Journalist Andy Ngo filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Rose City Antifa, seeking $900,000 in damages for waging a “campaign of terror and harassment” against him, including a series of physical attacks.
A complaint filed in Oregon Circuit Court said Mr. Ngo has been assaulted, stalked, threatened and robbed by members of the Rose City Antifa in Portland, suffering a brain hemorrhage after being attacked in June 2019 by a black-masked mob.
The lawsuit, filed by San Francisco attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon and the Center for American Liberty, described Rose City Antifa as a racketeering operation under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act.
“What happened to Andy Ngo is disturbing and should send chills down the spines of every journalist in the country,” said Ms. Dhillon, the Republican National Committeewoman from California, in a statement.
In addition to the Rose City Antifa, the complaint names five individuals and identifies them as Antifa activists.
“The police, district attorney’s office, and local politicians have totally failed to bring justice to the perpetrators of this heinous act and we bring this lawsuit as a last resort in the face of their unwillingness to enforce the law,” said Ms. Dhillon. “As we watch America’s greatest cities burn live on television at the hands of Antifa terrorists, we know they were emboldened by the inaction in Portland.”
The lawsuit comes with Antifa drawing heightened federal attention from the Trump administration, which has accused the shadowy anarchist group of driving the violent rioting wreaking havoc on U.S. cities since the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
“Local law enforcement have been of little help. I have not heard from the police since last year,” Mr. Ngo said. “I have received and reported many death threats and incidents of harassment and stalking to police, but nothing has been done, even when I’ve identified suspects.”
With the support of @Liberty_Ctr, I’m suing Portland Antifa & individual associates involved in beating & robbing me. Antifa can no longer use the cloak of anonymity to intimidate & assault with impunity. You can find the lawsuit & support it at this link: https://t.co/j7jaIkxy8f pic.twitter.com/YpHIj8WncL
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 4, 2020
He said he was first attacked during the 2019 May Day protest, during which an activist he identified as Benjamin Bolen punched him in the stomach. Later, at the Cider Riot bar, an Antifa hangout, Mr. Ngo said he was sprayed with bear mace, leaving him “temporarily blinded.”
A week later, an Antifa activist he identified as John Hacker threw an unknown liquid on his head while he was at the gym. On Halloween 2019, a half-dozen Antifa members came to his house wearing masks of his face, banged on the windows, rang the doorbell, and tried the door handle.
“As part of Rose City Antifa’s campaign of terror and harassment against Ngo, Twitter accounts controlled by Antifa members released, in two separate events, private information about donors to Andy Ngo’s medical expenses from the mob attack and private information about his family (such as the address of his mother’s small business),” said the lawsuit.
Rose City Antifa, which maintains a Twitter account called Always Antifascist, did not have any immediate public comment.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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