Jason Rantz says local leaders are to blame for escalating violence in Portland
Violent agitators pursuing ideological goals are causing chaos in Portland, radio show host Jason Rantz tells Lisa Boothe on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'
Seattle radio host Jason Rantz told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Friday that what he called the "total lawlessness" in Portland has nothing to do with the Black Lives Matter movement, but is an offshoot of "far-fringe progressive" ideology.
"What we're seeing is what it seems like, total lawlessness because local leaders don't want to get involved in Antifa violence," Rantz told guest host Lisa Boothe. "There is this movement to try to pretend that this is a Black Lives Matter protest, that these are all innocent people who are being violated, their rights being violated by the Trump administration and DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and that's obviously not what's going on.
"What we're seeing here is escalating violence every single night," Rantz added. "And finally, the federal government said, 'Look, we can't let a city get this out of control.'"
Portland has seen 50 consecutive days of protests, prompting a visit from Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Thursday. Wolf's visit angered protesters and local officials, who have said they didn’t ask for help from federal law enforcement and have asked agents to leave.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets surrounding a police precinct on Thursday night, blocking traffic and chanting about burning it down, according to social media and a local report.
"Last night, 21 individuals were arrested," Rantz said. "Some of the things -- not just throwing bricks, but throwing water bottles at two officers that are frozen. So their intent is to do harm.
"And what we're seeing online is the strategy on Twitter, with the Antifa videos that are basically serving as propaganda that Senator [Jeff] Merkley is sending around, where you get a little bit of an interaction with a officer or a federal agent making an arrest. You get no context."
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Rantz characterized the demonstrators as "a bunch of privileged White kids who are shouting racist remarks at Black officers and committing acts of violence without getting in real trouble. I mean, you want to talk about White privilege.
"They want to break down institutions, whether it's policing or the justice system or just capitalism, and they want to rebuild these institutions in their own ideological image," Rantz said. "To get to that point, you get to be a little bit violent. You have to intimidate. This is a domestic terroristic act to use your ideology to try to frighten people, to bully people using violence to get to your means."
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