The left is working overtime to stifle free speech – and not just online, as conservatives are banned from leading social media networks and some right-leaning websites are taken down completely.
They’re also out in force in the real world, as a literal mob of leftists has bullied an iconic bookstore into refusing to carry a book entirely for political reasons.
Powell’s Books is a Portland institution and a model for independent booksellers around the world – and its stores are often a gathering place not only for book lovers, but the “progressive” left.
The store even sells merch that says “READ RISE RESIST.”
But now, the store’s own readers are attacking its decision to sell “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy” by conservative author and provocateur Andy Ngo.
The decision led to an angry mob literally shutting down the store last week.
Ngo tweeted footage from the scene:
"We will shut down the store every day!"
It looks like @Powells bookstore in downtown Portland has evacuated its customers after #antifa showed up to demand that my book, Unmasked, be banned. pic.twitter.com/ZIXcujVHCL
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 11, 2021
The bullying worked… sort of.
The store announced that Ngo’s book would not be carried on the shelves inside its flagship store in Portland or any of its smaller stores in the region… telling local media it never intended to have the book available in-store anyway.
The bookstore, however, says it will offer the volume online – and defended that decision in a statement:
This book will not be on our store shelves, and we will not promote it. That said, it will remain in our online catalogue. We carry books that we find anywhere from simply distasteful or badly written, to execrable, as well as those that we treasure. We believe it is the work of bookselling to do so.
However, that wasn’t good enough for the anti-free speech mob, who’ve threatened continued “pickets” at the store even though the book – to be released next month – won’t actually be available inside.
“We will shut down this store every day,” one protester screamed, according to local CBS station KOIN. “You will lose money every day. Every day that you sell his book, we will shut down this store.”
Ngo lamented the decision to cave to the mob – but also said he understood given the “ruthless” nature of the leftist mob.
“Given that Powell’s dedicates part of every year to banned and censored books, it’s a shame they’ve made the decision to restrict in-store sales of a book by a local author weeks ahead of release,” the Portland native told KOIN. “However, I also have sympathy for them given how ruthless Antifa have been in vandalizing and hurting local businesses.”
In a longer statement, Powell’s said it has always fought for the rights of authors and stocked books over the years despite threats – but added that in the past, they typically fought for authors they support and the fight felt virtuous.
“Our current fight does not feel virtuous. It feels ugly and sickening to give any air to writing that could cause such deep pain to members of our community,” the company said. “But we have always sold books that many of us would reject.”
Powell’s called allowing such books to stand on their own “a core value” for the company.
Portland has been home to violent clashes between the Antifa left and far-right groups such as Proud Boys. Ngo has said he was attacked by Antifa rioters, which left him with a brain injury while attempting to cover unrest in the city in 2019.
It’s also been home to efforts by radical leftist groups to “occupy” parts of the city as well as to vandalize and cut off access to federal buildings.
The city’s residents even turned on their own mayor over the summer, forcing him to move out of his apartment building after bombarding all of its residents with noisy protests on the streets outside.
However, he was reelected in November, when Joe Biden carried the famously progressive state by 16 points.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert.