On occasion over the past week, the Portland Police Bureau's official Twitter account has released images of items taken from the nightly protests downtown. That's included firearms, balaclavas, even an unused Molotov cocktail.
After Friday night's demonstration—a night when police used large quantities of tear gas against protesters—the bureau tweeted out a photo of objects thrown at officers during the protests:
More items recovered that were thrown at officers: Full beverage cans, bricks, bottles, rocks, food. pic.twitter.com/RTGILdcUKS
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) June 6, 2020
While bricks, rocks and the broken necks of glass bottles could certainly injure officers when used as projectiles, the other items in the photo seem, well, a little less dangerous, particularly given that they're supposedly being hurled at officers wearing full riot gear: a can of White Claw, a container of garbanzo beans and a half-eaten apple.
It was all the ammo Twitter needed.
By Saturday afternoon, the tweet had gone viral and fallen victim to the dreaded Twitter Ratio, with the number of responses—over 10,000 so far—far outstripping the tally of likes and retweets. It was also mocked by Jezebel in an article titled "Thank You for Finding My White Claw and Various Antifa Sundries."
We've collected some of the best responses below. Once you get through those, if you're in the mood for more Twitter tomfoolery, check out @PortlandFence, the embodiment of the chain-link fence that police erected around the Multnomah County Justice Center, which has 4,000 followers and counting.
if these items fell into the hands of top antifa scientists, they could create upwards of two bongs https://t.co/2KiXYjYjOr
— David Grossman (@davidgross_man) June 6, 2020
This isn’t that big a problem. It’s just one bad apple. https://t.co/KdnjRwyPkJ
— Ashley Nicole Black (@ashleyn1cole) June 6, 2020
I refuse to believe a white person threw a full White Claw https://t.co/L8z6PkFtaL
— Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) June 6, 2020
I left the grocery store yesterday apparently armed and dangerous, guys. https://t.co/T2Y0SSrkmL
— evanem (@evanempdx) June 6, 2020
t h i s h i p s t e r t h r o w i n ' b e a n s https://t.co/tLPrJsxIfp
— BUM CHILLUPS, NPR CLASS PUNDIT (@edsbs) June 6, 2020
this just the America photo from one of those "breakfasts from around the world" series https://t.co/2Xru1BlTIJ
— thomas violence (@thomas_violence) June 6, 2020
Do they expect us to feel bad for them? This is what you get attacked with if you go to an open Mic night without a single good joke. https://t.co/1zjgmnNxfi
— GigaBob (@Giga_Bob) June 6, 2020
a white claw and garbanzo beans...apparently none of the Black ppl in Portland are throwing anything. https://t.co/gF9rGrRp2W
— fadumo (@saintfadumo) June 6, 2020
Were there any survivors????? https://t.co/MIwnwoH0yV
— Tom Ley (@ToLey88) June 6, 2020
Me, the leader of ANTIFA, arranging my personal effects in a Wes Anderson film. https://t.co/0pOIF9PHj7
— Marilyn Brando (@Marilyn_Brando) June 6, 2020
Chopped episode idea https://t.co/Os6tJLAqFj
— Kelvin Yu (@InternetKelvin) June 6, 2020
This is what I’m taking with me the next time Phish goes on tour. https://t.co/swJgmdCtw3
— Steven Hyden (@Steven_Hyden) June 6, 2020