Andy Ngo#May Day (2019)

Ngo was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. His parents fled Vietnam in 1978 as Vietnamese boat people, after they had been forced into labor and re-education camps by the Communist government. His mother came from an educated middle-class family that ran a jewelry business. His father had been a police officer in a small coastal town in Vietnam. His parents first met amid a six-month stay at a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees camp near Tanjungpinang, Indonesia, prior to their arrival in the United States in 1979.{{cite book|last=Ngo|first=Andy|date=February 2021|title=Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy|location=New York, NY|publisher=Center Street – Hachette Book Group|pages=223–233|isbn=978-1-5460-5958-5|lccn=2020951079}}

Raised in a Buddhist family, Ngo converted to Christianity in high school. After a period of time as an evangelical Christian, he became disillusioned and took an interest in skepticism. He subsequently became an atheist, and was strongly against organized religion, which was reflected in his social media activity in the form of what Ngo later described as "inflammatory language", with Reddit comments such as "Islam needs to be neutered like Christianity".{{cite news|url=https://jewishcurrents.org/the-making-of-andy-ngo/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://jewishcurrents.org/the-making-of-andy-ngo/| archive-date=2021-10-10|newspaper=Jewish Currents|title=The Making of Andy Ngo|date=September 11, 2019|first=Hannah|last=Gais}}{{cbignore}} In 2019, Ngo said that his earlier social media activity "represented my simplistic views at the time" and that his comments no longer represented his beliefs.

Ngo speaks with a British accent, which he says he "developed from living in the UK for several years as a teen".{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Joseph |date=2019-07-19 |title=Andy Ngo Has The Newest New Media Career. It's Made Him A Victim And A Star. |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/andy-ngo-portland-antifa |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=BuzzFeed News |language=en}} While attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Ngo volunteered with AmeriCorps.{{cite web |last=Griffin |first=Anna |date=February 8, 2018 |title=For Immigrants' Son, Vietnam Trip Led To More Conservative Worldview |url=https://www.opb.org/news/series/racenw/immigrants-vietnam-oregon-conservative-worldview/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208234648/https://www.opb.org/news/series/racenw/immigrants-vietnam-oregon-conservative-worldview/ |archive-date=February 8, 2018 |access-date=June 30, 2019 |website=opb.org |publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting}} He graduated from UCLA in 2009 with a graphic design degree. After graduation, he experienced a period of unemployment and worked as a photographer at a used car dealership.{{cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/andy-ngo-portland-antifa| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/andy-ngo-portland-antifa| archive-date=2021-10-10 |title=Andy Ngo Has The Newest New Media Career. It's Made Him A Victim and a Star.|last=Bernstein |first=Joseph |date=July 18, 2019 |website=BuzzFeed News |access-date=July 27, 2019 }}{{cbignore}} In the mid-2010s, Ngo came out as gay while visiting relatives in rural Vietnam. He began volunteering as a photographer at the Center for Inquiry in Portland in 2013.

In 2015, Ngo enrolled in a master's program at Portland State University for political science, with a focus on international relations and comparative politics. While attending the school, he joined the Freethinkers of Portland State University, a student organization that worked closely with professor Peter Boghossian.

While enrolled at Portland State University (PSU), Ngo worked as a multimedia editor at the Portland State Vanguard, a student newspaper. In 2016, he reported on a demonstration organized by Don't Shoot Portland in which a man pulled a gun on a crowd of protesters.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2016-07-07|title=Dozens gather for #BlackLivesMatter protest in Portland|url=http://katu.com/news/local/dozens-gather-for-blacklivesmatter-protest-in-portland| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/http://katu.com/news/local/dozens-gather-for-blacklivesmatter-protest-in-portland| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-16|website=KATU}}{{cbignore}}

In 2017, Ngo drew national attention after he was fired from the Vanguard and accused the newspaper of firing him over his conservative political beliefs. He attended an April 26 interfaith panel at the university, then used his personal account to tweet a video clip of a Muslim student's remarks. In the clip, the student states, in part, "in a Muslim country, in a country based on the Koranic laws, disbelieving, or being an infidel, is not allowed so you will be given the choice [to leave]." Alongside the video, Ngo wrote: "At @Portland_State interfaith panel today, the Muslim student speaker said that apostates will be killed or banished in an Islamic state." Breitbart News picked up and circulated the video within 24 hours of Ngo's posting, which led to a "social media firestorm". Four days later, the Vanguard{{'s}} editor, Colleen Leary, fired Ngo and stated that he was dismissed because his summary of the Muslim student's remarks reflected a reckless oversimplification and violation of journalistic ethics, and was meant to incite a reaction. She said that the dismissal was "not partisan".

In May 2017, Ngo wrote an op-ed for the National Review on the subject titled "Fired for Reporting the Truth".{{cite web |title=Fired for Reporting the Truth |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/05/free-speech-islam-portland-state-vanguard-editor-fired-tweets/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/05/free-speech-islam-portland-state-vanguard-editor-fired-tweets/| archive-date=2021-10-10 |first=Andy |last=Ngo |work=National Review |date=May 12, 2017}}{{cbignore}} He also took part in online discussions about the incident on the pro–Donald Trump subreddit r/The Donald, where he called the firing part of a "trend towards self-censorship in the name of political correctness".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/18/how-the-right-trolls-the-left-college-campus-outrage| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/18/how-the-right-trolls-the-left-college-campus-outrage| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=How to troll the left: understanding the rightwing outrage machine|last1=Wilson|first1=Jason|date=March 18, 2018|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=July 1, 2019}}{{cbignore}} Leary reported that since the incident did not receive much attention on campus, it left her with questions about the relationship between Breitbart News and Ngo.{{cite news |last1=Herron |first1=Elise |title=A Dispute Over a Muslim Student's Remarks Costs a College Journalist His Job, And Brings National Furor to Portland State University |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2017/05/23/a-dispute-over-a-muslim-students-remarks-costs-a-college-journalist-his-job-and-brings-national-controversy-to-portland-state-university/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/schools/2017/05/23/a-dispute-over-a-muslim-students-remarks-costs-a-college-journalist-his-job-and-brings-national-controversy-to-portland-state-university/| archive-date=2021-10-10 |newspaper=Willamette Week |access-date=June 30, 2019 |date=July 14, 2017}}{{cbignore}} Ngo has said that he did not contact Breitbart News about his tweet.

