Cider Riot, the Portland establishment frequently used by Antifa as planning and staging established has announced it is closing down on November 10th, as reported by Oregon Live. The establishment’s owner Goldman-Armstrong was quick to blame the decline in his business on the right wing activist group Patriot Prayer whom he claimed caused his establishment to develop an unsafe reputation, causing a sharp decline in attendance by locals.
The actual facts of the case reveal a completely different story as to the establishment’s demise. The owner firstly carried out expensive expansion in 2016 that would require most businesses to operate at a certain level of efficiency to pay off. Instead, the owner Goldman-Armstrong opted to endlessly court accused domestic terrorist group Antifa and spend his days focusing more on protests rather than running his business.
When the May brawl between Anfifa and Patriot Prayer occurred the business had long since had a negative reputation amongst locals for being unsafe as a result of the constant Antifa presence. As much as the owner would love to pin all this on Patriot Prayer his reputation was long cemented beforehand in the eyes of locals.
When regulators came to investigate the brawl they had a decidedly different take on the even than the media and Mr. Goldman-Armstrong. From videos they determined it was Antifa that was the aggressors, along with bar staff, not the other way around. Further they noted that Antifa was equipped with illegal weapons that they utilized against their opponents.
When confronted by investigators the owner proceeded to claim Antifa who initiated the hostilities were only defending themselves. Investigators were having none of it and have gone on the record stating that from video evidence made available to them Antifa were the aggressors.
“Goldman-Armstrong stated that his patrons were only acting in self-defense but clearly, according to the video, he was present and watching as patrons displayed aggressive behavior.”
— Genny Welp, inspector for Oregon Liquor Control Commssion
Investigators also inquired as to why Mr. Goldman-Armstrong did not evict the occupants with illegal weapons onto which his lawyer responded:
“It’s not clear what OLCC would have wanted my client to do. Did they want Abe to be both a one-man police force and a bouncer, all while he was dealing with a small triage hospital in his cidery?”
The investigation concluded recommending multiple administration charges against Goldman-Armstrong. Likely resulting, though, unconfirmed in the revoking of his liquor license or struggling to maintain it, along with fines. Though this cannot be confirmed those in the service industry can well attest how competitive it is to acquire the often limited number of liquor licenses. Again since there is little follow up that is mere supposition on our part based upon common industry practices, not stated fact.
What is known is the establishment was massively in dept and developed a reputation for being unsafe. Clearly if Antifa, who regularly hung out at the establishment, were in possession of illegal weapons and given their extremely aggressive nature this is not an unfounded sentiment. In the end Cider Riot both lived up to its name and earned a place as another example of getting woke and going broke.
