Infiltration in Portland’s Black Lives Matter Movement

by Susan Anglada Bartley and Pedro Anglada Cordero

On the 23rd of July, we became eyewitnesses to infiltration into the Portland Black Lives Matter movement. This article will document what we saw and experienced.

Last night, we witnessed a small group of operatives stage Ted Wheeler’s press conference, claim space for him to speak by telling protesters to stop shouting, and then pretend to be Black community members asking questions in the same press conference that they staged.

The staging started with microphone set-up on 3rd and Madison. But Wheeler was then seen with a small group of undercover police or “security” and aforementioned operatives in front of City Hall. At that point, members of the resistance community, including us, moved to City Hall to hold the mayor accountable for his lies and use of Portland Police Bureau to abuse and violate the rights of protesters. These operatives, who were dressed as civilians, followed the mayor very closely, and were protecting the mayor from answering real questions. From the moment the mayor walked from City Hall to SW Madison and 3rd, these operatives maintained a perimeter around him in order to shield him from the resistance community members who were there to hold him accountable.

Sadly, the people who did this are clearly working for and with Ted Wheeler to try to control the narrative. The questions that they asked were not in line with movement demands. Instead, their questions were clearly fabricated to insulate Ted Wheeler from real movement demands. These people used their Blackness to give the illusion that their questions were authentic protest movement demands, but they were not. When fellow resistance community members spoke up, this small group of infiltrators silenced protesters, including Black and Indigenous community members who were trying to voice authentic movement demands. These operatives also prevented ASL interpreters from doing their work by both pushing them out and refusing to make space for them, but the ASL interpreters and resistance community supporters held space, despite the push-out.

Almost simultaneously, as Ted Wheeler’s press conference began, another group infiltrated the stage at the top of the Justice Center steps. The rhetoric of this group was in no way in line with the demands of the Black Lives Matter movement. They do not represent Black Lives Matter, the demands of local long-term resistance community groups, and their timing and off-movement rhetoric was in sync with the mayor’s press conference. Later that night, Black resistance community members took back the mic to clarify the real movement demands, which were magnified on a projector by a group who was not affiliated with the infiltrators or the Wall of Moms.

The demands continue to be:

Defund the PPB by at least 50%

Invest in BIPOC communities

Amnesty for all Protesters

Resign Ted Wheeler