Posted on 27 July 2020
Over the weekend, the Portland Police Department discovered a small cache of munitions, including loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails, in a backpack belonging to one of the Portland rioters. And while the broadcast networks were now reluctantly admitting that the “protesters” were the one’s getting violent, that grim discovery went completely unmentioned during their Monday evening newscasts. They also failed to mention that three federal agents were facing permanent blindness after rioters shot high-power lasers into their eyes.
The Monday read-out from the Department of Homeland Security (which details the previous night’s violence) revealed what other weapons the rioters were using. “While outside the courthouse perimeter, per authority granted by federal law, officers swept a nearby park for weapons being used to damage federal property and attacks on their fellow officers. During the sweep chemical sprayers, gas cans, spike strips, and paint were found.” It also noted attackers used “flaming projectiles.”
ABC’s World News Tonight, downplayed the violence the most. Anchor David Muir only gave the nationwide violence a 23-second news brief:
Now to those protests turning violent. Demonstrators squaring off with federal officers in Portland, Oregon. Protests over racial injustice intensifying. Local leaders say the federal presence is only fueling this. Clashes spreading to other cities. A man was shot and killed at a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas. And in Aurora, Colorado, a car plowing through a crowd. Two injured when witnesses say shots were fired to try to stop that vehicle.
While Muir refused to report that Antifa terrorists appeared to be stocking up on weapons and ammo, ABC News’s website shared an Associated Press report on the discovery.
Over on NBC Nightly News, correspondent Erin McLaughlin tried to have it both ways. “Overnight in Portland, protesters launch mortar-style fireworks at federal agents,” she reported before playing this edited soundbite of a rioter claiming they weren’t escalating:
They started gassing us. So we came back with respirators. So, they started shooting us. So, we came back with vests. [Transition] Who’s escalating this? It's not us.
Of course, McLaughlin still has yet to report how Antifa terrorists attempted to murder federal agents by barricading them inside the federal courthouse and setting it on fire. Luckily, they failed. She also refused to tell viewers that those same kinds of “mortar-style fireworks” were used against Portland police, leaving 59 officers injured and one hospitalized
Reporting from NewsBusters and other outlets calling out how the liberal media was complicit with the violence was perhaps having an effect over on CBS. Because while CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell was boasting about radical Democratic mayors denouncing the “occupation of their streets by federal agents,” correspondent Carter Evans came off as being a bit critical of the violence for a change.
“More chaos on the streets of Portland as once again peaceful protests turned violent overnight with federal agents unleashing a massive response,” he said, putting the blame on rioters. This was a shift from his repeated assertions that federal agents were to blame.
A common theme in the soundbites Evans shared was that they featured black people lamenting that police reform and black lives were “seemingly lost in this escalating conflict.”
But neither Evans, nor his liberal media colleagues, cared to report that three federal agents were recently maimed by the rioters they enabled for weeks. “Three federal law enforcement officials in Portland face permanent severe eye damage after rioters shined powerful lasers in their eyes during the continued attacks on a federal courthouse,” reported Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
July 27, 2020
6:52:03 p.m. Eastern
DAVID MUIR: Now to those protests turning violent. Demonstrators squaring off with federal officers in Portland, Oregon. Protests over racial injustice intensifying. Local leaders say the federal presence is only fueling this. Clashes spreading to other cities. A man was shot and killed at a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas. And in Aurora, Colorado, a car plowing through a crowd. Two injured when witnesses say shots were fired to try to stop that vehicle.
CBS Evening News
July 27, 2020
6:44:43 p.m. Eastern
NORAH O’DONNELL: Today, the mayors of six cities sent a joint letter to Congress demanding that leaders help end what they call an occupation of their streets by federal agents. Now this, as President Trump prepares to send at least 100 more agents to Portland after another night of violent clashes. Here's CBS's Carter Evans.
[Cuts to video]
CARTER EVANS: More chaos on the streets of Portland as once again peaceful protests turned violent overnight with federal agents unleashing a massive response. Both sides appear to use blowers pushing tear gas toward each other and seemingly lost in this escalating conflict.
UNIDENTIFIED RIOTER: The reason we are out here is because Black Lives Matter and the feds need to get out of town.
EVANS: CBS News has learned the White House is not backing down and more agents are on standby for cities like Portland and Seattle, where this bodycam video shows officers under attack.
Gunfire erupted in a crowd of protesters in Austin, Texas. A 28-year-old man carrying an assault rifle was killed. Protestors also battled police in Los Angeles. And in Oakland, concerns among demonstrators that their real message is being drowned out.
UNIDENTIFIED BLACK MAN: If you’re about black lives, come with us. If you’re about breaking glass and confronting police, stay with them.
[Cuts to video]
EVANS: Demonstrators have targeted federal buildings nationwide. So far, the Department of Justice says more than 230 protestors have been arrested by federal agents. Norah?
O’DONNELL: Carter Evans, thank you.
NBC Nightly News
July 27, 2020
7:16:50 p.m. Eastern [1 minute 31 seconds]
LESTER HOLT: Authorities across the country are bracing for more protests tonight after some demonstrations turned violent over the weekend. Clashes in several cities. We get more from Erin McLaughlin.
[Cuts to video]
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN: Overnight in Portland, protesters launch mortar-style fireworks at federal agents. The steel barrier that encases the federal courthouse between them, provoking this response. What started two months ago with protests against police brutality, has now become a nightly ritual.
UNIDENTIFIED RIOTER: They started gassing us. So we came back with respirators. So, they started shooting us. So, we came back with vests. [Transition] Who’s escalating this? It's not us.
MCLAUGHLIN: State officials say the agents are not welcome. But the President insists they're here to protect federal property.
In nearby Seattle on Saturday, a show of solidarity with Portland's protesters devolved from peaceful into what police call a riot. Federal agents stayed out of sight. The President says they're in Seattle for emergencies only.
Here at the police precinct in downtown Seattle, they're bracing for the possibility of more violence. You can see, the windows are covered in plywood. They just set up this cement barricade. Each block weighs 4,000 pounds.
In Los Angeles, protesters and police clashed outside the federal courthouse. And in Louisville, opposing armed militia groups faced off at a demonstration. Now officials and protesters are preparing for what tonight may bring. Erin McLaughlin, NBC News Seattle.