How an Antifascist Coalition Overwhelmed the Proud Boys in Portland

The far-right “western chauvinist” street gang known as the Proud Boys is already talking about a follow-up rally next month in Portland, Oregon, following their rally there on Saturday, August 17.

Local anti-fascist resistance is growing, however, and anti-fascist activists say they emerged from their counterprotest against the Proud Boys last Saturday with a strengthened and historic coalition of organizations that will continue to make fascism unwelcome in their community.

Portland was in the news frequently in the lead-up to Saturday’s fascist rally as right-wing leaders called for the event with increasingly violent rhetoric, which put anti-fascists and the rest of the city on high alert.

Approximately 250–300 far-right protesters were met with around a thousand anti-fascist counterprotesters Saturday in Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The “western chauvinist” street gang, the Proud Boys, described their rally as a protest against “domestic terrorism” — and they believe that the anti-fascist movement qualifies. In response, Portland anti-fascists crafted a counterprotest aimed at mobilizing and including nearly every segment of the community.

The coalition’s goal of inclusion, combined with the strategies commonly associated with “antifa,”…