Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been criticized for not vetting sources he links to on Twitter, and on Sunday night he tweeted a link to a blog just days after one of its "former" contributors was hit with a 21-count indictment.
On August 3rd, 36-year-old Michael Aaron Strickland was accused by an Oregan Grand Jury of committing 10 counts each related to menacing (misdemeanors) and unlawful use of a weapon (Class C felonies) plus an additional disorderly conduct charge, after pulling a gun against Portland protesters on July 7, 2016 (PDF indictment link). A judge set his bond at $250,000 and Strickland paid 10 percent and remains free, at least until his arraignment this Friday.
Multnomah County prosecutor Katie Molina stated that Strickland was brandishing a Glock 26 with an extended clip, which "he swept at chest level multiple times in front of Don't Shoot PDX protesters and a plain-clothed Portland police officer, The Oregonian reported.
The protests were against police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and Strickland was reportedly armed because he "was jumped by an anti-gun activist who broke his arm in three places at an anti-Second Amendment event," Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft explained on July 10th.
Even though Gateway Pundit published a story by Strickland on July 2nd, Hoft referred to him as "a former contributor" in his blog post titled, "Conservative Activist Jailed After Pulling Gun on Gang of Thugs Trying to Kick His A$$."
Hoft noted that Strickland "has a concealed carry permit in Oregon and can legally carry a weapon." He also argued that Strickland "was being threatened and he pulled the gun on his would-be assailants," but the videos don't really seem to support that version of events. Journalists or bloggers that carry weapons, even in warzones, are generally frowned upon, since it may put other unarmed reporters at risk of being attacked or falsely arrested as spies.
Trump tweeted "ICYMI: Will Media Apologize to Trump?" Sunday night, and linked to a story by Kristinn Taylor, an activist and journalist, who has also had stories published at Free Republic and Breitbart News. Even though Taylor tends to focus on protests, she hasn't tweeted about Strickland's arrest, and didn't respond to a request for a comment to see if she thinks he was wrongly arrested.
The Republican presidential candidate has been sharply criticized for tweeting links to white supremacists and other sketchy sources, but his campaign has argued that he shouldn't be considered guilty of association just for not closely vetting his sources, which sometimes contain misinfo.
But both sides constantly politicize every police shooting or incidence of violence at counter rallies. Even deranged mass shooters are used as political wedges. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Trump have also accused each other of encouraging ISIS terrorists with their statements against each other in the extremely heated 2016 presidential race.
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