Anarchists in Portland, Oregon have barricaded themselves around the Red House on Mississippi, a newly established autonomous zone, despite Mayor Ted Wheeler‘s threat to “end the illegal occupation,” Fox News reported.
I am authorizing the Portland Police to use all lawful means to end the illegal occupation on North Mississippi Avenue and to hold those violating our community’s laws accountable. There will be no autonomous zone in Portland.
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) December 9, 2020
Evoking images like those of a post-apocalyptic zombie film, the anarchists on Wednesday piled rocks and set spike strips to prevent police cruisers from breaching their defenses.
These makeshift deterrents sit outside a barrier of wood, metal and wire fencing, which extends for more than two blocks.
The dissidents have gathered firearms and defensive gear inside the autonomous zone.
Anarchist fighters wearing all black, who are likely associated with Antifa or Black Lives Matter, stand guard at the intersections.
Wheeler let anarchists conduct sustained rioting outside a US federal building for months over the summer, as radical leftist groups sowed chaos and lawlessness while claiming to be advocates for social-justice reform.
In nearby Seattle, violent insurrectionist occupied roughly six blocks of prime, downtown territory for nearly a month, renaming it the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ.
Portland’s Red House on Mississippi has been the site of permanent protest and encampment since September.
Authorities arrested and evicted the Kinney family for illegally squatting in the home, which was foreclosed and auctioned in 2018.
The Kinney family asked for eviction protection due to the coronavirus, but a court ruled the family ineligible since the foreclosure and auction happened years ago.
The site became violent on Tuesday afternoon as anarchists attacked police with rocks and fire extinguishers.
That night, more than 100 anarchists declared the creation of the Red House Autonomous Zone.
“Help us occupy this land,” said Ragina Rage, an anarchist, according to The Oregonian.
“Help us do this so that we can protect other families that they’re going to do this to,” she continued. “They will target other [b]lack and brown families because of the anti-[b]lackness that exists within this … system.”
