio, a Cuban-American Christian.
Tarrio has inspired biIIs to combat “domestic terrorism.” BiII S.Res.279 is currentIy in progress.
Wikipedia IabeIed Proud Boys as “Neo-Nazis and fascists.”
SPLC has IabeIed them a “hate group.”
Leftist media IabeIed Proud Boys an “extremist” group and “White NationaIists.”
Twitter and Facebook have IabeIed the Proud Boys “an extremist group” and have banned them and their foIIowers from their pIatforms, yet stiII aIIow antifa and Burn, Loot, Murder to continue using their pIatforms.
LiberaI media has cIaimed that the FBl IabeIed Proud Boys as an “extremist group.” The FBl itseIf denies this cIaim.
Proud Boys is NOT a White Supremacy group, are NOT White Nationalists, Neo-Nazi’s, fascists, and/or a hate group. ln fact, Proud Boys is a muItiraciaI men’s cIub with a “Patriot problem.”
American women have come out pubIicIy on sociaI media and videos to cIaim that “Proud Boys” DEFENDED them against being physicaIIy attacked or assaulted by antifa and/or Burn, Loot, Murder.
I expected better from you.
I am extremely disappointed that this article was allowed to be published. It is not factual and that they chose Mr. Olmos video to share with this proves it is very left biased. They probably are hoping you don’t know who Mr. Olmos is, because he is a very left leaning pro Antifa sympathizer. Remember, his video shows only his angle. There are others out there that show a different view.
What this article doesn’t say is how riot balls (pepper spray) were being shot by Antifa/BLM at Alan Swinney and his friends along with balloons filled with human feces and urine were being thrown also, cement rock chucks were also being thrown. After all of this being done, one of Alans friends got hit with one of those chunks of cement and was hurt pretty bad. They were trying to leave when Antifa started to surround them further. Afraid that they would not be able to get out safely, this picture was the result of that. Whether you feel what Alan did was right or wrong he deserves the truth being told. Had you been in his place, I will go out on a limb here and say that you probably would of made the same decision. Especially if you were afraid for your friends and yourself not being able to leave and a friend was badly hurt. Alan is a Gulf War Veteran also, that is something that should be taken in with the facts about this man.
The statement about the Proud Boys, well first of all they are not white supremacists. The Proud Boys are honestly more culturally diverse then Antifa and BLM. Antifa and.BLM are the real racists, ask Drew Duncomb aka Black Rebel who is Alan Swinneys friend who happens to be a black man that was stabbed by Antifa and check out his YouTube video when they surrounded his car and threatened him, mind you they scream Black Lives Matter. Guess they get to pick and choose. Anyways, if whomever wrote this article really looked into things they would know that Alan has not been a Proud Boy for a long while. Again, seeing that Tattoo on his arm saying Proud Boy, it was really easy for you to express that point to your audience.
An Antifa member stalked, Patriot Aaron Jay Danielson and his friend Chandler and pulled the trigger that killed Jay. Another Antifa memeber took their vehicle and ran over a Proud Boy at Jay’s memorial service when they left to go get food. Yet, this article depicts the Antifa and BLM as innocent victims when that is not accurate. So now, a Veteran sits behind bars while Antifa and BLM activists are rioting and causing major financial hardships for business owners and tax payers when all said and done. All of them have been released hours later, why?
I really think you owe Alan Swinney a public apology. It is not okay to put out false representation of a person who is a Veteran at that. I hope you know that A LOT of Patriots will see this and un-subscribe.