Shawn Ryan Show - Ed Calderon's first hand accounts with the Portland and Atlanta Riots

Episode Date: December 7, 2020

Ed Calderon and Shawn Ryan talk about Ed's first hand account and experience with the Portland and Atlanta riots.  Vigilance Elite/Shawn Ryan Links: Website - https://www.shawnryanshow.com Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/VigilanceElite TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@shawnryanshow Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/shawnryan762 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Visit genesite.com for more information. All right, Ed. We'll just do a quick warm-up real quick, but I like to do a warm-up before we dive right into it. Sure. So, with all the shit that's going on in the country right now, and the protest and the riots,

you actually went to the Portland one. Yeah. And you also were in Atlanta. Are there any other ones you showed up at? Or I mean, L.A. I was in L.A. during some of those, the initial parts of that protest and some of the looting going on in LA, so I got to see some of that as well. Did you get anything good?

That's a good one. No, I didn't get anything good. I don't know. So when I was in Atlanta, that was the initial push of those nightly protests and looting and rioting. I was actually there to do a class on urban urban movement, travel or safety and social engineering. So I got there on the host called me right off after I got out of the plane and told me, we're probably gonna have to cancel this class because Atlanta is burning.

And I told them, well, that's a pretty good backdrop and learning experience for people that kind of go through. Yeah. So, in the words of Bill O'Reilly, fuck it, let's do it live. Ha! So, we actually use the riots as a backdrop,

sent some of the students out there to kind of piece together who was in charge on the protestor side. You took the class, you took the class out there? Yeah. Oh, shit. Nice. I took the class out there. Obviously everybody signed away where everybody knew what they were in for and everybody wanted the learning experience and I don't want to pass up to learning experience for myself

to kind of see some of that stuff directly. Immediate things became apparent to the students and to myself. A lot of conductors, people orchestrating things within the scope of the protest and some of the looting going on. On both sides, even the cops and the police and the government was doing,

we're doing things to kind of move certain narratives and certain things along. Protester side, you can see people being bust in or driven into the protest in Atlanta. You can see certain elements, certain things bought at Home Depot that were pretty suspect. So it was surprising to me that on the law enforcement side, none of that was being monitored. So basically, reaching kids were sold out in Atlanta. Crow bars, angle grinders, that type of stuff,

all that stuff was kind of being distributed in some of these places with some of the some of the looters. On the protesters side there was a lot of communication, a lot of people utilizing things like during a lot of the students were within the crowds they could see over up shoulders and would see what the messaging devices that people were using. So they were using Snapchat, they were using a signal, they were using Sayio, which is like a, it turns your phone into like a radio thing and they were using headsets to kind of orchestrate some of these things. So is it actually pretty fucking organized? Some of it was. And on the, on the, you know, and not to just talk about the protesters,

there was a group of people that rolled in at one talk about the protesters. There was a group of people that rolled in at one point during the night, handing out water bottles and being very pro police, pro blue line, and they were driven there inside of police car and they were driven out of there inside of police car after they made an appearance on the news. So, you know, everybody was it was a circus with a lot of rings in there. That's interesting. How did your students feel? I mean, when you change the way you look at things,

the things you look at will change. You know, people are people are people are usually told told to avoid these these types of incidents and in spaces. You know, my whole thing is that I want to teach people how to look at things differently. To look things from an adversarial type of way. So when I used to do training for bodyguards in Mexico, I used to take them through a full ambush class first, and then show them how to counter that, right? I take that kind of that same approach with the students coming into some of the urban survival classes where I'm like, hey, so I'm going to show you how to get out of a bad situation where maybe civil unrest is a thing. So I have to show you how civil unrest, the kind of acts and how it coordinates and how the Hong Kong protesters are a quantum leap when it comes to civil unrest and how you're

seeing some of their methodology kind of now being transferred through the intrawebs into the methodologies that are now being expressed by groups like Antifa, groups like Black Lives some of the some of the elements within Black Lives Matters. And, and some of the people around these protests that's, that basically use them to do what they do, which is loot, you know, property damage. And it's just an excuse or an outlet for them to do what they do. Do you think those protesters that want their, uh, went with bad intentions, or do you think, or do you think that they were manipulated after being there by a certain group

and they kind of handed what they needed to turn it into what it wound up in? A pretty good example of this. Why was in Portland and I actually was at the 100, the 100 day 101 of the protest when the the one the Malatal cocktail was thrown at one of the at by one of the protesters and landed within the protesters and one of them their feet caught on fire. The the memes that came out of that, you know, the internet wins, you know,

pretty horrific site for most people I've seen worse, but that happened. Interesting thing about that is the protesters immediately looked around and said somebody called the police basically. You gotta be shitting. And the state police rolled in, put him out, and there was an unspoken truth state police rolled in, put him out. And there was an unspoken truth app and then that moment, right? And they put this guy's shoes out with his extinguisher. And then they went back to the whole,

us against that. I've been through riots, but I've been through two riots, prison riots, some riots outside of the prison in Tijuana, a bunch of other, you know, the civil unrest situations in Mexico, where people do get killed, and people do have nefarious intent,

and people in the cops will shoot back. A repressive, true repressive government. I don't see that important. 5% CS gas being used, which is, you know, it makes the sneeze, you know, snack carts being pulled through the the protester line. They have fucking snack carts. Yeah. Red Bull granola, water, gatorade bottles being offered to the protesters there. Lots of cool aid, a lot of cool aid. Mostly young people, most, so I look at things in a different way.