With his student group the Freethinkers of PSU, Ngo helped organize a January 2017 campus event with Dave Rubin, Peter Boghossian, and Christina Hoff Sommers. According to Ngo, Rose City Antifa used social media to launch a phone campaign aimed at administrators in an unsuccessful effort to shut down the event.{{cite web|url=https://www.thecollegefix.com/free-speech-wins-portland-places-antifa-halts-plans-shut-thought-police-talk/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.thecollegefix.com/free-speech-wins-portland-places-antifa-halts-plans-shut-thought-police-talk/| archive-date=2021-10-10|website=The College Fix|first=Andy|last=Ngo|title=Free speech wins: In Portland of all places, Antifa halts plans to shut down 'thought police' talk|date=January 30, 2017}}{{cbignore}}

Ngo and the Freethinkers of PSU hosted several speakers at a campus event on February 17, 2018, that included the headliner James Damore, a former Google engineer and author of "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber", an internal memo on diversity and gender that the company fired him for after they determined it was discriminatory and had elements that constituted sexual harassment. The day before the event, Ngo wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he stated that there had been threats of violence against the event on Facebook and Twitter, which had led campus police to deny organizers' request for a larger venue to accommodate the expected crowd.{{cite web |title=Antifa Rages Against Google's Dissident |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/antifa-rages-against-googles-dissident-1518739509| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wsj.com/articles/antifa-rages-against-googles-dissident-1518739509| archive-date=2021-10-10 |first=Andy |last=Ngo |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=February 16, 2018}}{{cbignore}} During the event, a portion of the audience walked out in protest, and one protester attempted to vandalize the audio system on her way out.{{cite news |last1=Shepherd |first1=Katie |title=No Violence, Brief Disruption as Fired Google Engineer Speaks at Portland State University |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2018/02/17/no-violence-brief-disruption-as-fired-google-engineer-speaks-at-portland-state-university/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/2018/02/17/no-violence-brief-disruption-as-fired-google-engineer-speaks-at-portland-state-university/| archive-date=2021-10-10 |newspaper=Willamette Week |access-date=June 30, 2019 |date=February 17, 2018}}{{cbignore}} Jason Wilson of The Guardian stated that the Damore event was one of several that appeared to have been "calculated to provoke Portland's progressive activists" and that Ngo's widely circulated videos fit into a pattern of actions where Ngo had "shrewdly inserted" his coverage "into the workings of the rightwing outrage machine" several times within the preceding year. Afterwards, Ngo wrote an article about the incident for Quillette, and the story was covered by YouTuber and political commentator Tim Pool.

As a PSU graduate student, Ngo filmed a talk on March 5, 2018, at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland by Christina Hoff Sommers, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute known for her criticism of the women's movement. The event was disrupted by student protesters engaging in no platforming tactics, who forced the talk to end early.{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Shasta Kearns |title=Conservative feminist shouted down at Lewis & Clark |url=https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/388814-279632-lewis-and-clark-protest-against-conservative-feminist-lecturer-goes-viral| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/388814-279632-lewis-and-clark-protest-against-conservative-feminist-lecturer-goes-viral| archive-date=2021-10-10 |newspaper=Portland Tribune |access-date=June 30, 2019 |date=March 7, 2018}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Jaschik|first=Scott|date=March 6, 2018|title=Students interrupt several portions of speech by Christina Hoff Sommers|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/03/06/students-interrupt-several-portions-speech-christina-hoff-sommers| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/03/06/students-interrupt-several-portions-speech-christina-hoff-sommers| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2020-10-31|website=Inside Higher Ed|language=en}}{{cbignore}}{{cite magazine |last1=Uyehara|first1=Mari|title=The Free Speech Grifters |url=https://www.gq.com/story/free-speech-grifting| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.gq.com/story/free-speech-grifting| archive-date=2021-10-10 |magazine=GQ |access-date=June 30, 2019 |date=March 19, 2018}}{{cbignore}} Ngo posted photos and video clips of students gathering on the stage and drowning out Sommers' talk with chanting and music. Ngo, who had covered protests at several talks given by Sommers, expressed interest in what he called "illiberal reactions" which he said restrict freedom of thought or behavior.

On August 29, 2018, Ngo wrote an op-ed titled "A Visit to Islamic England" for The Wall Street Journal. In the article, Ngo described his experiences in two neighborhoods in East London, including visits to a mosque and an Islamic center. From these experiences, he concluded that London was afflicted with "failed multiculturalism".{{Cite magazine|last=Read|first=Max|date=August 31, 2018|title=The Rise of Busybody Journalism|url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/08/institutions-challenged-by-vloggers-and-busybody-journalism.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/08/institutions-challenged-by-vloggers-and-busybody-journalism.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|magazine=New York|language=en|access-date=August 12, 2019}}{{cbignore}} He mistakenly connected alcohol-free zones in parts of London to the Muslim-majority populations, subsequently issuing a correction acknowledging that alcohol-free zones "appear in many English neighborhoods, irrespective of Muslim population."{{Cite news|last=Ngo|first=Andy|date=August 29, 2018|title=A Visit to Islamic England|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-visit-to-islamic-england-1535581583| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-visit-to-islamic-england-1535581583| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=July 25, 2019}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news |last1=Malvern |first1=Jack |title=Drinking rules leave US writer dazed |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/drinking-rules-leave-us-writer-dazed-kx6fl3vlv| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/drinking-rules-leave-us-writer-dazed-kx6fl3vlv| archive-date=2021-10-10 |newspaper=The Times |access-date=July 1, 2019 |date=September 1, 2018}}{{cbignore}} Ngo's opinion piece was widely said{{By whom|date=January 2023}} to have been Islamophobic. Alex Lockie from Business Insider criticized Ngo's article for "fear monger[ing] around England's Muslim population" and cherry-picking evidence, and for mischaracterizing the neighborhood near the East London Mosque.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-journals-andy-ngo-writes-cowardly-islamic-england-2018-8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-journals-andy-ngo-writes-cowardly-islamic-england-2018-8| archive-date=2021-10-10 |title=The Wall Street Journal ran a cowardly, race-baiting article on 'Islamic England': I live there. They're dead wrong |last=Lockie |first=Alex |date=August 31, 2018|magazine=Business Insider |access-date=July 27, 2019 }}{{cbignore}} Steve Hopkins from HuffPost stated that "some of his [Ngo's] assertions have already been disproved".{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/islamic-england_uk_5b87fde3e4b0cf7b0032f6d5| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/islamic-england_uk_5b87fde3e4b0cf7b0032f6d5| archive-date=2021-10-10|title='Islamic England' Wall Street Journal Column Slammed By Tower Hamlets Council And Campaigners |last=Hopkins |first=Steve |date=August 30, 2018 |work=HuffPost|access-date=July 27, 2019 }}{{cbignore}}

In October 2018, Ngo started a podcast entitled Things You Should Ngo. His interviewees included Jordan Peterson, Dave Rubin and Carl Benjamin (who uses the pen name "Sargon of Akkad" online).

