They were blamed for the indiscriminate violence. The city was in a panic, and it focused its energy on one main antagonist: the Proud Boys, a right-wing, pro-Trump fraternity and drinking club. Other activists circulated photos and addresses of the alleged attackers in flyers around town and on social media posts. Activists sent out “attack alerts” warning the queer public to carry Mace and to travel in groups. The larger narrative of bigoted white men patrolling Portland to attack LGBT people then began to take on a life of its own. Don’t text me.”Įven with Bruso’s story deleted from Facebook, screenshots and copy-and-pasted posts went viral, stoking a tense atmosphere already generated from Stanford’s earlier allegation. When I sent her a text seeking comment, she responded: “Don’t contact me. I contacted Bruso several times by email asking where she reported the incident. “The intention was to warn our communities and that’s precisely what I did.”īruso originally said the attack was “reported,” but Portland police stated in a report that there was no case number associated with the incident as of Feb. “I, WE, owe you NOTHING,” Bruso wrote on Facebook. When Bruso’s post went viral on Facebook and commenters raised questions about the incident, she deleted the post. I spoke with staff at businesses along that intersection, but nobody I talked to had witnessed an attack. Bruso posted a photo of Jones with an abrasion on her cheek. She was allegedly knocked to the ground from the impact.
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She said that her partner, Brie Jones, was attacked by “two young white men” in a maroon SUV who pulled up beside her at a busy intersection, called her a homophobic slur and threw a full can of beer at her face. 17, Jenny Bruso, a self-described fat-queer activist, posted a claim on Facebook and Twitter that echoed Stanford’s harrowing story. Activists, driven by their own personal grievances, then launched a crusade to find the phantom suspects, doxing and targeting innocent people in the process. These stories were then amplified by progressive media, nonprofit groups, businesses and politicians. Within days, the number of alleged hate attacks ballooned through uncorroborated and vague online rumors. Jenny Bruso says her girlfriend (left) was hit in the face with a beer can. In progressive Portland where the “#Resistance” is mainstream, stories like Stanford’s feed into a whisper campaign of violent homophobes, transphobes and racists lurking on every corner. Sophia Stanford blocked me across several social media accounts after I sent a request for comment. The next day, however, the sensational and detailed story emerged in the fundraising appeal. Although it is impossible to know what exactly happened, nothing in the police reports indicate that Stanford told police she was attacked with a bat by multiple assailants in a hate crime. The case was investigated by the bias-crimes unit but was suspended due to the lack of tangible leads. The GoFundMe page stated that Stanford had suffered a “serious concussion” and would need intensive physical therapy, CT scans and counseling.
When Nguyen attempted to return the gun to Stanford at nearby Emanuel Hospital, where she had been transported, she was already discharged. A local resident found both items and flagged down another officer, Cuong Nguyen. The report also states that Stanford lost a pistol and bag she was carrying at the time of the alleged attack. The responding officer was unable to discover Stanford’s name and claims that she made a threat: “If you don’t treat me right, my people will get you,” she said, according to the report. Stanford either could not or would not state her name to the police. “Roe said the individual admitted to being intoxicated, and Roe believed the person fell and hit her head.” “I asked what happened,” the report states. The responding officer, Edgar Mitchell, noted that Stanford smelled of alcohol. 10, emergency services received a call about a woman, identified as Stanford, found on a sidewalk with scrapes on her face and knuckles, claiming that she may have been assaulted. However, the police reports raise questions about what happened that night. The campaign and shocking story went viral. The GoFundMe page described the trans activist as a victim of a “brutal and aggressively blatant hate crime” in which assailants had beaten her unconscious with a bat in southeast Portland. Last month, Sophia Gabrielle Stanford was at the center of a fundraising campaign. 'You look Russian': Ukrainian man stabbed in Brooklyn bar brawlĪustralian admits to pushing gay US mathematician off cliff in 1988 hate-crime murder Jerry Nadler is insulting his Asian-American constituents by supporting gerrymandering To protect & speak: Cop in Brooklyn's Chinatown teaches himself Mandarin