Andy Ngo

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by PeterTheFourth (talk | contribs) at 02:40, 30 August 2019 (that threat > threaten). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Andy Ngo
Ngo in 2019
Born
Andy Cuong Ngo

1986 or 1987 (age 36–37)[1]
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater

Andy Cuong Ngo (born c. 1986) is a conservative American journalist[disputed – discuss][2][3] best known for covering street protests in Portland, Oregon. He has written columns in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, National Review and Quillette, amongst others. Ngo received national attention in June 2019 when he was assaulted by alleged antifa protesters while covering their counter protest to a Proud Boys march in Portland.

Early life and education

Ngo was born and raised in Portland, Oregon.[1] His parents immigrated from Vietnam by boat in 1978.[1] Raised in a Buddhist family, Ngo began attending an evangelical Christian church in high school. He gave up all religion in 2009.[4]

While attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Ngo volunteered with AmeriCorps.[5] He graduated from UCLA in 2009 with a graphic design degree, but found it hard to find a job, so he had period of unemployment and worked as a photographer at a used car dealership and in various minimum wage jobs.[6] After college, Ngo came out as gay while visiting cousins in rural Vietnam.[5]

In 2015, Ngo began graduate studies in political science at Portland State University (PSU), with research interests in secularism and political Islam.[1][7][6]

Career

Ngo was a writer and an editor at Quillette.[8][9][10][11] In May 2017, Ngo began an outreach internship with the Center for Inquiry, a nonprofit humanist educational organization.[4] Several media outlets, including The Oregonian and The Rolling Stone, have described him as a "right-wing provocateur".[12][13][14][15][16] Joseph Bernstein from BuzzFeed News said that "Ngo’s work is probably best described as media activism", and that Ngo is part a "new generation" of “busybody” journalists, and that he engages in "participant reporting".[6] Max Read cites Ngo as an example of "busybody journalism" and distinguishes it from experiential journalism by its "focus on the individual reporter's feelings." Read says that such journalists have given up on institutions such as magazines and newspapers, and, by giving up on them, they have also given up on editorial processes like fact-checking.[17]

The Vanguard

Ngo first drew national attention in 2017 when he was fired from the Portland State University (PSU) student newspaper The Vanguard.[18][1] His dismissal as multimedia editor was in reaction to a Breitbart News report that Ngo had tweeted on his personal account a video clip of a Muslim student on an interfaith panel stating that in some Muslim countries, the punishment for apostasy is death or banishment.[1] While not reporting for The Vanguard at the time, his tweet paraphrased the Muslim student's remark in a way the newspaper's student editor considered to be "a half-truth", and inciting a reaction.[1] Colleen Leary, Vanguard's editor, also disputed Ngo's claim that the dismissal was motivated by previous campus controversies over Ngo's work.[1]

Ngo later wrote an op-ed for the National Review titled "Fired for Reporting the Truth". He also engaged in online discussions about the incident and on the pro-Trump subreddit /r/The Donald he called the firing part of a "trend towards self-censorship in the name of political correctness".[19] According to the editor of The Vanguard, the incident did not receive much attention on campus. A student who was on the panel disputed Leary's claim that Ngo had incorrectly paraphrased the Muslim student, but the Muslim student said, "I thought I would feel proud after putting something like this [panel] together. Not feel like this."[1][18][19]

Later work

In March 2018, Ngo filmed protests and a disruptive audience when feminist critic Christina Hoff Sommers spoke at the Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland.[20][21][22]

On August 29, 2018, Ngo wrote an op-ed titled "A Visit to Islamic England" for The Wall Street Journal. In the article, Ngo concluded that Muslim communities constitute London's "failed multiculturalism". He also falsely connected alcohol-free zones in parts of London to the Muslim-majority populations. Ngo was accused of Islamophobia and issued a correction to the article. He said he wrote the op-ed because in London in 2006, he "[had frozen], confused and intimidated by the faceless figures"[23] of women wearing the niqab.[18][24][25] Alex Lockie from Business Insider criticized Ngo's article for "fear monger[ing] around England's Muslim population" and cherrypicking evidence, and for mischaracterizing the neighbourhood near the East London Mosque.[26] Steve Hopkins from HuffPost stated that "some of his [Ngo's] assertions have already been disproved".[27] Splinter News' Libby Watson described the op-ed as "racist".[28]

Ngo started a podcast entitled "Things You Should Ngo", in which he interviewed Jordan Peterson, Dave Rubin and Carl Benjamin (who uses the pen name "Sargon of Akkad" online).[6]

