Navy veteran Christopher J. David has caught the attention of BLM protesters and the internet after taking a beating from federal agents for asking them one simple question: ‘Are you following your oath to the constitution?’
Prior to his encounter with police on Saturday, July 18th, David had only attended one protest in his life – a march for women’s rights in Washington D.C. back in 1989. As a 53-year-old man with health issues and with a global pandemic looming, he decided it was better if he stayed home. However, when David started hearing reports and seeing footage of unidentified, unmarked, federal agents grabbing protesters off of the streets of Portland and throwing them into vans, he knew it was his time to step in and speak up, reported The New York Times.
“It just didn’t seem worth it to me at that point, but it reached that threshold when I saw Pinochet-type behavior from our own government,” he said.
David believes that federal agents’ use of violent, secretive tactics against protesters without the support of the mayor, governor, or even local law enforcement, is a violation of the oaths that each agent takes to “support, uphold and defend the Constitution.” And so, compelled to act, David got on a bus on Saturday afternoon and headed to downtown Portland.
When David reached the front lines of the protest surrounding the courthouse, clad in a Navy sweatshirt and Naval Officer patches, he faced the officers, questioning them about their actions in regards to their sworn oaths. However, despite his civil efforts, David was promptly beaten with a baton and pepper sprayed by the officers-in-question, which was captured on video. Despite their violent responses to his questioning, David barely even flinched as he was struck and sprayed, simply walking away from the encounter and throwing up two middle fingers.
David was then taken to a nearby hospital where a specialist recommended a surgery to install pins, screws, and plates in his severely broken right hand. David refused pain medication.
“I identified the hell out of myself for a reason, I wanted to give them pause so we could talk,” he said. “So I wanted to go down there to tell them that I believed they were not following their oath to the Constitution. That was my goal.”
In regards to the incident, the acting deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security says only that he is “familiar with the video” involving Mr. David and that “maintaining an appropriate response is an ongoing obligation.”
Now, the internet is referring to 6” 2’ David as “Captain Portland” for his impressive response to violence against him, even citing references to impressively huge and imposing “Game of Thrones” character “The Mountain.”
“My life has turned pretty dramatically weird,” David says.
Federal police strike protester with baton, use pepper spray and tear gas outside courthouse in Portland pic.twitter.com/VX2xTVaaYq
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) July 19, 2020
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