The Portland man who drove through a crowd of Black Lives Matter protestors who then pounded on his windows in a viral video that has set right-wingers into a weeklong rage admitted to the Oregonian that he made a vulgar gesture to the protestors before they touched his car.
The incident happened on Saturday, October 6, when Black Lives Matter protestors took to the streets after a black man was killed by Portland police.
On the scene was Andy Ngo, a journalist for the right-wing publication Quillette, post a video of the incident which was widely circulated. Ngo described the scene as "street anarchy."
But in an interview with the Oregonian newspaper, Kent Houser, 74, said that he flicked off the protestors at the intersection, prompting the confrontation, before driving through the crowd.
"I saw them, they saw me, and they rushed my car," Houser said. "Admittedly, I might have given them the one-finger salute when I rolled up."
Houser then attempted to drive through the crowd in the street despite the fact that they had a "walk" signal and the right-of-way.
After inciting the crowd and then pushing his way through, Houser's Lexus was pounded on what he described as an "angry mob."
"When you have an angry mob yelling at you and beating on your car you just want to get out of there," he told the Oregonian.