Oregon to Give Radical Progressive Attorney General Sweeping New Powers in Effort to Crack Down on ‘Paramilitary Activity’ As Antifa Riots Continue to Engulf State

The radical leftist bastion of Oregon is considering a bill in its legislature that if passed would create what has been reported as “the nation’s most comprehensive law against paramilitary activity,” according to The Associated Press.

The new bill or HB2572 as reported by the AP, would give state citizens and the Oregon attorney general civil legal options to press lawsuits against any “armed members of a private paramilitary group” who interfere with or intimidate anyone engaging in an activity they have a legal right to do.

Furthermore, the Oregon AG could theoretically bar said ‘paramilitary members’ which is a woefully ill-defined group, from participating in any activity if the Attorney General merely believes it to be illegal conduct.

The definition of a “person (who) commits the crime of unlawful paramilitary activity,” includes one who:

• “(a) Exhibits, displays or demonstrates to another person the use, application or making of any
• firearm, explosive or incendiary device or [any] technique capable of causing injury or death to
• persons and intends or knows that such firearm, explosive or incendiary device or technique will
• be unlawfully employed for use in a civil disorder; or
• (b) Assembles with one or more other persons for the purpose of training with, practicing with
• or being instructed in the use of any firearm, explosive or incendiary device or technique capable
• of causing injury or death to persons with the intent to unlawfully employ such firearm, explosive
• or incendiary device or technique in a civil disorder.”

Related to the attorney general’s new power, the bill states, “If the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of persons has engaged in or is about to engage in paramilitary activity, the Attorney General may initiate a civil action for injunctive relief in the appropriate court.”

Given the prosecutorial history of Portland, it seems likely that this new power would be disproportionately employed against conservative groups.

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The Oregon Firearms Federation wrote,

“As we all know, and prominent Democrats remind us, “Antifa” is not an organization, just an “idea”.  So when dozens, or hundreds, of masked thugs, show up in the same place armed with explosives and firebombs, it’s purely an organic event of like-minded people.

It’s clear that this definition was designed to protect the left’s shock troops.”

Democrat Oregon state Rep. Dacia Grayber made the claim that the proposed bill “would make it harder for private paramilitaries to operate with impunity throughout Oregon, regardless of their ideology,” according to the AP.

However, as the outlet reports several dozen conservative Oregonians have expressed in written testimonies that the Democrat-dominated legislature is seeking to use the proposed bill as a cudgel to restrict the right to assemble and target right-leaning groups such as Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys rather than Antifa terrorists and BLM.

One citizen, Matthew Holman wrote, “This bill would clearly put restrictions on who could gather in a group and for what reasons they chose to.”

Oregon Department of Justice attorney Carson Whitehead claimed that the law wouldn’t sanction the open carry of firearms which is protected under the Second Amendment. But if a so-called “paramilitary group” went to a park knowing that their presence would be intimidating, anyone going to that park could sue for damages.

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt who covers Portland testified in favor of the new bill.

“Our current inability to get upstream of this violence before it starts leaves us vulnerable to organized criminal elements who enter into a protest environment with the express intention of escalating the situation into an assault or arson or a riot.”

BJ Soper, of Redmond, a founder of the Pacific Patriot Network wrote in his testimony, “This bill is not designed for the protection of the people, it is designed to protect the government from the people giving yet another avenue to abusive and subjective prosecution,” according to Oregon Public Radio.

He added, “To predetermine and make it a felony for people to come together to plan and train for common defense, like I said above, is the tool of a tyrant.”

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