Since the election of Donald Trump, extreme right-wing groups and left-wing activists have battled on American streets. It’s happened in New York, Berkeley, Charlottesville and elsewhere. But one liberal enclave might be the epicentre of the fighting: Portland, Oregon, a progressive city in the Pacific north-west.
Two activists who have been on opposite sides in the Portland clashes agreed to meet and talk. But would they have any common ground?
I didn’t think they would both be in the same room, until they were both in the same room.
We had agreed to meet on neutral ground – a cannabis club in east Portland. Recreational use of weed is legal in Oregon, and one thing Luis and Rob have in common is that they think liberalising drug laws is a good idea.
Luis, nervous and on edge, enters wearing sunglasses and a hat. Rob is wide-eyed and, it seems, intent on at least a verbal confrontation.
