Let’s start with the obvious: Joey Gibson is a dork.
While achieving moderate fame for being the leader of far right-wing group Patriot Prayer, in actuality, Gibson is just a loud-mouth, small-town nobody who, without the internet’s help, would’ve lived and died as another angry, put-upon dude spending his lunchtime eating pimento loaf sandwiches in his car and listening to Rush Limbaugh.
Unfortunately, Gibson’s stumbled upon this century’s golden ticket for propelling angry nobodies like him into the spotlight: trolling. With the lure of “triggering snowflakes,” he’s convinced impressionable, like-minded dorks (including accused MAX murderer Jeremy Christian) to join him on his semi-regular Portland visits, which are expressly designed to send progressives into a tizzy and provoke violence. Then they leave, laughing uproariously as Portland’s police, counter-protesters, media, and mayor’s office fight amongst themselves.