In 2017, Ngo began filming rallies held by Patriot Prayer, a Portland-area far-right group known for holding pro-gun, pro-Trump rallies{{Cite news|last1=Hay|first1=Gabriella|last2=Borter|first2=Andrew|date=2020-09-02|title=What to know about Patriot Prayer as Trump supporters take stand in Portland|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-global-race-protests-patriot-prayer-idUKKBN25S5Z5|url-status=live|access-date=2020-10-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914122512/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-global-race-protests-patriot-prayer-idUKKBN25S5Z5|archive-date=September 14, 2020}} that have devolved into violence and street fighting.{{Cite web|last=Coaston|first=Jane|date=2020-09-08|title=The pro-Trump, anti-left Patriot Prayer group, explained|url=https://www.vox.com/2020/9/8/21417403/patriot-prayer-explained-portland| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.vox.com/2020/9/8/21417403/patriot-prayer-explained-portland| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2021-03-21|website=Vox|language=en}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Shepherd|first=Katie|date=July 4, 2018|title=MAGA Mayhem Fractures a Man's Skull, as Right-Wing Marchers Test the Limits of Free Speech in Portland|url=https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2018/07/04/maga-mayhem-fractures-a-mans-skull-as-right-wing-marchers-test-the-limits-of-free-speech-in-portland/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2018/07/04/maga-mayhem-fractures-a-mans-skull-as-right-wing-marchers-test-the-limits-of-free-speech-in-portland/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-11|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Neiwert|first=David|date=October 15, 2018|title=Patriot Prayer again brings violence to Portland with 'flash march' downtown, rounding out a weekend of far-right violence|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/15/patriot-prayer-again-brings-violence-portland-flash-march-downtown-rounding-out-weekend-far| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/15/patriot-prayer-again-brings-violence-portland-flash-march-downtown-rounding-out-weekend-far| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-11|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|language=en}}{{cbignore}} The Patriot Prayer gatherings (whose early rallies were used by white nationalists as recruitment events) were met by Portland's anti-fascists and anarchists known to support direct action, including violence. November 2018, Ngo live-streamed video coverage of the Him Too rally organized by a Patriot Prayer member in downtown Portland, and was sprayed with silly string and harassed{{Cite web|last=Henry|first=Warren|date=2019-09-13|title=The Curious Case of Andy Ngo|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/warren-henry/the-curious-case-of-andy-ngo/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/warren-henry/the-curious-case-of-andy-ngo/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Commentary Magazine|language=en-US}}{{cbignore}} by antifa protesters.{{cite web |last1=Manchester |first1=Julia |title=Democratic politicians in 'difficult position' in handling Antifa, says journalist |url=https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/417389-liberal-politicians-in-difficult-position-in-dealing-with-antifa-says| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/417389-liberal-politicians-in-difficult-position-in-dealing-with-antifa-says| archive-date=2021-10-10 |website=The Hill |access-date=July 1, 2019 |date=November 19, 2018}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |last1=Sparling |first1=Zane |title=6 arrested, released during Saturday protest in Portland |url=https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/412493-313328-6-arrested-released-during-saturday-protest-in-portland| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/412493-313328-6-arrested-released-during-saturday-protest-in-portland| archive-date=2021-10-10 |website=Portland Tribune|access-date=June 30, 2019 |date=November 18, 2018}}{{cbignore}} By 2019, Ngo routinely attended and live-streamed events at Portland protests.

On May 1, 2019, Ngo attended demonstrations and counter-protests in Portland associated with International Workers Day or May Day.{{Cite web |last1=Acker |first1=Lizzy |last2=Njus |first2=Elliot |last3=Ramakrishnan |first3=Jayati |last4=Williams |first4=Kale |date=2019-05-02 |title=Hundreds gather for May Day demonstrations in SW, NE Portland|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/05/hundreds-gather-for-may-day-demonstrations-in-sw-ne-portland.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/05/hundreds-gather-for-may-day-demonstrations-in-sw-ne-portland.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2020-10-18|website=The Oregonian|language=en}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Kavanaugh|first=Shane Dixon|date=2020-06-05|title=Conservative writer sues Portland antifa group for $900k, claims 'campaign of intimidation and terror'|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/conservative-writer-sues-portland-antifa-group-for-900k-claims-campaign-of-intimidation-and-terror.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/conservative-writer-sues-portland-antifa-group-for-900k-claims-campaign-of-intimidation-and-terror.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2020-10-18|website=The Oregonian|language=en}}{{cbignore}} He reported being punched and blasted with bear spray while filming two separate May Day events, including a brawl between left-wing activists and members of Patriot Prayer, outside the Cider Riot pub. Bellingcat stated that Ngo's tweets framed the brawl as an unprovoked assault by anti-fascists. Prior to the fight, Ngo was filmed standing in the presence of members of Patriot Prayer as they planned an attack on antifascists following the protests. Ngo did not report on the actions of Patriot Prayer.{{Cite web|last=Evans|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Evans (journalist)|date=2020-11-18|title=Million MAGA March: Unravelling a Violent Viral Video|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/11/18/million-maga-march-unravelling-a-violent-viral-video/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/11/18/million-maga-march-unravelling-a-violent-viral-video/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-18|website=bellingcat|language=en-GB}}{{cbignore}} Five members of Patriot Prayer were charged with felony riot incitement for their actions on May Day 2019, including the group's leader Joey Gibson.

