Driver Pulled from Truck, Beaten by Black Lives Matter Crowd in Portland Speaks Out
Adam Haner, the driver who was dragged from his pick-up truck and beaten by rioters in Portland last week, is questioning the motives of protestors, saying “they’re exhibiting the same behavior that they’re trying to stop.”
Haner’s comments came during a Saturday appearance on Fox News’ “Watters World” during which he explained that he and his girlfriend, Tammie Martin, had been attempting to aid a woman they saw being robbed when the attack occurred. His good deed left him with black eyes, head lacerations and injuries to his ribs and legs last Sunday.
A crowd of Black Lives Matter and Antifia rioters surrounded Haner’s truck around 10:30 p.m. after he crashed into a light pole at Southwest Broadway and Taylor Street. At least one individual punched him as he sat inside before he was pulled out of the vehicle and attacked.
“I warned everyone to get out of my way when I did start my truck,” Haner said. “I’d been down there long enough. They knew when my truck started, to get out of the way. I was down there for a lengthy amount of time. I managed not to hurt anyone while I was down there, but myself, evidently. I can’t say the same for them.”
Haner called out Democratic mayor Ted Wheeler, who has given into protestors’ demands to defund the police, for the police’s slow response time. He said it took 10 minutes for help to arrive, “kind of a long response time for my issue down there.”
Police had deployed a large law enforcement response and encountered “a hostile crowd,” at the scene, the department said earlier.
Haner then took aim at the rioters, saying, “I thought that’s what they were down there trying to fight, was this kind of behavior toward them, but they’re exhibiting the same behavior that they’re trying to stop.”
He was attacked by a mob of rioters, but the man who allegedly delivered a final crushing kick to Haner, 25-year-old Marquise Love, was arrested Friday and charged with felonious assault, riot participation, and coercion. A video appears to show Love punching Haner several times before kicking his head from behind, knocking him out and causing his head to bleed after it hit the street.
Haner’s attack is the latest in a series of violent demonstrations that have plagued the city and led to the deployment of federal agents — who have since been withdrawn — following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody earlier this summer.
