Michael Strickland (blogger)

Michael Strickland is a conservative blogger for the Progressives Today blog and shares video on a YouTube channel called "LaughingAtLiberals".

Strickland was born about 1980 and lives in southeast Portland, Oregon.

Blogging

Strickland contributes blog posts to the website Progressives Today.[1] As of October 2016, Strickland's YouTube channel, LaughingAtLiberals, has over 20,000 subscribers.[2]

Whiteness History Month

At Portland Community College (PCC)'s Whiteness History Month in April 2016, Strickland attended several events to film for LaughingAtLiberals. A PCC spokeswoman said he was routinely "pushing buttons" and posting heavily edited videos about the events.[3]

Don't Shoot Portland rally gun incident

At a Black Lives Matter rally in Portland, Oregon, on 7 July 2016, Strickland pulled a Glock 26 pistol and pointed it at protesters, including an undercover police officer. Portland police reported that Strickland's pistol was equipped with "an extremely large magazine" (over 120 rounds in multiple magazines) and had a round in the chamber.[4][5] The police also reported Strickland was carrying five extra magazines for the pistol, all loaded.[5][6] Strickland claims he was surrounded by several anarchist protesters who pushed and shoved him, and that he feared for his life.[7][8]

Portland's police chief, Mike Marshman, said Strickland's actions at the rally were "fully unacceptable", stating, "I'm very, very proud of the members of the Police Bureau who cautiously and safely enabled the protest to continue on. That's how it should be. To the men and women of the Police Bureau, please continue to do what you do."[9]

Portland police arrested Strickland at the scene, charging him with menacing and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.[10] Law enforcement officials then processed Strickland through the Multnomah County Detention Center and released Strickland on his own recognizance.[8] The next day the state added two additional charges of unlawful use of a firearm, a class C felony.[11] At Strickland's arraignment, the judge set bail at $250,000, with Strickland being released after posting the required bail on July 18. A Multnomah County district attorney sought the high bail amount partly based on alleged race-based threats, including harassing texts and phone calls, reportedly made by Strickland at a previous 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting vigil.[6][12]

In response to the incident, Portland State University banned Strickland from its campus for two years, and Portland Community College indefinitely banned Strickland from its campus.[3]

On February 10, 2017, Strickland was found guilty of all 21 counts: 10 counts of unlawful use of a weapon, 10 counts of menacing, and one count of disorderly conduct. Judge Thomas Ryan ruled that he was not threatened by the crowd, as Strickland claimed.[13][4] He was sentenced to 40 days in jail, 240 hours of community service, banned from taking video of people or events for at least 2017, and is also banned from owning guns.[14][15]

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Strickland, Author at Progressives Today". Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/user/LaughingAtLiberals LaughingAtLiberals YouTube .
  3. 1 2 Theen, Andrew (13 July 2016). "Portland colleges ban man charged with waving gun at Don't Shoot PDX march". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 Weisberg, Brent (12 February 2017). "Man who pulled gun on crowd guilty". KOIN. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Gun arrest mars peaceful Don't Shoot Portland rally". Portland Tribune. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  6. 1 2 Templeton, Amelia (8 July 2016). "Man Accused Of Pulling Gun At Portland Black Lives Matter Protest Appears In Court". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Man who displayed gun at downtown Portland protest arrested". KPTV Fox 12. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  8. 1 2 Ryan, Jim (7 July 2016). "Man pulls gun at Don't Shoot PDX protesting US police shootings". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  9. ↑ Bernstein, Maxine (8 July 2016). "Portland mayor, police chief stand with faith leaders to deplore recent violence". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Dozens gather for #BlackLivesMatter protest in Portland". KATU. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  11. ↑ Fontana, Francesca (19 July 2016). "Man accused of pulling gun at Don't Shoot PDX rally released from jail". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Bernstein, Maxine (8 July 2016). "Man accused of pulling gun on Portland protesters was armed with multiple magazines of ammo, prosecutor says". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Green, Aimee (10 February 2017). "Guilty: Man who pulled gun out at 'Don't Shoot PDX' protest". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  14. ↑ http://www.kxl.com/no-prison-journalist-displays-gun-protest/
  15. ↑ http://katu.com/news/local/man-who-pointed-pistol-at-protesters-banned-from-owning-guns
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