Video: Counter-Protester Pulls Gun on Don’t Shoot PDX March

Last night at a Don’t Shoot PDX  rally in Portland a counter-protester pulled a gun on people marching to recognize the recent shooting deaths of by police of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.

Castile and Sterling, both black men in their 30s, were shot by police in Minnesota and Baton Rouge. Sterling’s shooting was documented on video and Castile’s girlfriend, Lavish Reynolds, posted a video of the aftermath of his shooting saying he had been reaching for his wallet. Reynolds’ young daughter was a witness to the shooting, Reynolds ssys in the video.

In Portland, a man The Oregonian has identified as Michael Strickland pulls a gun on several protesters. Freelance journalist (and former EW intern) Mike Bivins caught it on video.

Bivins says in the video that Strickland told him he runs a YouTube channel called Laughing at Liberals.

You can watch Bivins’ entire Periscope video here.

Although later in the video you here people chanting “Black lives matter,” Black Lives Matter PDX (BLMPDX) clarified on its Facebook page that “the march last night was organized by Don’t Shoot PDX. Membership in our organization is open only to Black and African identified folks but there are frequent opportunities for collaboration.”

The Oregonian reports that Strickland will be arraigned this afternoon:

“Michael Strickland, 36, is facing misdemeanor menacing and second-degree disorderly conduct charges, according to jail records. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center late Thursday night, and then released on his own recognizance, jail and court records show.”

Portland activist and former mayoral candidate Jesse Sponberg attempted to defuse the situation and Bivins documents the police detaining Sponberg.

Sponberg posted about the incident on his Facebook page: