Who's rioting in Portland and why?

From the research sources examining where on the political spectrum news reporting agencies fall, the Washington Post typically is considered definitely left wing. This article from Washington Post reports that the rioters are primarily far left extremists. So if the Washington post is biased toward Progressivism, we would expect it to tend to blame the riots on right wingers, not left-wingers. The fact that it reports the riots as primarily coming from the left-wing then suggests that we can have little doubt that the Portland rioting is a left wing phenomenon.

From the Washington Post, 1.23.2020,  "Destructive protests by anarchists and extremists signal divided left as Biden administration begins:"

The hundreds of far-left and anarchist demonstrators who gathered in protest mere hours after President Biden swore the oath of office Wednesday signal a fracturing on the left that could become a scourge for the new administration, political leaders and experts say.…

 

Portland’s protests undercut claims by Republicans that far-left groups have embraced Biden and have committed destructive acts in support of his policies, said Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League.

“There have been so many efforts to link Biden to the radical elements of the left, including antifa,” he said. “This demonstrates a disconnect between that messaging from the Trump administration and elected officials, who tended to lump together the left more broadly with these radical elements.”

Many on the left have criticized how such groups have demonstrated their ideologies, fearing it weakens their unity and message. Gregory McKelvey, a political consultant and vice chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon’s Black Caucus, noted that some activists “who want to empathize with the extreme left finding it hard to do so right now.”

 

The interesting split reported by the Wa Po is that between mainstream Democratic activists and these far left anarchists. Obviously Democrats as a group have very distinct subgroups within, and it is the  within-Democrats differences that must have an explanation in something other than simply being a Democrat. What explains the radical difference among Democratic subgroups?

In other words what factor pushes some Democrats to the extreme end of the scale between Progressivism and conservativism? Progressives are often characterized (by myself included) as pro-government as with FDR’s New Deal politics but here the far left actually attacks President Biden who obviously must be considered pro-government. So it may be that pro-government is too superficial a property to objectively classify people as progressive. Something deeper must be at work.

The news media cannot contact these people to hear from them. The police charge them and release them so it’s difficult to locate them to get their story out into the news. Unlike mainstream politicians and party activist who like to get their views out into the public, these people seem to be quite secretive in spite of the public attention they attempt to create with their rioting. Why is that?

Surely they don’t believe that their rioting, sloganeering, or their protest signs adequately expresses their views and justifies their policies. Is that all they have to offer? Do they assume we know their identity such that we could look up their website for a full explanation of their views? Would they agree that their message is simplistic or do they think they have a well thought out justification for their policies? What exactly do they think would be the consequences of adopting their simplistic message of getting rid of the police, of abolishing ICE, of ending the military?

Since they can’t be contacted and interviewed nor do they hand out literature nor even give public speeches, their views remain largely a mystery, and they remain empty shells.

Who then are these people?