PORTLAND, OR – On multiple occasions since 2019, conservative journalist Andy Ngo has been brutally attacked by alleged antifa members while documenting Portland protests. His identity was reportedly discovered years ago due to leftist journalist John Colin Hacker having reported his personal information following a heated interaction between the two at a 24 Hour Fitness at which they were both members.
The practice of releasing this information, known as “doxing,” led to Ngo filing a civil lawsuit against Hacker, along with Rose City Antifa and four other people tied to Antifa, Elizabeth Renee Richter, Joseph Christian Evans, Madison Lee Allen, and Corbyn Katherine Belyea. Ngo filed the suit seeking $300,000 in damages.
On Tuesday, the defendants Hacker and Richter were found to be not liable for the damages caused by the beating and instances surrounding it, including, Ngo argued, assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Rose City Antifa had been dismissed as a defendant because, the court said, an “unassociated identity cannot be sued.” Evans, Allen, and Belyea were found in default, and their fate will be decided following the conclusion of this week’s main trial.
Ngo often went into protests-turned-riots clad in all black so as to blend in with those supporting Antifa in order to document what actually went on during the events, tactics used against the police, names of who was being arrested, the charges with which were filed against those individuals, and often later followed up with the outcome of those cases. He posted mugshots, which are publicly available, of those arrested on his Twitter account.
Hacker went to the same protests/riots reporting on the events. His reports were geared towards those who supported the often-violent “anti-fascist” movement, of which he claimed to support. He confessed at this week’s trial that his main job is to “identify right-wingers [who] infiltrate events.” His other job is “cop-watch,” or informing protesters of when police are approaching.
Hacker cried during testimony and said that watching what happened to Ngo was “heartbreaking.” Ngo said he doesn’t believe Hacker himself physically attacked him, but that he does know the identity of those who did and is covering for them.
In May 2019, Ngo and Hacker interacted at a Portland 24 Hour Fitness. Hacker was on the second level of the gym and noticed Ngo on the floor beneath him. Hacker poured what he said was water from a water bottle on Ngo’s head, then confronted Ngo when he came upstairs to see who had done it. When the argument grew heated, Ngo pulled out his phone to film the argument, something not uncommon from either man in the course of each of their roles in the often-violent protests.
Hacker struck Ngo, smacked the phone to the ground, partially breaking it, then ripped it from Ngo’s hands after he retrieved it, walking away with the phone in hand. A 24 Hour manager approached Hacker and said if he didn’t give the phone back, he would be permanently banned from the gym. After giving the phone back to Ngo through the manager, Hacker’s membership was later terminated anyway.
After being indicted for felony robbery for the incident in October 2021, a judge during the bench trial said he didn’t think what Hacker did was right, but declined to find him guilty because he didn’t believe his criminal intent “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In June of 2019, Ngo was assaulted and robbed by Antifa members. In his New York Times bestseller, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy,” Ngo described the incident: “[A]fter punching me repeatedly on the head and robbing me of my camera equipment, an Antifa mob doused me with ‘milkshakes’ and other liquids. I suffered a brain hemorrhage from the assault and nearly died. I continue to deal with cognitive issues today from the traumatic brain injury.”
The ”milkshakes” used by Antifa were also used against police and contained other liquids, sometimes quick-set cement, and sometimes urine. Ngo was admitted to Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) for treatment of his injuries.
In May of 2021, Hacker and Ngo met again, this time while masked during another protest. Despite the masks, the two recognized each other from their past interactions. Hacker made a comment to Ngo, which Ngo took to be a warning that Antifa had “grown suspicious” of him.
Hacker started to walk away, and Ngo walked in the opposite direction. He was followed by several people dressed in full black, including masks. Eventually, one of those people ripped off Ngo’s mask, and the beating ensued. Someone intervened on Ngo’s behalf, and Ngo was able to run into a nearby hotel, asking the workers in the lobby to call 911.
While Ngo was hiding and in fear for his life behind the lobby desk, Elizabeth Richter, the other person with ties to Antifa named in Ngo’s civil lawsuit, started to livestream, calling for other members of Antifa to get to the hotel. “I can’t wait for you to come out, Andy,” Richter yelled to Ngo. “You thought the milkshakes were bad last time? We’re gonna beat the f*ck out of you, b*tch.”
A large Antifa crowd did, indeed, get to the hotel, but police were able to get to Ngo and escort him to OHSU once again to treat his injuries.
At this week’s trial, defense lawyer for Rose City Antifa, Hacker, and Richter, Michelle Burrows, asserted that she is a progressive anti-fascist. “I am Antifa,” the attorney said, noting that she would be wearing a shirt with the same message after trial. She told the jury, The Post Millennial (PM), for whom Ngo is a senior editor, noted, “that Antifa’s unfavorable reputation is untrue and depicted the organized militant group as activists fighting for social justice and civil rights.”
“Resistance in this country has never been peaceful,” Burrows said. Even so, she did admit during trial, PM said, “that the ‘black clad people’ that had physically beaten Ngo were, in fact, ‘terrorists.’”
The judge was forced to take stricter security measures for the safety of the jurors. The public and non-credentialed journalists were banned from the court room, and jurors mentioned that they were in fear of their identities being released. Burrows told the jurors, after saying she was retiring at the conclusion of the trial, that she “will remember each one of their faces.”
