In Defense of Michael Strickland (The Blogger From Portland): Convicted of Self Defense

Michael Strickland was a provocateur who “pushed people’s buttons” and worked in alternative media. He has many prominent activities, including “Laughing at Liberals” and blogging at “ProgressivesToday.com”.

For those unaware, Michael Strickland was arrested after a Black Lives Matter protest in Portland had gone wrong.

During this “protest”, Strickland was filming the scene. At one point, he took out a gun and pointed it at protestors. He did so as he backed up and they continued to approach him. After they backed off, he returned the gun to its holster.

At the event, Strickland continued to back off from protestors as they continually approached him, as you can see in the video here.

Many of the protestors even were heard yelling, “He’s afraid to turn his back so let him walk away”.

The Aftermath

After Michael Strickland pointed the gun at protestors (and one undercover officer), he was arrested.

He ended up getting charged and found guilty of 10 counts of unlawful use of a weapon, 10 counts of menacing, and one count of disorderly conduct.

What’s the Problem?

No shots were fired. No one was injured. And it seems clearly obvious that he was backing off while a crowd of violent “protestors” was approaching him.

Why was he arrested, and worse, convicted? All of these acts were in self-defense. Who cares how many magazines he had on him if he did not use any when he had the opportunity?

Strickland has a history of being attacked by others’ while being a reporter. If I was in his shoes, I’d be scared for my life as well. With all the people being viciously attacked at these riots, it’s no wonder he’d report on one while packing. I sure would. It’s the only logical thing to do if you don’t want to get your skull bashed in.

It’s a travesty of justice that Michael Strickland was arrested and charged over this incident. How can this not be claimed as common self-defense? I may not agree with the guys’ tactics, but no one deserves to get hit with 21 charges over defending themselves while rioters get away with looting and destroying neighborhoods over their ‘feelings’.

Michael Strickland Has Enemies

One person hated him so much they set up a website dedicated solely to calling him a “white supremacist”. You can see this WordPress blog by clicking here.

There’s not a lot on the site itself, just a few scrambled and hastily made blog posts back in July 2016 (around the time of his arrest).

Within the website, they dox Michael. They posted his contact information, court information, and address. Such lovely people. Ironically, I looked up their domain and all of their personal information is hidden from the public eye.

Pretty much all the blog posts address Strickland as a “homophobic, racist white supremacist”. They say his supporters are all “antisemitic and racist neonazi sympathizers”.

The Website is Ad Hominem Central

Really, this website could very well be used as a case-study in a course about logical fallacies. Nearly every single one of their posts contains many (false) appeals to emotion, counter-logic, and ad hominems.

Calling someone a name does not combat their arguments, nor does it add any substance to the conversation. You can yell “homophobic, racist white supremacist” all you want, but who cares? Does that change any of his events? Does that curtail any type of honest, open conversation? No.

One such direct quote that I have a problem with is:

Even if you were to argue that he himself is not responsible for the actions of his viewers he knowingly uploads videos to an audience that is white supremacist and this is directly placing the lives of people of color, trans women and queer people in immediate danger.

This is another example of an ad hominem and a false appeal to emotion.

It’s known as “Guilty by association” and it is a logical fallacy. It’s not a sound argument. In fact, it’s not an argument at all.

This type of “argument” is the website’s entire base. It shows numerous screenshots of people that viewed Strickland’s videos and commented on them. And then they attempt to use “guilty by association” to paint him as a white supremacist that wants to murder everyone.

That clearly justifies throwing him in jail for defending himself, right?

In another post, the website states:

He is armed and dangerous. Keep your eyes open. His camera is watching you; so blind it.

In reality, he’s not too dangerous. Or he would have pulled the trigger at the protestors instead of sheathing his weapon.

Let’s hope he can take this charge to an appeal court and get it thrown out. Strickland is looking at a lot of lost liberties over this quick 1 minute scared-for-his-life decision when being approached by a mob.

Keep your eyes open and always be vigilant. Don’t go to their playground. This could happen to you next.