Ross: Portland protesters on both sides are wasting our time

There were some skirmishes, there was some pepper spray, there were a few arrests, but the predicted rumble in Portland didn’t happen over the weekend.

Ross: It’s up to us to battle social media manipulation

The all-male Proud Boys came to town with their message of patriotism and defense of Western culture, and the local antifa anti-fascists were there to match them chant for chant.

It took 700 officers from 15 police agencies to keep the two sides from any hand-to-hand combat.

Here’s what caught my attention. Joe Biggs, leader of the Proud Boys, told The Oregonian he was there for one reason: To get Trump to Tweet about the event.

“Look at Trump’s twitter, he talked about Portland, said he’s watching antifa; that’s all we wanted. We wanted national attention, we got it — mission success,” he noted.

So, he admits he organized this outside invasion of Portland simply to catch President Trump’s attention, and he’s thinking about doing it again next month unless Portland cracks down on the anti-fascists. Of course counter-protesters have promised an even bigger response.

In the meantime, does anyone even know what the issue is here? Competing lifestyles? Boredom?

Why don’t you guys just rent a stadium and play rugby?

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