On June 29, 2019, Ngo covered protests at a rally organized by the far-right group Proud Boys in Portland. A group of counter-protesters also organized, some of whom physically attacked Ngo, who was present filming. Ngo was punched in the head, kicked and hit with at least one milkshake. He blamed his injuries on antifa counter-protesters. No individual attackers were identified.{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/proud-boys-rally-portland-latest-test-police-n1043526| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/proud-boys-rally-portland-latest-test-police-n1043526| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Proud Boys rally in Portland is latest test for police|last1=Burns|first1=Dasha|authorlink1=Dasha Burns|date=August 16, 2019|work=NBC News|access-date=August 29, 2019|last2=Brooks|first2=Abigail|quote=Chaos also broke out during a rally in June, when masked antifa members physically attacked conservative blogger Andy Ngo in an incident shared on social media.|last3=Ortiz|first3=Erik}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|last1=Dearden|first1=Lizzie|date=June 30, 2019|title=Antifa attack conservative blogger Andy Ngo amid violence at Portland Proud Boys protest|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/antifa-attack-portland-andy-ngo-portland-proud-boys-alt-right-a8981331.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/antifa-attack-portland-andy-ngo-portland-proud-boys-alt-right-a8981331.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=July 1, 2019|quote=Andy Ngo was surrounded and beaten by protesters wearing black with their faces concealed, while being covered in a milkshake, eggs and spray on Saturday.}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/06/proud-boys-antifa-plan-to-protest-in-downtown-portland-on-saturday.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/06/proud-boys-antifa-plan-to-protest-in-downtown-portland-on-saturday.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Portland antifa/right wing protests escalate to civil disturbance|date=June 29, 2019|website=The Oregonian|access-date=July 2, 2019}}{{cbignore}} He walked away and reported what happened in a livestream, during which a medic arrived to check on him.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/portland-antifa-milkshake-andy-ngo-mayor-impeach-ted-cruz-assault-a8983866.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/portland-antifa-milkshake-andy-ngo-mayor-impeach-ted-cruz-assault-a8983866.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Portland mayor faces impeachment calls after antifa assault and milkshaking of right-wing blogger Andy Ngo|website=The Guardian|date=July 2, 2019|first=Mike|last=Baker}}{{cbignore}} The video of the June 29 incident where Ngo was assaulted by masked demonstrators went viral and led the Proud Boys, a group designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, to organize a follow-up event in Portland known as the End Domestic Terrorism rally for August 17, 2019.{{Cite web|last=Flaccus|first=Gillian|date=August 17, 2019|title=At least 13 people arrested at Portland, Oregon, protest|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/portland-oregon-awaits-wing-rally-counter-protests-65027584| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/portland-oregon-awaits-wing-rally-counter-protests-65027584| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2020-10-05|website=ABC News}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Mesh|first=Aaron|date=August 2, 2019|title=Portland Police Chief Foresees Violence at Next Right-Wing Protest|url=https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/08/02/portland-police-chief-foresees-violence-at-next-right-wing-protest/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/08/02/portland-police-chief-foresees-violence-at-next-right-wing-protest/| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2020-10-05|website=Willamette Week}}{{cbignore}}

As a result of the attack, medical examiners determined that Ngo suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage. He retained attorney Harmeet Dhillon to investigate the response of the Portland Police Bureau.{{cite web |url=https://abc7news.com/portland-journalist-speaks-out-says-antifa-behind-attack/5374202/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://abc7news.com/portland-journalist-speaks-out-says-antifa-behind-attack/5374202/| archive-date=2021-10-10 |title= Portland journalist Andy Ngo speaks out, says antifa behind attack |first= Melanie|last=Woodrow |date=July 1, 2019 |work=KGO-TV |access-date= July 3, 2019 }}{{cbignore}} Following Ngo's attack, Texas Senator Ted Cruz called on federal authorities to investigate Ted Wheeler, Portland's mayor and police commissioner.{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/451214-2020-democrat-andrew-yang-sends-well-wishes-to-andy-ngo-journalists-should| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://thehill.com/homenews/media/451214-2020-democrat-andrew-yang-sends-well-wishes-to-andy-ngo-journalists-should| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=2020 Democrat Andrew Yang sends well-wishes to Andy Ngo: 'Journalists should be safe to report on a protest'|last=Klar|first=Rebecca|date=July 1, 2019|website=The Hill|access-date=July 2, 2019}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/451094-cruz-calls-for-legal-action-against-portland-mayor-after-clash-between-far| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/451094-cruz-calls-for-legal-action-against-portland-mayor-after-clash-between-far| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Cruz calls for 'legal action' against Portland mayor after clash between far-right, antifa protesters|last=March|first=Mary Tyler|date=June 30, 2019|website=The Hill|access-date=July 2, 2019}}{{cbignore}} 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate Andrew Yang wished Ngo a speedy recovery. Broader analysis of media coverage following Ngo's attack was polarized, with each side expressing criticism of the other,{{clarify|date=August 2021}} including essays in The Atlantic{{cite web|last=Beinart|first=Peter|date=2019-07-04|title=Conservatives Conjure Up Liberal Support for Antifa Violence|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/conservatives-conjure-liberal-support-antifa/593164/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/conservatives-conjure-liberal-support-antifa/593164/| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Atlantic|language=en}}{{cbignore}} and Commentary.{{primary source inline|date=October 2023|reason=Are there any non-primary sources about the media coverage of this incident? Yes, the opinion essays prove that the opinion essays exist, but how are they a source for "Broader analysis of media coverage"?|plural=y}}

On August 21, 2023, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Chanpone Sinlapasai awarded Ngo $300,000 in damages from three defendants who failed to appear in court to contest Ngo's claims.{{cite news | last=Sparling | first=Zane | date=2023-08-21 | title=Andy Ngo wins $300K from defendants who ignored lawsuit over Portland protest beating | url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2023/08/andy-ngo-wins-300k-from-defendants-who-ignored-lawsuit-over-portland-protest-beating.html | access-date=2023-08-21 | website=The Oregonian | language=en | archive-date=August 22, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822023042/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2023/08/andy-ngo-wins-300k-from-defendants-who-ignored-lawsuit-over-portland-protest-beating.html | url-status=live }}

