SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A conservative writer from Portland filed a lawsuit Thursday against purported elements of the nebulous, far-left militant groups collectively known as antifa, days after President Donald Trump blamed those groups for inciting violence at protests over police killings of black people.
The suit was filed on behalf of Andy Ngo, who is known for aggressively covering and video-recording demonstrators.
“I am hoping that this marks a turning point, that militants belonging to a criminal movement can no longer depend on the anonymity … to get away with their crimes,” said Ngo, who previously was a writer with the online publication Quillette and now is with The Post Millennial.
Ngo has drawn attention to antifa for years and said he was targeted and suffered brain injuries when he was assaulted while covering protests in Portland a year ago. Video of the attack was widely viewed online and led to national calls for investigations as well as a subsequent rally led by the Proud Boys, a right-wing organization that has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Antifa — short for “anti-fascists”– is an umbrella term for leftist militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.
That makes it more difficult, but not impossible, to pursue a lawsuit, said California-based attorney Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican Party official who sued on Ngo’s behalf.
Dhillon said the timing of the antifa lawsuit was coincidental to recent protests over the death of George Floyd, who struggled to breathe as his neck was pinned down by a white Minneapolis police officer’s knee. She said she waited months to sue in the futile hope that authorities would bring criminal charges against Ngo’s attackers.
Spokesmen for Portland police and state and federal prosecutors did not respond to requests for comment.
While the suit is “particularly timely” given the recent protests and attention on antifa, Dhillon said she has represented journalists of all stripes in the past.
“What is not important is the journalist’s particular viewpoint, but the fact that his activities … are protected, and violence is never acceptable as a counterpoint to those First Amendment activities,” she said.
Ngo’s lawsuit names one of the few groups to publicly affiliate itself, Rose City Antifa, along with five named defendants and other unknown alleged attackers.
