Savanah Hernandez described the meeting as a landmark moment, telling Posobiec, “This is historic,” she said. “As we were walking up today I asked the boys if we were ready to make history today. Antifa has been terrorizing American citizens for almost a decade at this point. To have the president bring all of us together that have been beaten, harassed, threatened—you name it—to come and tell our stories in front of the nation is huge and historic. It’s an honor to be here with Andy and the other reporters around me who have put the time, effort, and shed literal blood to show Americans what’s going on.”
Speaking to TPM Editor at Large Andy Ngo, Posobiec reflected on Ngo’s years of reporting and multiple assaults by Antifa. “Did you ever think at that moment that you’d be here in the White House itself briefing the president of the United States about these networks, and about what happened to you?” Posobiec asked.
Ngo replied, “No. I still remember those days when I was posting into the ether on Twitter with a very small following. I don’t take any of this for granted. I’m thankful that my journalism has meant something to enough Americans, and those in the administration, that they’ve given me this opportunity to speak. It’s come at a heavy cost to myself, but I share that burden with the men and women who are standing next to me here.”
Posobiec pointed to Ngo’s nonpartisan reporting, highlighting how much backlash he faced for simply documenting events in Seattle. That point was backed up by Brandi Kruse, who worked in Seattle’s legacy media during the CHOP occupation.
“There’s a misnomer that’s been pushed that it’s just right-wing media being assaulted by Antifa. That’s not true,” Krauss said. “Most of my career has been in legacy media… both Jonathan and I worked in TV news in Seattle. I was a TV news reporter when CHOP happened. I’ve been covering Antifa for 15 years. The idea that it’s just right-wing agitators forcing Antifa to have to assault them because their presence is so triggering—they’ve also assaulted many mainstream journalists. The difference is that those journalists hide it. There are many reporters in Seattle who’ve been assaulted by Antifa during the ‘summer of love’ in 2020 and who either chose to, or their bosses made them, cover it up.”
Posobiec also spoke separately with Katie Daviscourt of The Post Millennial, who was assaulted in Portland while covering Antifa protests. “It’s amazing to see you here,” he told her. “What happened to you is absolutely horrific. It shouldn’t happen to anyone and shouldn’t have happened to you.”
Daviscourt recounted her injuries: “I have a black eye, a concussion, I had an eye hemorrhage—I’ve been hanging in there trying to power through. I was not going to turn down an invitation to the White House. Political violence is so extreme in the Pacific Northwest, specifically Portland, and federal intervention is desperately needed. I think we’re trying to plead our case to President Trump at this roundtable.”
Posobiec then asked her about law enforcement’s response to her assault. “You get attacked for doing your job and reporting what’s happening—you go to the police, and you didn’t get that help. What happened?” he asked.
“I immediately went to the police. I told them who my assault suspect was—they refused to detain her,” Daviscourt explained. “So then I hunted my assault suspect through the streets, chased her down, held her for about 45 minutes, waited for the police to come. They never showed up because they’ve given this zone outside of the ICE facility to a terrorist group. They’ve abandoned their brothers and sisters in federal law enforcement and left residents that live in this area fending for themselves against terrorists.
"These residents, I’m not the only one who has been assaulted. People living there have been assaulted, harassed, threatened—they are terrified of this terrorist group that has occupied several blocks in Portland. They are asking President Trump for help.”
