By Hannah Saunders
A flyer passed out at the Seattle Anarchist Book Fair last month told people to dress in bloc and meet at Volunteer Park for autonomous direct action on October 30, but the self-described “anti-communist cult leader” Karlyn Borysenko got a hold of it and circulated it into the hands of MAGA propagandists who’ve been terrorizing Portland protesters outside of the ICE facility. Thomas “Tommy” Wayne Allen, 36, who’s facing charges of Assault in the Fourth Degree and Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree in Portland came up to Seattle with his squad to specifically fight antifascists, a source told TtS.
“Hell yea I have fan fucking tastic mews everyone! I just got my travel permit from pretrial release to go to Seattle on the 30th! I’m all legit and never gonna fucking quit baby! I’m super pumped for this trip!” Allen posted on X on October 23.
Allen was arrested on October 3 in Portland and after being booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center, was found to be in possession of a can of chemical spray and a collapsible metal coil baton, according to the City.
In his X post, Allen tagged Cam Higby, a political personality who’s known for agitating people and starting fights for content to push the right’s agenda; Koston Szafranski, an 18-year-old livestreamer who’s new on the scene; and MAGA YouTuber Nick Shirley. Also tagged were Nick Sortor, a fascist influencer who was arrested on October 2 at the Portland ICE facility for disorderly Conduct (the charge was later dropped after conservatives declared he was innocent), and his girlfriend Serena Marie Roseburg Devoogd who goes by “Right Side Rebel” on social media and who got into a fist fight after a Portland protester walked past her and pushed her phone.
Following his arrest, Sortor was invited to the White House to engage in a round-table discussion with other fascist propagandists in the Pacific Northwest, including Higby. They met with Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and FBI Director Kash Patel, among others.
These MAGA influencers and propagandists are known for spinning content to paint the left as violent, and they have repeatedly denounced bloc and antifascism, claiming they are terrorists who belong to terrorist organizations – a regurgitation of the rhetoric Trump has spewed in recent months.
People who dress in black bloc in the Pacific Northwest work on the defensive side at protests by dearresting people and administering first-aid, among other things. Bloc is not an organized group, and people dress in all black to conceal their identities and to present as a collective.
Hundreds of flyers about the Volunteer Park event, which was a disorganized direct action rally, were passed out at the book fair. Funneling fliers into the hands of the public who may have no experience at protests, wearing bloc, or knowing what bloc entails, to head towards a dimly lit park in the evening for a vague form of direct action reduces effectiveness in fighting fascism, as people may have had different goals in mind for the evening’s participation. It also directly drew in a violent crowd who carry weapons and are longtime instigators with direct ties to the White House, which is already militarizing the streets of America.
A memo surfaced on social media warning folks attending to be on the lookout for this crowd, and TtS spread the message. TtS posted on social media telling followers to not attend the events at Volunteer Park that night for safety reasons.
One influencer that tagged along on this Seattle trip was Andrew Duncomb, known as “Black Rebel,” who was shanked by someone dressed in bloc during a 2020 Portland protest because he is a “conservative journalist,” he said. Duncomb, an Oklahoma native who is known to pepper spray protesters, is a neo-Nazi sympathizer who participated in the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, where a white supremacist murdered one counter protester and injured another with his car. Duncomb has also posted favorably about the Proud Boys since at least 2018.
On October 30, sources reported Devoogd and several others lingering in Volunteer Park at 4:30 p.m. when the event was meant to kickoff at 7 p.m. TtS reported on social media that a group of about 15 people were standing on the sidewalk at the roundabout at the park’s entrance at about 7:45 p.m. TtS reported hearing one person say they “have a pocket knife,” and confirmed the presence of Devoogd and Allen.
The group of 16, as confirmed by a picture on social media, primarily remained in that spot before rolling out in multiple SUVs by 8 p.m. These MAGA influencers have previously posed in bloc to infiltrate leftist movements, as seen pictured below.
“Well everyone there’s no queefas out here! So we’re gonna go get our MAGA gear and find somewhere fun to talk to ppl” Allen posted on X at 9:10 p.m.
The group’s plan was to grab food, then walk around Seattle asking people questions, according to one of Allen’s X videos. “Did you guys know that trans women are men?” he asked a group outside of the Museum of Illusions in downtown. In another video, Allen said his streamer friend should remove his helmet because it looks weird and that “nobody else is in black bloc at all.”
They made their way into the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and some of the group left back to Portland that night, but Allen continued to spew his transphobic remarks throughout the Gayborhood. In recently deleted footage, Allen and several others were following a group of women dressed up in Halloween costumes at about midnight, asking if they knew trans women were men. One woman eventually turned and pushed one guy away, who immediately pepper sprayed her in the face after following and harassing them.
Portlanders have been protesting at the ICE facility nonstop, and have been getting pummeled with tear gas and tackled by DHS, in addition to navigating violent outbursts by these MAGA content creators. Portland protesters told TtS that having these propagandists up in Seattle that night did help ease tensions down south. But these men traveled north looking for a fight, couldn’t find one in the park, harassed women, and assaulted them at a moment’s notice when they received minimal push back.
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