So I was going through that protest and one of the first things that I did was smell some of the people there. You would think that a protest that lasted 100 days would mean that a lot of people have been out there just sleepless just With the you know fighting the good fight all these people smell like they took a shower in the morning all these people smell the Vax body spray and old spice

All right, they said they smelled like they've been living comfortably maybe cop surfing in the area Mostly Caucasian Mostly all of them had pretty good dental work done on them. A lot of them had a very expensive frames on their glasses. A few very expensive, not expensive shoes, but upper mental classes, what I saw there. Not, and it was all about black lives matter, and I did not see a lot of black lives in that environment. The black lives that I saw in that environment, I saw a few African Americans honking their horns because they were getting back from work into their suburban houses in the area. And it was interesting seeing that nonsense, nonsensical kind of a struggle that they were going through, where the black lives are fighting for honking their horns trying to get through the crowd to get back home, and they're protesting for against the police. And the police are using 5% gas and engaging in the

like you want to talk about restraint. I've never seen such a restrained such a restrained riot police force in my life. I mean, they did everything they could not to damage anybody at that riot. So speaking to some other members of law enforcement that were working, did they accomplish that real quick, just backtrack, like, did they harm anybody? Not at all. I mean, they push some people got knocked to the ground just by by scattering when some of the police is kind of moved in on the protest. But it was, I mean, I'm three years into the American dream myself. So I still have the perspective of an outsider. And I can make heads or tails of what I was seeing.

I still have the perspective of an outsider and I can make heads or tails of what I was seeing. It seemed like a play being acted on in front of me some sort of show. And this show became louder and routier when the cameras were there. Okay. So, and on the police officer's side, and I actually went over and talked to some of them.

And desperation on their end, they don't have leadership in Portland as far as their police forces. They don't have the backing or support of the government there. The government says, well, just do be there, but don't do anything. Property damages happening, don't worry about it.

What's the fuck going on being there then? That's the thing, you know? So I feel for them, I feel for the protesters too. I mean, I feel for the fight that they think they're fighting for, the motives that they have for being there. And they were sold something that might not be what they think it is. And I think most of these things were probably going to flare up or fade away once on November passes. That's kind of the feeling I get. How many people were out there? Was

it like, was it shoulder to shoulder? Probably just probably somewhere in the vicinity of 2,000 people, maybe kind of moving around randomly. A few leaders in the protest, streaming out directions. We What kind of directions? Let's go over to the park. Let's form a line here. Gather all the dumpsters, put them in the middle of the street, gather rocks,

back up, disperse, regroup, that's good. Yeah, and everybody listens. Everybody listens to the vestibilities. Usually a few people listen and the rest of them follow the crowd.

Okay. So it's a lot of herd mentality, not even close to what you see in Hong Kong though. You know, they're Asian. So there's something there about, and then something about the organization. So I don't know, it's not even close to what you see in Hong Kong. It's where the organization goes and some of the sophistication shown by the protesters. Yeah. But it's pretty interesting. You know, it's interesting and interesting how they're basically being bust in and relieved and something is maintaining that. It has to be something maintaining

that financially. Yeah. Did you feel like you're in danger at all being in there? No, no. Completely. So I had a few people telling me, Ed, what are you doing there in that protest? I'm not telling people to be reckless with their safety in lives. I know people, I usually tell people to avoid that. I'm a non-promissive environment specialist. I train people in how to be safe,

specifically in places where they're not supposed to be or places that turn into places not supposed to be. So who would I be doing those types of classes if I don't go to those places and learn from them, right? So to me, it was a learning experience. But in my experience being in a place that played a very dangerous places. That was not even close to, you know, to the scale of danger that I've been in my life. That was pretty tame. I didn't feel threatened by the law and law enforcement. I saw some of the canisters go off

and get a whiff of something that CS gas prepared for CS gas. Yeah. And I sneezed a bit and rubbed my eyes a little bit and then learning it was 5% CS gas. Yeah. And I sneeze the bed and rub my eyes a little bit and then learn it was 5% CS gas. All right, so no, I did not feel in danger. I felt for the people that live there. That's a sympathy I got. Some of these people, some of the property damage that I saw,

some of the people coming back from work, some of the people going to work, getting their lives interrupted by all these kids playing rage against the machine in the middle of the street and just knocking over knocking over deeply about and how that gets manipulated by some people out there maybe. And on the other side, desperate police officers going on inhumane shifts and having no support of the people that were elected to leave them. So it was, I mean, to me, it was a sad state of affairs something that is very Familiar to me as far as somebody that comes from the third world in it from a country of like Mexico It has a lot of that type of strife. Yeah, you can see elements of that in there So it was surprising to me that I saw that in Portland a Few a few blocks away from a bunch of restaurants where all these

protesters were having lunch before they got there, the vegan restaurant, the noodle restaurant, there's a bunch of hipster places and all of a sudden, that was a great vegan pizza. Now let's go protest how bad we have it. That was like, my brain doesn't, isn't able to comprehend exactly what's going on there. They're gonna get worse at night. You know, it kept ramping up and then lowering down, ramping up, lowering down.

