On Saturday, August 7, black-clad Antifa militants wielding shields and melee weapons assaulted Christians, including children, who were attending a prayer and worship event featuring Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski in downtown Portland, Oregon.
Antifa members bear-sprayed Christians along with their children. They also lobbed “flash bombs” into the crowd and reportedly threw the sound equipment used for the prayer event into the Willamette River as Portland police stood by.
In a video, Antifa members physically confronted the attendees. One of them even sprayed a congregant with pepper spray prompting the attendees to step back from the assaults.
One Antifa member can be heard saying “Where is your God now?” in the video.
Pawlowski, the pastor of Calgary, Alberta, Canada’s Street Church and Cave of Adullam Church, was also sprayed in the face with mace.
The pastor has also been featured in viral videos depicting his run-ins with the law over COVID-19 restrictions.
Pawlowski discussed his interactions with authorities over the past year, reinforcing his characterization of local cops as Nazis and communists.
A woman in the crowd described the attack as “ruthless”.
The Portland Police Department did not intervene during the incident, according to reports, and would not interact with either group.
In March 2020, pastor Pawlowski was told that the Street Church would have to “shut down and stop taking care of the poor.” The pastor refused to obey the cease and desist order saying that the order to stop feeding them and giving necessities in life was a sentence for them death. In fact, some did die, said the pastor.
The prayer and worship event was announced a month ago which leads to the assumption that Antifa had enough time to plan their attack. Antifa has had a history of attacking several other churches in Portland.