Portland retail chain announces it will not sell Andy Ngo's book in its stores amid leftist uproar

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A Portland bookstore announced on Monday that it will not sell journalist Andy Ngo's new book on its shelves after the local retail chain faced pressure by leftist protests. 

Powell's Books had been facing backlash ahead of the February release of "Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy," causing its flagship store to close early on Monday as a  "safety precaution," according to the local TV affiliate KOIN. 

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The protest escalated so much so that customers were reportedly escorted out the back of the store. 

"Stop selling Andy Ngo's book!" demonstrators chanted to the store owner in a video shared on Twitter. 

Powell's Books released a statement revealing they will not carry physical copies of Ngo's book, though the chain will continue to sell it online. 

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"At Powell’s, a lot of our inventory is hand-picked and hand-promoted. And a lot of our inventory is not hand-picked. Unmasked by Andy Ngo came to us through an automatic data feed via one of our long-term partners, Hachette Book Group," the bookstore chain tweeted. "This book will not be placed on our shelves. We will not promote it. That said, it will remain in our online catalog. We carry a lot of books we find abhorrent, as well as those that we treasure We believe it is the work of bookselling to do so.."

Despite blocking Ngo's book from its shelves, Powell's Book insists it has a "commitment to free speech."

"Given that Powell's dedicates part of every year to banned and censored books, it's a shame they've made the decision to restrict in-store sales of a book by a local author weeks ahead of release," Ngo told Fox News, alluding to the bookstore's program that celebrates books deemed controversial. "However, I also have sympathy for them given how ruthless Antifa have been in vandalizing and hurting local businesses."

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Over the past few years, Ngo has gained national attention over his reporting on Antifa violence that has plagued the city of Portland. Ngo is also the editor-at-large of The Post Millenial.