A lot of it was actually provoked by media being there filming. That's what made a lot of the people just gonna get rowdy again. Yeah. But you can see some of the desperation on the co-ops side. I mean, they don't want to be there every night. Yeah. With their hands, Tybaly, either. Yeah. Was there, when you said there was kind of a when you said there was kind of a like a momentary truth when that guy's leg caught on fire, but what were the cops were the police officers intermingled with them or was there like a clear line? That's a clear line.

The uniformed all black, a ride police with some of the subdued patches on there. They saw the Molulatop cocktail being thrown and the sky catching on fire basically running through the crowd and then the protesters with all their infinite wisdom telling him to roll. And he kept rolling, but his feet were on fire. So that rolling thing doesn't work when you're feet on fire apparently.

It's fucking gas, buddy. And you can see their helplessness coming down rolling thing doesn't work when you're feet on fire apparently. It's fucking gas, buddy. And they, you could see their helplessness coming, coming in from the bottom up until their voice said somebody called the police, no, which was insane for that environment. And they did come and they did put them out with extinguishers. And then they get, and then they had to go back to their line and start getting pelted again, even after they did their deed. They're indeed, you know, again, I saw some of the faces in that

police line again, black lives matter. There's a lot of black faces on the police, on the police line as well. So I don't know. I don't know what to think about all that. What do you think would stop it? I don't know. That's a big question. I think it's beyond my understanding. I would advise that a lot of the people

that talk about police repression or a repressive government would take the time to travel a bit abroad. I think some of us that have had the opportunity to travel or that they're not from this country have experienced what that actually feels like. What being tossed into the back of a car without your rights being read and actually being tortured and sell somewhere because you belong to a different political party than they do, what that is actually is.

What being a reporter somewhere and being killed because of something you reported is. What having a role of armed men coming to your house and taking your prettiest daughter to a party and never seeing her again, what that's like, um, the, the, the U S is, is not bad. No matter how much they try and push that narrative, like I'm not from here, I travel every weekend. I'm in a different state every weekend. And I've

a few cases that I've seen, a few cases that I've experienced, but mostly the, there's no, they not experienced what true hopelessness is when it comes to the government. What true repression is when it comes to the government. And most places in the country you bathe in drinkable, potable water in the morning. Yeah. You know, I think people should start there. Yeah. I mean, the police can't really do much,

you know, they're fucking hands are tied behind their back. And what about the future? Like how many people are gonna sign up to be in the police in Portland in the next few years? What about the people that retire? Yeah. What I've heard as a salaries aren't too attractive. The work they're doing right now is inhumane

for what they're doing. They don't get any support. So eventually, people are fighting, they're trying to cancel the police. Yeah. I mean, it's unfortunate, but sometimes, sometimes I feel like the best thing you can do is just let people live

and, uh, exactly what the fuck they created. It's harsh as that sounds. But hard times produce hard men. You know, hard men will produce good times and good times will produce soft men. And the snake will bite its tail. I think we're at that point right now in history where the snake is biting its tail. I think we're at that point right now in history where the snake is biting its tail. I think we're there till. And it's to me it's a I'm I people ask me about you know what I think about these things and

you know what's happening in the US. The world has ended for me several times over in Mexico. From my job ending to seeing a whole generation of young kids that I grew up with being consumed by a drug war, I mean, consumed by it. Their bodies are, no bodies to bury. So my world has ended a few times over, you know. Coming up here and seeing some of the strife that countries going through is, I still have hope.

I still have a vision or an idea of what the US is. I remember getting gifted a copy of the Constitution when I started going through my immigration process by a dear friend of mine, Dan, NSW Reservist, and gave me a copy of the Constitution, told me to read it. And I read it and it's a pretty amazing document. It's probably the closest thing to a divinely inspired document that I've seen. And you can see its effects on the country you have now.

But again, you start getting into what it's churning into. This clear line of separation between this side and that. And somebody like me getting caught in the middle, I just, you know, I'm new here. How can I help? How you're supposed to be on that side, or you're supposed to be on this side. And that's just this heartening, you know. Well, that's pretty interesting to hear from another standpoint, from an immigrant. So thanks for sharing that. And let's get on with the show. Let's get on with the show. Finding suitable mental health medications can be a challenge. The gene site test may help.

Did you know that genetics can play an important role in gaining insight on how a person may respond to various medications? Understanding this may help reduce medication trial and error. Gene site is a genetic test that analyzes variations in DNA. It shows how genes may affect someone's metabolism or response to medications commonly prescribed to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Visit geneSight.com for more information. The Bullwork Podcast focuses on political analysis and reporting without partisan loyalties.

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