On August 26, 2019, the Portland Mercury reported{{cite news |last=Zielinski |first=Alex |date=August 26, 2019 |title=Undercover in Patriot Prayer: Insights From a Vancouver Democrat Who's Been Working Against the Far-Right Group from the Inside |work=Portland Mercury |url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/08/26/27039560/undercover-in-patriot-prayer-insights-from-a-vancouver-democrat-whos-been-working-against-the-far-right-group-from-the-inside |access-date=August 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2019/08/26/27039560/undercover-in-patriot-prayer-insights-from-a-vancouver-democrat-whos-been-working-against-the-far-right-group-from-the-inside |archive-date=2021-10-10 |quote=Ngo tags along with Patriot Prayer during demonstrations, hoping to catch footage of an altercation. Ben says Ngo doesn't film Patriot Prayer protesters discussing strategies or motives. He only turns his camera on when members of antifa enter the scene. 'There's an understanding,' he says, 'that Patriot Prayer protects him and he protects them.'}}{{cbignore}} on a video where Ngo was seen smiling and laughing at certain points{{cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/andy-ngo-patriot-prayer-attack/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/andy-ngo-patriot-prayer-attack/| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Andy Ngo seen laughing as Patriot Prayer members plan an attack in newly emerged video|first=Sierra|last=Juarez|date=August 24, 2019|work=The Daily Dot}}{{cbignore}} while standing in the presence of members of Patriot Prayer on May 1, as they planned an attack on antifascists following the May Day protests. He later followed the group on foot a few blocks to the Cider Riot bar, where Patriot Prayer members attacked the patrons. The video became part of court documents in a lawsuit against Patriot Prayer members for causing the riot. One of the victims of the attack was knocked unconscious with a baton and suffered a broken vertebra; Ngo later posted a video of her being attacked and identified her online.{{cite web |last1=Owen |first1=Tess |title=Super Awkward for Right-Wing Blogger Andy Ngo to Make a Cameo in Video of Plot Against Antifa |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/super-awkward-for-right-wing-blogger-andy-ngo-to-make-a-cameo-in-video-of-plot-against-antifa/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3apyv/super-awkward-for-right-wing-blogger-andy-ngo-to-make-a-cameo-in-video-of-plot-against-antifa| archive-date=2021-10-10 |website=VICE |access-date=22 February 2021 |date=28 August 2019 |quote=But now video has surfaced of Ngo smiling and laughing with members of the far-right group Patriot Prayer shortly before they allegedly orchestrated an attack on a group of antifascists at a leftist bar in a separate incident in May. A female bar patron was knocked unconscious and said she suffered a fractured vertebrae.}}{{cbignore}} The Portland Mercury{{'}}s Alex Zilenski stated "there's no way [Ngo] couldn't know the group was planning on instigating violence." The Portland Mercury also quoted an undercover antifascist embedded in Patriot Prayer saying that Ngo had an "understanding" with the far-right group that the group "protects him and he protects them".

Later during the day on August 26, Ngo's name was deleted from Quillette{{'}}s masthead, and the site from Ngo's Twitter feed. The editor of Quillette, Claire Lehmann, told The Daily Beast that the two developments were not linked and that Ngo had left the website several weeks earlier. After publication of its story, the Portland Mercury published a letter from Ngo's lawyer seeking retraction of the newspaper's "false and inherently defamatory statements". The Portland Mercury stood by its reporting.

On August 30, The Spectator published an article by Ngo in which he stated he did not know about the far-right group planning the attack, that he "[only] caught snippets of various conversations" and "was preoccupied on [his] phone", describing the accusations as "lies".{{cite web|url=https://spectator.us/became-extremist-overnight/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://spectator.us/became-extremist-overnight/| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=How I became an 'extremist' overnight|first=Andy|last=Ngo|date=August 30, 2019|work=The Spectator}}{{cbignore}} Writing in the libertarian magazine Reason, Robby Soave expressed agreement that the video did not show evidence that Ngo knew beforehand about a violent plot.{{cite magazine|last=Soave|first=Robby|date=September 3, 2019|title=The Media Claimed Andy Ngo Was Complicit in a Far-Right Attack on Antifa. But the Video Doesn't Support That|url=https://reason.com/2019/09/03/andy-ngo-video-antifa-patriot-prayer-attack-media/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://reason.com/2019/09/03/andy-ngo-video-antifa-patriot-prayer-attack-media/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=22 February 2021|magazine=Reason}}{{cbignore}}

File:Andy Ngo & Dan Crenshaw (48514347882).jpg at a 2019 Turning Point USA event in Washington, D.C.]]

In 2019, Ngo published a series in the New York Post alleging numerous hate crimes reported to police in Portland, Oregon had been faked. He contributed articles to the online magazine Quillette where he was described as a sub-editor and photojournalist for the publication at the time of his departure in August 2019.{{cite news|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/06/portland-mayor-police-come-under-fire-after-right-wing-writer-attacked-at-protest.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/06/portland-mayor-police-come-under-fire-after-right-wing-writer-attacked-at-protest.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Portland mayor, police come under fire after right-wing writer attacked at protest|last=Williams|first=Kale|date=June 30, 2019|newspaper=The Oregonian|access-date=July 1, 2019|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/andy-ngo-who-became-a-right-wing-star-leaves-quillette-after-incriminating-video-appears| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.thedailybeast.com/andy-ngo-who-became-a-right-wing-star-leaves-quillette-after-incriminating-video-appears| archive-date=2021-10-10 |title=Right-Wing Star Andy Ngo Exits Quillette After Damning Video Surfaces |last=Sommer |first=Will |website=The Daily Beast|date=August 27, 2019 |access-date=August 30, 2019 |language=en|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}

By June 2020, Ngo was with The Post Millennial,{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Don|date=2020-06-04|title=Lawsuit aims to hold nebulous 'antifa' to blame for injuries|url=https://apnews.com/article/9c484adddf335e79be648e70406622ca|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114024556/https://apnews.com/article/9c484adddf335e79be648e70406622ca|archive-date=January 14, 2021|access-date=2021-02-14|website=AP NEWS|url-status=live}} a conservative Canadian news website,{{cite web|first1=Jeff|last1=Yates|first2=Kaleigh|last2=Rogers|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/the-post-millennial-journalism-conservative-advocacy-1.5191593| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/the-post-millennial-journalism-conservative-advocacy-1.5191593| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Canadian news site The Post Millennial blurs line between journalism and conservative 'pamphleteering'|website=CBC News|date=June 27, 2019|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} which continued to retain him as an editor-at-large in June 2024.{{cite news|last=Hansford|first=Amelia|title=Right-wing websites hacked with fake coming out statement from editor: 'I am a trans individual'|date=May 3, 2024|publisher=Pink News|url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/05/03/andy-ngo-website-hacked-the-post-millennial}} As of 2020, he was a regular guest on Fox News{{cite web|last=Peel|first=Sophie|date=September 16, 2020|title=Portland Protesters Say Their Lives Were Upended by the Posting of Their Mug Shots on a Conservative Twitter Account|url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/09/16/portland-protesters-say-their-lives-were-upended-by-the-posting-of-their-mug-shots-on-a-conservative-twitter-account/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/09/16/portland-protesters-say-their-lives-were-upended-by-the-posting-of-their-mug-shots-on-a-conservative-twitter-account/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-16|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US}}{{cbignore}} where he had expressed his concerns about the dangers posed by the left on at least two dozen occasions as of February 2021.