Confrontations with antifascist activists

Ngo has labelled several journalists, including Shane Burley and Alexander Reid Ross, as "antifa ideologues" and claimed that they mainstream "extremist ideas"; subsequently, those journalists received death threats and were victims of online harassment and were targeted by far-right groups, including the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division.[29] According to Vox's Zack Beauchamp, Ngo has also doxed at least one political activist by publishing her full name.[30] He has also been accused of using selectively edited videos to paint antifascist activists as violent.[31][32][13][33]

Ngo has investigated what he calls illiberal reactions he claims threaten college freedoms.[22] In February 2018, Ngo and his student group Freethinkers of PSU invited former Google engineer James Damore, the author of a Google diversity memo, to speak on the campus. According to Ngo, his group was threatened with violence and were intimidated by antifa protesters. During the event, a portion of the audience walked out in protest against Damore. Ngo filmed the disruption, but said "it [had not been] a plan to get national attention for [himself]."[34][35][22][19]

In November 2018, Ngo live-streamed the antifeminist #HimToo Rally by a Patriot Prayer member in downtown Portland, and was sprayed with silly string by antifascist protesters.[36][37] Ngo subsequently blamed Democratic politicians, who he said largely "share similar goals and sympathies [as antifa]", for not preventing violence and "[viewing] it through a partisan lens".[36]

In May 2019, Ngo claimed he was pepper-sprayed by an antifascist activist while recording a fight in Portland. This occurred amid clashes between antifascists and the far-right group Patriot Prayer.[38] Later that year, a video of Ngo surfaced were he is seen laughing, while standing with the members of the far-right group planning the attack on anti-fascist patrons at the bar.[39][40][41] He later followed the group to the bar where they allegedly attacked the patrons. The video is part of the court documents in the ongoing lawsuit against Patriot Prayer members for allegedly causing the riot. One of the victims of the attack was knocked unconscious with a baton and suffered a broken vertebrae – Ngo later posted a video of her being attacked and shared her personal information online.[42][30] Portland Mercury quoted an undercover antifascist embedded in Patriot Prayer saying that Andy Ngo has an "understanding" with the far-right group, that the group "protects him and he protects them".[43]

On June 29, 2019, while filming a counter-protest to a Proud Boys march in Portland, Ngo was punched in the head and kicked by unidentified assailants who appeared to be antifascist protesters, who also threw milkshakes at him.[44][45][6][46][failed verification][47][failed verification][48][failed verification] He walked away and reported what happened in a livestream, during which a medic arrived to check on him.[49] According to the report of a police lieutenant present at the incident, he ‘firmly believed’ the milkshakes that were used contained a ‘form of concrete'; however, no evidence of this has ever been presented.[50][51][30][52]

Ngo's attorney wrote that Ngo was subsequently taken to hospital for cerebral hemorrhaging. Joseph Bernstein, writing for Buzzfeed News, stated that Ngo had sent him a copy of his discharge paperwork from the hospital showing that he had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage.[6] Ngo retained attorney Harmeet Dhillon to investigate the response of the Portland Police Bureau.[53] Texas Senator Ted Cruz called on federal authorities to investigate Ted Wheeler, Portland's mayor, who is also the city's police commissioner.[11][54] Democratic Party presidential candidate Andrew Yang wished Ngo a speedy recovery.[11] Former Vice President and Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden and then-candidate Eric Swalwell also condemned the attack.[55] Later that year, a recording of an alleged member of Proud Boys emerged, published by Wilamette Week, where the person claimed that Ngo has been in contact with the group and was offered protection during the June 29 protest.[56] The Portland based newspaper stated that "it is increasingly clear he is coordinating his movements and his message with right-wing groups".

In August 2019, Ngo claimed that antifascists had attacked far-right protesters with a hammer – these claims were later demonstrated to be false, as the hammer was initially used by a member of the American Guard, a group labeled a White Supremacist Organization by the ADL, which was subsequently taken by a counter protester and thrown back into the bus the American Guard members were riding.[32][57][14]

On August 26, 2019, The Daily Beast reported that Ngo was leaving Quillette. Earlier in the day, the Portland Mercury used video evidence to suggest that Ngo had observed members of Patriot Prayer, the far-right group active in Portland, planning violence at a bar frequented by left-wing activists, but had not reported the incident.[43][58][59][31] Some of the people he saw now face felony riot charges. Ngo's name was deleted from Quillette' masthead, and the site from Ngo's twitter feed, at this time.[39] The editor of Quillette, Claire Lehmann, told The Daily Beast that the two developments were not linked and that Ngo had left the website several weeks earlier.[39]

