In August 2017, a set of mugshots was circulated on social media along with the claim that they showed members of the anti-fascist group "Antifa" who had been arrested while protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia:
These mugshots were not related to the infamous white nationalist "Unite the Right" rally held in Charlottesville on 12 August 2017. Rather, these mugshots were taken after a labor rights protest in Portland, Oregon, over three months earlier:
What began as a peaceful march for labor rights on May Day in Portland turned violent as a group of self-described anarchists threw objects at officers and officers fired non-lethal weapons back. Police canceled the permitted march and deemed it a riot as tensions escalated.
Portland police arrested 25 protesters, on charges ranging from arson to assault, criminal mischief and theft. All 25 suspects were cited for failing to obey a peace officer, and police said the arrests will be reviewed for additional charges.
"In Portland we respect peaceful protest, but we do not and cannot support acts of violence and vandalism," Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Tuesday morning. "That's not political speech. That's crime."
"Last night was another chapter in a story that has become all too familiar in Portland: Protests that begin peacefully but devolve quickly due to the actions of those whose only desire is to damage people and property," he said.