By 2020, Ngo had written several opinion articles for The Wall Street Journal.{{Cite news|last=Lee|first=Edmund|date=2020-07-24|title=At Wall Street Journal, News Staff and Opinion Side Clash|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/24/business/media/wall-street-journal-news-opinion-clash-letter.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/24/business/media/wall-street-journal-news-opinion-clash-letter.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2021-04-17|issn=0362-4331|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} In July 2020, Ngo's reporting was among the concerns listed in a letter, penned by nearly 300 of The Journal's newsroom staff members to the paper's publisher, that condemned the opinion desk's "lack of fact-checking and transparency". Several media outlets,{{cite web|last=Gupta|first=Arun|date=August 2019|title=Portland's Andy Ngo Is the Most Dangerous Grifter in America|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/08/andy-ngo-right-wing-antifa-protest-portland-bigotry| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/08/andy-ngo-right-wing-antifa-protest-portland-bigotry| archive-date=2021-10-10|magazine=Jacobin|accessdate=September 5, 2021|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} including The Oregonian{{cite news|last=Kavanaugh|first=Shane Dixon|date=August 19, 2019|title=1 hammer, 1 'antifa mob chase': A closer look at Portland's viral protest moments|newspaper=The Oregonian|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/08/1-hammer-1-antifa-mob-chase-a-closer-look-at-portlands-viral-protest-moments.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/08/1-hammer-1-antifa-mob-chase-a-closer-look-at-portlands-viral-protest-moments.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} have been critical of Ngo and described him as a "right-wing provocateur".{{cite web|last=Goodman|first=Amy|author-link=Amy Goodman|date=August 21, 2019|title=Portland rejects proud boys & other ultra-right groups as Trump tries to criminalize Antifa|url=https://www.nationofchange.org/2019/08/21/portland-rejects-proud-boys-other-ultra-right-groups-as-trump-tries-to-criminalize-antifa/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.nationofchange.org/2019/08/21/portland-rejects-proud-boys-other-ultra-right-groups-as-trump-tries-to-criminalize-antifa/| archive-date=2021-10-10|work=Nation of Change}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|author=Cockburn|date=August 29, 2019|title=What's Ngext for Ngo?|url=https://spectator.us/whats-ngext-andy-ngo/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://spectator.us/whats-ngext-andy-ngo/| archive-date=2021-10-10|website=Spectator.us}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Peters|first=Justin|date=2021-01-16|title=Fox News Can Barely Admit the Capitol Riot Is a Story|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/fox-news-impeachment-capitol-riot-twitter.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/fox-news-impeachment-capitol-riot-twitter.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2021-02-16|website=Slate Magazine|language=en|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} BuzzFeed News said that "Ngo's work is probably best described as media activism" and that he engages in "participant reporting". New York magazine cites Ngo as an example of "busybody journalism". In April 2019, Cathy Young, writing for The Bulwark, criticized Ngo for "outrage mining" after he re-posted various tweets from random Twitter accounts, some of whom were teenagers, that mocked France following the Notre-Dame de Paris fire.{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Cathy |author-link1=Cathy Young |title=Rise of the Notre Dame Truthers |url=https://thebulwark.com/rise-of-the-notre-dame-truthers/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://thebulwark.com/rise-of-the-notre-dame-truthers/| archive-date=2021-10-10 |website=The Bulwark |access-date=June 30, 2019 |date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}

During the week of January 10, 2021, the online pre-sale of Ngo's first book, Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy, was met with a small group of protestors who demonstrated outside the flagship Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon.{{Cite web|last=Nawotka|first=Ed|date=January 14, 2021|title=Powell's Responds to Anti-Ngo Protestors|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/85303-powell-s-responds-to-anti-ngo-protestors.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/85303-powell-s-responds-to-anti-ngo-protestors.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-01-26|website=Publishers Weekly}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Nawotka|first=Ed|date=January 19, 2021|title=Union, PEN Issue Statements on Powell's Sale of Ngo Book|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/85343-union-pen-america-issue-statements-on-powell-s-sale-of-ngo-book.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/85343-union-pen-america-issue-statements-on-powell-s-sale-of-ngo-book.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-17|website=Publishers Weekly}}{{cbignore}} The bookseller, which offered the book for sale online, chose not to promote Unmasked or physically stock it in their stores.{{cite web|date=2021-01-12|title=Powell's Books says Andy Ngo's book will not be in store|url=https://apnews.com/article/portland-3dd2bc3ecc27be60a25c98eec18504fc| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://apnews.com/article/portland-3dd2bc3ecc27be60a25c98eec18504fc| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2021-02-14|website=AP NEWS|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} The book became "one of the most popular political titles on Amazon before its release."{{cite web |author=Kavanaugh |first=Shane Dixon |date=February 13, 2021 |title=How Portland's Andy Ngo turned his war with 'antifa' into a dubious, best-selling book |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/02/how-portlands-andy-ngo-turned-his-war-with-antifa-into-a-dubious-best-selling-book.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213172919/https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/02/how-portlands-andy-ngo-turned-his-war-with-antifa-into-a-dubious-best-selling-book.html |archive-date=February 13, 2021 |accessdate=February 13, 2021 |work=The Oregonian}} Upon release, Unmasked became an Amazon bestseller. For the week of February 14, 2021 Unmasked was listed as the top national bestseller in hardcover nonfiction by Publishers Weekly{{cite web|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/the-four-winds-is-the-top-national-fiction-bestseller/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/the-four-winds-is-the-top-national-fiction-bestseller/| archive-date=2021-10-10 |title='The Four Winds' is the top national fiction bestseller |work=The Seattle Times |date=February 14, 2021 |accessdate=February 14, 2021|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} and appeared as number three on The New York Times Best Seller list for nonfiction.