Political views

Ngo has been widely described as a right-wing and conservative, although he does not describe himself as such.[2][3][8][9][18][20] In July 2019, on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan asked, "if someone had a gun to your head" and he had to pick a political label, what would he choose? Ngo responded, "I think it's fair to describe me as center-right".[60]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Herron, Elise (July 14, 2017). "A Dispute Over a Muslim Student's Remarks Costs a College Journalist His Job, And Brings National Furor to Portland State University". Willamette Week. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Baker, Mike (July 1, 2019). "In Portland, a Punch and a Milkshake Rumor Feed a Fresh Round of Police Criticism". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 2, 2019. ...conservative journalist Andy Ngo...
  3. ^ a b Osborne, Mark (June 30, 2019). "Right-wing protesters clash with anti-fascists as march gets violent". ABC News. Retrieved July 2, 2019. Andy Ngo, a conservative journalist...
  4. ^ a b "Announcing our 2017 Outreach interns, Vicki Smith and Andy Ngo". Center for Inquiry. May 11, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Griffin, Anna (February 8, 2018). "For Immigrants' Son, Vietnam Trip Led To More Conservative Worldview". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bernstein, Joseph (July 18, 2019). "Andy Ngo Has The Newest New Media Career. It's Made Him A Victim And A Star". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  7. ^ Ngo, Andy (September 6, 2017). "The Challenge of Freethinking Among Nonbelievers". Center for Inquiry. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Williams, Kale (June 30, 2019). "Portland mayor, police come under fire after right-wing writer attacked at protest". oregonlive.com. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  9. ^ a b Quinn, Allison (June 30, 2019). "Conservative Writer Andy Ngo Attacked at Portland Rally". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  10. ^ Andy Campbell (July 1, 2019). "Far-Right Extremists Wanted Blood In Portland's Streets. Once Again, They Got It". HuffPost. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  11. ^ a b c Klar, Rebecca (July 1, 2019). "2020 Democrat Andrew Yang sends well-wishes to Andy Ngo: 'Journalists should be safe to report on a protest'". TheHill. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  12. ^ 1 July 2019. "Vigilantes at large". Washington Times.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ a b Arun Gupta (August 2019). "Portland's Andy Ngo Is the Most Dangerous Grifter in America".
  14. ^ a b "1 hammer, 1 'antifa mob chase': A closer look at Portland's viral protest moments". The Oregonian.
  15. ^ Ej Dickson (August 19, 2019). "Proud Boys Dwarfed by Anti-Fascist Protesters at Portland Rally". The Rolling Stone.
  16. ^ Amy Goodman (August 21, 2019). "Portland rejects proud boys & other ultra-right groups as Trump tries to criminalize Antifa". Nation of Change.
  17. ^ Read, Max (August 31, 2018). "The Rise of Busybody Journalism". Intelligencer. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  18. ^ a b c d Herzog, Katie (December 7, 2018). "Anti-Racist Protesters Harass Gay Asian-American Journalist". The Stranger. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  19. ^ a b c Wilson, Jason (March 18, 2018). "How to troll the left: understanding the rightwing outrage machine". The Guardian. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  20. ^ a b Uyehara, Mari (March 19, 2018). "The Free Speech Grifters". GQ. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  21. ^ Young, Cathy (April 19, 2019). "Rise of the Notre Dame Truthers". The Bulwark. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  22. ^ a b c Moore, Shasta Kearns (March 7, 2018). "Conservative feminist shouted down at Lewis & Clark". Portland Tribune. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  23. ^ Ngo, Andy. "Opinion | A Visit to Islamic England". WSJ. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  24. ^ Read, Max (August 31, 2018). "The Rise of Busybody Journalism". New York. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  25. ^ Malvern, Jack (September 1, 2018). "Drinking rules leave US writer dazed". The Times. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  26. ^ Lockie, Alex (August 31, 2018). "The Wall Street Journal ran a cowardly, race-baiting article on 'Islamic England': I live there. They're dead wrong". www.businessinsider.com. Business Insider. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  27. ^ Hopkins, Steve (August 30, 2018). "'Islamic England' Wall Street Journal Column Slammed By Tower Hamlets Council And Campaigners". HuffPost. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  28. ^ "London Has Fallen, According to This Racist Wall Street Journal Op-Ed". Splinter News. August 30, 2018.
  29. ^ Shane Burley; Alexander Reid Ross (June 19, 2019). "I was the target of alt-right death threats across the internet – here's what happened next". Independent.
  30. ^ a b c Beauchamp, Jack (July 3, 2019). "The assault on conservative journalist Andy Ngo, explained". Vox. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  31. ^ a b Igor Derysh (August 28, 2019). "Right-wing "journalist" Andy Ngo outed: Video shows him hanging out with far-right hate group". Salon.
