Werleman is shooting the messenger. This, figuratively, is what the thugs in Portland did to Ngo on Saturday. Literally, it is what will happen to an ‘enemy’ journalist at some point in the near future if Antifa are allowed to continue carrying their radical play-acting into the streets. The police in Portland have previously been accused of indulging Antifa while taking a tougher line on their antagonists, the bizarre straight-Pride cult that is the Proud Boys. Ngo has previously documented that Antifa members in Portland have threatened and attacked him for his reportage.

Intensification is in the nature of political violence, for it is sacrificial in logic, and ever higher levels of violence are required to sustain the buzz. Imagine the outcry if a CNN anchor had been attacked by the Proud Boys or some other group from the hooligan fringe of the right — a fringe group that had been endorsed by Fox anchors, as CNN’s Chris Cuomo has supported Antifa. Then ask yourself if it seems logical that Ngo would be attacked, and that left-wing media would rush to discredit him.

The answer is yes to both questions. This is what we get when the media delegitimizes the opposition, and when it indulges violent radicals who demonize their ideological enemies as ‘fascist’.