Navy veteran praised as 'Captain Portland' after beating by federal officers during riots

https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-protest-navy-veteran-federal-officers-baton-pepper-spray

Federal officers were seen in a video that has since gone viral striking a Navy veteran with a baton and firing tear gas at him when he failed to pull back from a federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., Saturday night.

Christopher David, 53, was seen standing with his arms at his side in front of a group of federal officers outside the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse Saturday night. One federal officer strikes him at least three times with a baton before another uses a can of pepper spray on his eyes, according to a video of the incident first shared by Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling.

David, wearing a white sweatshirt with the word Navy written across, a mask and a black backpack, walks away from the federal officers, flipping them the middle finger. The 11-second video clip has since been viewed more than 9.5 million times.

David, a Portland resident who served in the U.S. Navy for more than eight years, said he took the bus downtown to join protesters and looked for federal officers before he “stood in the street in front of them and I started asking them if it was OK to violate their oath of the Constitution.”