In the Los Angeles Times, Alexander Nazaryan reviewed Unmasked as a "supremely dishonest new book on the left-wing anti-fascist movement known as antifa".{{cite news|last=Nazaryan|first=Alexander|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-02-08/andy-ngo-new-book-still-pretends-antifa-real-enemy| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-02-08/andy-ngo-new-book-still-pretends-antifa-real-enemy| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Review: Andy Ngo's new book still pretends antifa's the real enemy|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 8, 2021|access-date=February 9, 2021|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} According to Nazaryan, Ngo wrote that his parents' immigration from Vietnam led him to describe his book as "a letter of gratitude to the nation" that made them welcome, as against the leftists who, he claims, wish to destroy it. "As an immigrant from a communist country", Nazaryan wrote, "I understand the sentiment. As a journalist, however, I must point out that he is churning out the very kind [of] propaganda that keeps authoritarians in power." Kirkus Reviews described Unmasked as "a book that belongs in any QAnon subscriber's collection."{{Cite web|date=February 23, 2021|title=Ngo, Andy: UNMASKED.|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/andy-ngo/unmasked-ngo/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/andy-ngo/unmasked-ngo/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-30|website=Kirkus Reviews|publisher=}}{{cbignore}} Writing for The Oregonian, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh stated that Unmasked contained "serious omissions, errors and false equivalencies that have alarmed an array of academics and intelligence officials who track extremist movements."

In March 2021, Winston Marshall, banjoist and founding member of the British folk rock band Mumford & Sons, posted on Twitter to Ngo, "Finally had the time to read your important book. You're a brave man." His post led to online criticism, and several days later Marshall deleted the tweet, apologized for it, and stated that he was temporarily leaving the band "to examine my blindspots." In June, Marshall left Mumford & Sons permanently and recanted his apology, saying that it "participates in the lie that [the extremism documented in the book] does not exist, or worse, is a force for good."{{cite web |title=Mumford & Sons Banjoist Winston Marshall Quits After Andy Ngo Political Controversy |url=https://variety.com/2021/music/news/mumford-and-sons-winston-marshal-leaving-andy-ngo-1235004545/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://variety.com/2021/music/news/mumford-and-sons-winston-marshal-leaving-andy-ngo-1235004545/| archive-date=2021-10-10 |first=Jordan |last=Moreau |work=Variety |date=June 24, 2021|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}

In May 2021, while Ngo was in Portland to cover the one-year anniversary demonstrations for a follow-up chapter to Unmasked, Ngo said he was recognized in disguise and then chased down by a group of five to ten demonstrators who attempted to unmask him before assaulting him.{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Suzette|date=May 28, 2021|title=Portland Protesters Chase, Tackle and Punch Someone They Believe to Be Andy Ngo Until He Hides in The Nines Hotel|url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/05/29/portland-protesters-chase-tackle-and-punch-someone-they-believe-to-be-andy-ngo-until-he-hides-in-the-nines-hotel/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/05/29/portland-protesters-chase-tackle-and-punch-someone-they-believe-to-be-andy-ngo-until-he-hides-in-the-nines-hotel/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-18|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Suzette|date=June 2, 2021|title=Five Days After Attack, Andy Ngo Releases Statement Confirming He Was Chased and Beaten in Portland|url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/06/02/five-days-after-attack-andy-ngo-releases-statement-confirming-he-was-chased-and-beaten-in-portland/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/06/02/five-days-after-attack-andy-ngo-releases-statement-confirming-he-was-chased-and-beaten-in-portland/| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2021-06-18|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2021-06-03|title=Andy Ngo says he was man chased, assaulted amid Portland protest|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/06/andy-ngo-says-he-was-man-chased-assaulted-amid-portland-protest.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/06/andy-ngo-says-he-was-man-chased-assaulted-amid-portland-protest.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-18|website=The Oregonian|language=en}}{{cbignore}} Ngo said that he was tackled and punched by demonstrators in black bloc before he fled into The Nines hotel.{{Cite web|last=Sparling|first=Zane|date=2021-06-03|title=Ngo confirms attack while undercover at Portland protest|url=https://www.koin.com/top-stories/ngo-confirms-attack-while-undercover-at-portland-protest/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.koin.com/top-stories/ngo-confirms-attack-while-undercover-at-portland-protest/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-06|website=KOIN|language=en-US}}{{cbignore}} Ngo frequently uploads protesters' personal information, including mugshots, to social media: some protesters{{Who|date=February 2022}} have said this results in harassment and death threats, leading them to view Ngo as a threat.