The jurors then found Rose City Antifa, Hacker, and Richter not liable for the physical and mental damages against Ngo.
Evans, Allen, and Belyea will have their verdicts issued by the judge at a later date.
The practice of releasing this information, known as “doxing,” led to Ngo filing a civil lawsuit against Hacker, along with Rose City Antifa and four other people tied to Antifa, Elizabeth Renee Richter, Joseph Christian Evans, Madison Lee Allen, and Corbyn Katherine Belyea. Ngo filed the suit seeking $300,000 in damages.
On Tuesday, the defendants Hacker and Richter were found to be not liable for the damages caused by the beating and instances surrounding it, including, Ngo argued, assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Rose City Antifa had been dismissed as a defendant because, the court said, an “unassociated identity cannot be sued.” Evans, Allen, and Belyea were found in default, and their fate will be decided following the conclusion of this week’s main trial.
Ngo often went into protests-turned-riots clad in all black so as to blend in with those supporting Antifa in order to document what actually went on during the events, tactics used against the police, names of who was being arrested, the charges with which were filed against those individuals, and often later followed up with the outcome of those cases. He posted mugshots, which are publicly available, of those arrested on his Twitter account.
Hacker went to the same protests/riots reporting on the events. His reports were geared towards those who supported the often-violent “anti-fascist” movement, of which he claimed to support. He confessed at this week’s trial that his main job is to “identify right-wingers [who] infiltrate events.” His other job is “cop-watch,” or informing protesters of when police are approaching.
Hacker cried during testimony and said that watching what happened to Ngo was “heartbreaking.” Ngo said he doesn’t believe Hacker himself physically attacked him, but that he does know the identity of those who did and is covering for them.
In May 2019, Ngo and Hacker interacted at a Portland 24 Hour Fitness. Hacker was on the second level of the gym and noticed Ngo on the floor beneath him. Hacker poured what he said was water from a water bottle on Ngo’s head, then confronted Ngo when he came upstairs to see who had done it. When the argument grew heated, Ngo pulled out his phone to film the argument, something not uncommon from either man in the course of each of their roles in the often-violent protests.
Hacker struck Ngo, smacked the phone to the ground, partially breaking it, then ripped it from Ngo’s hands after he retrieved it, walking away with the phone in hand. A 24 Hour manager approached Hacker and said if he didn’t give the phone back, he would be permanently banned from the gym. After giving the phone back to Ngo through the manager, Hacker’s membership was later terminated anyway.
After being indicted for felony robbery for the incident in October 2021, a judge during the bench trial said he didn’t think what Hacker did was right, but declined to find him guilty because he didn’t believe his criminal intent “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In June of 2019, Ngo was assaulted and robbed by Antifa members. In his New York Times bestseller, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy,” Ngo described the incident: “[A]fter punching me repeatedly on the head and robbing me of my camera equipment, an Antifa mob doused me with ‘milkshakes’ and other liquids. I suffered a brain hemorrhage from the assault and nearly died. I continue to deal with cognitive issues today from the traumatic brain injury.”
The ”milkshakes” used by Antifa were also used against police and contained other liquids, sometimes quick-set cement, and sometimes urine. Ngo was admitted to Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) for treatment of his injuries.
In May of 2021, Hacker and Ngo met again, this time while masked during another protest. Despite the masks, the two recognized each other from their past interactions. Hacker made a comment to Ngo, which Ngo took to be a warning that Antifa had “grown suspicious” of him.
Hacker started to walk away, and Ngo walked in the opposite direction. He was followed by several people dressed in full black, including masks. Eventually, one of those people ripped off Ngo’s mask, and the beating ensued. Someone intervened on Ngo’s behalf, and Ngo was able to run into a nearby hotel, asking the workers in the lobby to call 911.
While Ngo was hiding and in fear for his life behind the lobby desk, Elizabeth Richter, the other person with ties to Antifa named in Ngo’s civil lawsuit, started to livestream, calling for other members of Antifa to get to the hotel. “I can’t wait for you to come out, Andy,” Richter yelled to Ngo. “You thought the milkshakes were bad last time? We’re gonna beat the f*ck out of you, b*tch.”
A large Antifa crowd did, indeed, get to the hotel, but police were able to get to Ngo and escort him to OHSU once again to treat his injuries.
At this week’s trial, defense lawyer for Rose City Antifa, Hacker, and Richter, Michelle Burrows, asserted that she is a progressive anti-fascist. “I am Antifa,” the attorney said, noting that she would be wearing a shirt with the same message after trial. She told the jury, The Post Millennial (PM), for whom Ngo is a senior editor, noted, “that Antifa’s unfavorable reputation is untrue and depicted the organized militant group as activists fighting for social justice and civil rights.”
“Resistance in this country has never been peaceful,” Burrows said. Even so, she did admit during trial, PM said, “that the ‘black clad people’ that had physically beaten Ngo were, in fact, ‘terrorists.’”
The judge was forced to take stricter security measures for the safety of the jurors. The public and non-credentialed journalists were banned from the court room, and jurors mentioned that they were in fear of their identities being released. Burrows told the jurors, after saying she was retiring at the conclusion of the trial, that she “will remember each one of their faces.”
The jurors then found Rose City Antifa, Hacker, and Richter not liable for the physical and mental damages against Ngo.
Evans, Allen, and Belyea will have their verdicts issued by the judge at a later date.
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