Portland’s New Autonomous Zone

A collaboration of Black Lives Matter and Antifa supporters have created a new “autonomous zone” in Portland, Oregon. They aim to protect a house, which is being illegally occupied by a black family. The house on Mississippi Avenue has been surrounded by barricades. So far, police attempts to break up the zone have been unsuccessful.

The Oregonian reports that the Kinney family had previously owned the house but took out a new mortgage to pay for legal fees in a 2002 legal case in defence of their son. Their son,  “William III”, was imprisoned for a traffic-related incident at the age of 17.

The house went into foreclosure in 2018 and was sold to a developer. The Kinney family has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to try to raise $250,000 to re-purchase the home. As of December 9th, they have raised $89,906.

Protests began when police conducted a dawn raid on the house this Tuesday. For many months prior, activists had been occupying the property to protect the family who had been served several legal eviction notices. In a press release, Portland police revealed that they had received 81 calls from September onwards concerning illegal activities around the Mississippi Avenue property. These activities included: shots fired, violence, threats, burglary and theft.

The Portland Police Bureau assisted Multnomah County Sheriff's Office in the raid, being met with armed resistance. The raid successfully cleared the property and resulted in several arrests. The police also found several firearms stashed around the property.

Following the successful raid, Antifa accounts called for supporters to retake the space on social media. In response to this call to arms, around 100 activists used stolen fences to barricade the area. They put up signs saying: “no jurisdiction”. It appears that these actions are mirroring events from earlier this year in Seattle, which saw the formation of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ).

When police responded to a number of reports suggesting the formation of a new autonomous zone, they were driven away by a violent mob. Several officers were violently attacked and there were attempts to damage a police cruiser.

 Even Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who has become infamous for his cosy relationship with extremist rioters, has condemned the actions of these activists.

As of yet, the area surrounding the Mississippi Avenue property is still in control of far-left secessionists.