There wasn’t much in the way of Democratic outrage over the antifa attack on conservative journalist Andy Ngo, and he’s not surprised.
“I think it says that I’m the wrong type of victim,” Mr. Ngo told Fox host Laura Ingraham in a Monday interview. “A lot of these candidates who remain silent were the same ones who came out to express continued support for Jussie Smollett’s hate crime hoax.”
Three Democratic presidential candidates — Joseph R. Biden, Andrew Yang and Eric Swalwell, who dropped out of the race Monday — have condemned the June 29 assault on Mr. Ngo at a Portland, Oregon, rally as he filmed the protest.
Among those who rushed to Mr. Smollett’s defense were Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Kamala D. Harris of California. He reported being attacked in January by two white men who targeted him for being black and gay in what Chicago police say was a hoax, which he denies.
Mr. Ngo, who is Asian-American and openly gay, described antifa as a “paramilitary movement made up of extremists, violent communists and anarchists, and they’re actually agitating for a revolution.”
“Violence is their modus operandi, and they’re not confined to small, progressive cities on the West Coast,” said Mr. Ngo, an editor at Quillette. “You see them all over the United States and even outside the U.S.”
Antifa supporters have accused Mr. Ngo, who said he was hospitalized and suffered a brain hemorrhage, of provoking the attack by regularly filming the black-masked activists, who say they are defending society from “fascists.”
Portland Police have released photos of more suspects involved in the antifa riot. Can you help identify these people? There is a $2500 cash reward for information leading to an arrest. https://t.co/NBHT4Nn9tA
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 3, 2019
Mr. Biden’s campaign weighed in with a July 6 statement to the New York Post, saying the candidate “believes violence directed at anyone because of their political opinions is never acceptable, regardless of what those beliefs might be.”
“He believes freedom of expression is fundamental to who we are as Americans, and that Andy Ngo’s attackers should be identified and investigated,” the statement said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, and U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell have both called for a Justice Department investigation into the assault, while Mr. Ngo’s attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon tweeted that she plans to sue the offenders “into oblivion.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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