  32. ^ a b Alex Dalbey (August 20, 2019). "Edited videos of Portland protests are telling half-truths". Daily Dot.
  33. ^ Courtney Hagle (August 28, 2019). "Media presented far-right grifter Andy Ngo as a credible journalist. He was just caught covering for far-right extremists as they plan violent attacks". Media Matters for America.
  34. ^ Parke, Caleb (February 14, 2018). "Antifa targets 'Google memo' author James Damore's talk at Portland State". Fox News. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  35. ^ Shepherd, Katie (February 17, 2018). "No Violence, Brief Disruption as Fired Google Engineer Speaks at Portland State University". Willamette Week. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  36. ^ a b Manchester, Julia (November 19, 2018). "Democratic politicians in 'difficult position' in handling Antifa, says journalist". The Hill. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  37. ^ Sparling, Zane (November 18, 2018). "6 arrested, released during Saturday protest in Portland". Portland Tribune. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  38. ^ Wallace, Danielle (May 2, 2019). "Antifa, far-right groups clash outside Portland bar after 'peaceful' May Day protests". Fox News. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  39. ^ a b c Somner, Will (August 26, 2019). "Right-Wing Star Andy Ngo Exits Quillette After Damning Video Surfaces". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  40. ^ Sierra Juarez (August 24, 2019). "Andy Ngo seen laughing as Patriot Prayer members plan an attack in newly emerged video". The Daily Dot.
  41. ^ Tyler MacDonald (August 25, 2019). "Andy Ngo Captured On Video With Patriot Prayer As They Reportedly Plan Attack On Antifa". The Inquisitr.
  42. ^ Tess Owen (August 27, 2019). "Super Awkward for Right-Wing Blogger Andy Ngo to Make a Cameo in Video of Plot Against Antifa". VICE News.
  43. ^ a b Zielinski, Alex (August 26, 2019). "Undercover in Patriot Prayer: Insights From a Vancouver Democrat Who's Been Working Against the Far-Right Group from the Inside". Portland Mercury. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  44. ^ Iati, Marisa (July 20, 2019). "Two senators want antifa activists to be labeled 'domestic terrorists.' Here's what that means". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  45. ^ Burns, Dasha; Brooks, Abigail; Ortiz, Erik (August 16, 2019). "Proud Boys rally in Portland is latest test for police". NBC News. Retrieved August 29, 2019. Chaos also broke out during a rally in June, when masked antifa members physically attacked conservative blogger Andy Ngo in an incident shared on social media.
  46. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (June 30, 2019). "Antifa attack conservative blogger Andy Ngo amid violence at Portland Proud Boys protest". The Independent. Retrieved July 1, 2019. "I just got beat up by the crowd," Mr Ngo said.
  47. ^ "Far-Right Extremists Wanted Blood In Portland's Streets. Once Again, They Got It". HuffPost. July 1, 2019.
  48. ^ "Portland antifa/right wing protests escalate to civil disturbance". Oregonian/OregonLive. June 29, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  49. ^ Mike Baker (July 2, 2019). "Portland mayor faces impeachment calls after antifa assault and milkshaking of right-wing blogger Andy Ngo". The Guardian.
  50. ^ Bernstein, Maxine (July 22, 2019). "Police lieutenant 'firmly believed' milkshakes thrown during June protest 'contained some form of concrete'". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  51. ^ Sparling, Zane (June 30, 2019). "Police: 3 arrested, 8 need medical care after street brawl". Portland Tribune. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  52. ^ Tom Embury-Dennis (July 1, 2019). "Portland police provide no evidence for claim milkshakes thrown at far-right groups contained quick-drying cement". The Independent.
  53. ^ Melanie Woodrow (July 1, 2019). "Portland journalist Andy Ngo speaks out, says antifa behind attack". KGO-TV. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  54. ^ March, Mary Tyler (June 30, 2019). "Cruz calls for 'legal action' against Portland mayor after clash between far-right, antifa protesters". TheHill. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  55. ^ "Will other Dems join Biden in condemning antifa violence?". New York Post. July 7, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  56. ^ Nigel Jaquiss (August 28, 2019). "Right-Wing Brawlers Discussed a Hammer Fight While Being Filmed". Willamette Week.
  57. ^ "Proud Boys, Outnumbered By Anti-fascists, Get Police Escort After 30-Minute Rally". Huffington Post. August 18, 2019.
  58. ^ Morgan Phillips (August 27, 2019). "Writer Andy Ngo Splits from Conservative Blog Quillette After Damning Video Surfaces". Media ITE.
  59. ^ Mike Brest (August 27, 2019). "Journalist Andy Ngo loses job after publication of undercover video of him with right-wing group". Washington Examiner.
  60. ^ "Joe Rogan Experience #1323 - Andy Ngo". July 10, 2019. Event occurs at 33:01–33:16. Retrieved July 11, 2019.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andy_Ngo&oldid=913129769"