There’s an old saying that one should never bring a knife to a gun fight. Similarly, never bring an American Flag to a protest where Antifa shows up, even if you are on their side. Paul Welch came to the downtown Portland, Oregon on August 4th, to protest against a march by the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, which also attracts white supremacists.

Being an American, albeit a liberal one Welch showed up holding his American Flag with pride.

As he made his way through the left wing side of the protest a bunch of Antifa protesters wearing best protest black, with their cowardly faces covered, ordered Paul Welch to get rid of the flag saying it was a fascist symbol. They tried to pull the flag away from Welch, and he refused, he wasn’t going to willingly allow anyone to desecrate the American Flag. They had a tug-of-war over the flag until one of the cowards with the covered face hit Paul Welch with a club to the back of the head. Leaving the patriot lying in the middle of the street with a concussion and bleeding profusely from his head (see video below).

 

“I didn’t come as a part of any one group,” Welch said in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I was just protesting outsiders coming here for their tacitly fascist event.”

Anger following the demonstration has largely been directed at Portland police, whose use of “less-lethal” riot-control weapons on counter-protesters hospitalized at least three people and injured several others.

But others, like Welch, became targets of violence at the hands of protest participants, even as police kept rival political factions apart. A video taken of his attack has been viewed more than 800,000 times online.

Many have assumed the tussle over a U.S. flag placed Welch squarely in the right-wing camp. Not so.

“I had felt like showing that a liberal, free Portland — or any major city, really — is much more American and much more numerous and strong than any of these interloping groups,” he said.

(..) Aside from a few odd looks, Welch did not encounter any problems when he joined hundreds of other counter-protesters who gathered at City Hall late that morning.

In fact, Welch said, he saw several other people with American flags sprinkled among the group of progressives, union members and social justice activists.

According to the Oregonian, Welch had a 3-inch gash on his head that needed to be closed with staples and a concussion.

These Antifa terrorists are not anti-fascists. They are cowards who cover their faces. They are haters of this great country who attack people even if they are on their side, just because they show love for America.

Below are two videos of the incident taken from slightly different angles: