Fiery, but mostly peaceful.

Or as the New York Times headline carefully puts it, “Some Protests Against Police Brutality Take a More Confrontational Approach.”

In other news, some Nazi stormtroopers were known to occasionally get out of line after political rallies.

Terrance Moses was watching protesters against police brutality march down his quiet residential street one recent evening when some in the group of a few hundred suddenly stopped and started yelling.

Mr. Moses was initially not sure what the protesters were upset about, but as he got closer, he saw it: His neighbors had an American flag on display.

“It went from a peaceful march, calling out the names, to all of a sudden, bang, ‘How dare you fly the American flag?’” said Mr. Moses, who is Black and runs a nonprofit group in the Portland, Ore., area. “They said take it down. They wouldn’t leave. They said they’re going to come back and burn the house down.”

Mr. Moses and others blocked the demonstrators and told them to leave.

“We don’t go around terrorizing folks to try and force them to do something they don’t want to do,” said Mr. Moses, whose nonprofit group provides support for local homeless people. “I’m a veteran. I’m for these liberties.”

In other news, there are good Germans in Portland. Unfortunately the media has spent all this time backing and cheering on the bad Germans, only to now do a bit of uncomfortable foot shifting because there’s an election coming up, and everyone, Germans and Jews, still gets to vote.

For now.

 The marches in Portland are increasingly moving to residential and largely white neighborhoods, where demonstrators with bullhorns shout for people to come “out of your house and into the street” and demonstrate their support.

You will be made to care.

But the tactics are dividing supporters of Black Lives Matter, with some worried that the confrontational approach will antagonize people who would be otherwise be receptive to the message, or play into conservatives’ critique of the protests, which have been largely nonviolent nationally.

So the only problem here is the political ends, not the actual means.

Also the stuff described here is technically non-violent in the sense that the media has used the term. Burning crosses on lawns is also non-violent. Non-violent doesn’t mean peaceful. It also doesn’t exclude racist acts of harassment.

Mr. Green said that he opposed the destruction of property, but that he also understood it. And he believes, generally, that the more direct protest tactics in residential areas are working because they make the movement more personal, and reveal who truly supports change. If someone is against the movement, they keep their lights off or refuse to raise their fist, he said, adding that taking the debate into homes and to families is essential.

Much like changing Gruss Gott to Heil Hitler. 

But around 9:30, the group was in some organizational chaos. They had decided that the neighborhood close by was too racially diverse for them to protest in. They needed to go somewhere whiter.

Switch the races and this would be the description of a hate group.

The American flag that generated controversy is displayed in Kenton, a neighborhood of Portland with small bungalows, lush front gardens and ripe fruit trees. Weeks after the confrontation, the husband and wife who fly the flag said they were fearful of retaliation from the roving protesters, who had found their phone number.

But they say they will not be intimidated into removing the flag.

“I will not take my flag down,” said the husband, who declined to provide his name in a brief interview.

That is how our national anthem was born. This is a struggle between a new invasion and the American people. We’ll see who wins.