Ngo has been variously described as a right-wing activist or influencer,{{Cite news |last=Zadrozny |first=Brandy |date=2022-12-02 |title=Elon Musk's 'amnesty' pledge brings back QAnon, far-right Twitter accounts |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/elon-musks-twitter-beginning-take-shape-rcna58940 |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=NBC News |language=en |quote=On Nov. 25, the account for the antifascist publishing group CrimethInc, which had more than 66,000 followers, was suspended after right-wing activist Andy Ngo tweeted at Musk requesting he ban it. Leigh Young, a member of the group, said that CrimethInc never received an official explanation for the suspension. |archive-date=May 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503003723/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/elon-musks-twitter-beginning-take-shape-rcna58940 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last1=Lim |first1=Gabrielle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JuZXEAAAQBAJ |title=The Social Media Debate: Unpacking the Social, Psychological, and Cultural Effects of Social Media |last2=Abrahams |first2=Alexei |last3=Donovan |first3=Joan |date=2022-02-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-54418-3 |editor-last=Rosen |editor-first=Devan |language=en |chapter=Make It Trend! Setting Right-wing Media Agendas Using Twitter Hashtags |page=114-115 |access-date=September 11, 2022 |archive-date=April 20, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420012838/https://books.google.com/books?id=JuZXEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Newton |first=Creede |date=June 6, 2022 |title=Poland Paid Andy Ngo a Pittance for Anti-antifa Speech |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/06/06/poland-paid-andy-ngo-pittance-anti-antifa-speech |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en |archive-date=July 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728203348/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/06/06/poland-paid-andy-ngo-pittance-anti-antifa-speech |url-status=live }} a conservative journalist,{{Cite web |last=Bonn |first=Tess |date=2019-07-25 |title=Conservative journalist Andy Ngo says assault involving Antifa resulted in brain injury |url=https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/454712-conservative-journalist-andy-ngo-says-antifa-attack-resulted-in-brain-injury/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=The Hill |language=en-US |archive-date=December 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216015244/https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/454712-conservative-journalist-andy-ngo-says-antifa-attack-resulted-in-brain-injury/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Hanna |first=Jason |date=2019-07-02 |title=Conservative journalist blames assault at Portland protest on Antifa activists |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/us/ngo-antifa-protests-newday-cnntv/index.html |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827215136/https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/us/ngo-antifa-protests-newday-cnntv/index.html |url-status=live }} writer,{{Cite web |date=2021-01-14 |title=Powell's Books says Andy Ngo's book will not be in store |url=https://apnews.com/article/portland-3dd2bc3ecc27be60a25c98eec18504fc |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=January 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121050658/https://apnews.com/article/portland-3dd2bc3ecc27be60a25c98eec18504fc |url-status=live }} and blogger,{{Cite web |last=Dearden |first=Lizzie |date=2019-06-30 |title=Antifa attack blogger Andy Ngo amid violence at Portland Proud Boys protest |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/antifa-attack-portland-andy-ngo-portland-proud-boys-alt-right-a8981331.html |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=May 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/antifa-attack-portland-andy-ngo-portland-proud-boys-alt-right-a8981331.html |url-status=live }} as well as a far-right content creator,{{Cite news |last=Lorenz |first=Taylor |date=2023-12-13 |title=Meet the woman working to stop the far-right creator money machine |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/13/nandini-jammi-alex-jones-demonetization/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en |archive-date=December 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214004952/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/13/nandini-jammi-alex-jones-demonetization/ |url-status=live }} campaigner, and sympathizer.{{Cite web |last=Beauchamp |first=Zack |date=2019-07-03 |title=The assault on conservative journalist Andy Ngo, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/3/20677645/antifa-portland-andy-ngo-proud-boys |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=Vox |language=en |archive-date=August 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807132917/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/3/20677645/antifa-portland-andy-ngo-proud-boys |url-status=live }} His actions and role in covering issues, particularly civil unrest in Portland, Oregon, following the murder of George Floyd, have received media attention.{{Cite web|last=Scott|first=Mark|date=2020-10-27|title=Despite cries of censorship, US conservatives dominate social media|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/despite-cries-of-censorship-us-conservatives-dominate-social-media/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107075357/https://www.politico.eu/article/despite-cries-of-censorship-us-conservatives-dominate-social-media/|archive-date=January 7, 2021|access-date=2021-01-12|website=POLITICO|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Butler|first=Grant|date=2019-12-29|title=Oregon's top 15 newsmakers of 2019|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/12/oregons-top-15-newsmakers-of-2019.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230174738/https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/12/oregons-top-15-newsmakers-of-2019.html|archive-date=December 30, 2019|access-date=2021-01-12|website=The Oregonian|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=December 24, 2019|title=The 20 Moments That Made Portland Famous in the Past 10 Years|url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2019/12/24/the-20-moments-that-made-portland-famous-in-the-past-10-years/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/2019/12/24/the-20-moments-that-made-portland-famous-in-the-past-10-years/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-05|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US}}{{cbignore}} The Intercept described Ngo as a "far-right Twitter star".{{Cite web |last=Mackey |first=Robert |date=December 12, 2021 |title=Portland Journalists Sue Andy Ngo for Using Their Videos on Twitter Without Permission |url=https://theintercept.com/2021/12/12/portland-journalists-sue-andy-ngo-using-videos-twitter-without-permission/ |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=The Intercept |language=en |archive-date=June 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610042101/https://theintercept.com/2021/12/12/portland-journalists-sue-andy-ngo-using-videos-twitter-without-permission/ |url-status=live }}

In December 2019, The Oregonian named Ngo one of 2019's Top 15 Newsmakers citing events that included his attack, his surge in prominence within conservative circles, and his circulation of "heavily edited videos of several altercations to his then-270,000 Twitter followers, racking up millions of views online while spreading inaccurate claims and limited context about what transpired." President Trump began to mention Ngo at his rallies in July 2019.

In August 2020, the Southern Poverty Law Center said in an interview with philosopher and How Fascism Works author Jason Stanley that Ngo had been caught misrepresenting facts and that "what he says goes substantially viral after that."{{Cite web|last=Hayden|first=Michael Edison|date=August 27, 2020|title=The Fascist Underpinnings of Pro-Trump Media: An Interview With Author Jason Stanley|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/08/27/fascist-underpinnings-pro-trump-media-interview-author-jason-stanley|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210014327/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/08/27/fascist-underpinnings-pro-trump-media-interview-author-jason-stanley|archive-date=December 10, 2020|access-date=2021-01-12|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|language=en}} Stanley contended that Ngo promotes a "false equivalence [between left and right political violence in the U.S.], when there's no such equivalence at all", noting that hundreds of Americans had been killed in far-right violence since 1990 while antifa had not been responsible for any lives lost as of August 27, 2020, the date the interview was published.

Writing for MIT Technology Review in September 2020, Harvard University faculty member Joan Donovan addressed the use of video in social media to encourage an outrage response, stating that Ngo was one of two right-wing adversarial media-makers promoting "riot porn" consisting of videos of conflict at public protests that are edited, decontextualized, and shared among online followers.

By October 2020, Politico reported Ngo had established approximately 800,000 social media followers and had become a mega influencer that was a "key source for rightwing audiences in search of news about the Black Lives Matter movement". The following month, Ngo's viral video content was recirculated by President Trump following the Million MAGA March.{{Cite web|last1=Mackey|first1=Robert|last2=Mannon|first2=Travis|date=May 13, 2021|title=Meet the Riot Squad: Right-Wing Reporters Whose Viral Videos Are Used to Smear BLM|url=https://theintercept.com/2021/05/13/riot-squad-right-wing-video-journalists-black-lives-matter-antifa/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://theintercept.com/2021/05/13/riot-squad-right-wing-video-journalists-black-lives-matter-antifa/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-16|website=The Intercept|language=en}}{{cbignore}}

As of December 2023, Ngo had an X (formerly Twitter) following of over 1.4 million users.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-16 |title=Andy Ngo's Twitter Stats Summary Profile (Social Blade Twitter Statistics) |url=https://socialblade.com/twitter/user/mrandyngo |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216014652/https://socialblade.com/twitter/user/mrandyngo |archive-date=December 16, 2023 |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=Social Blade}}

In 2019, Ngo labelled several journalists, including Shane Burley and Alexander Reid Ross, as "antifa ideologues".{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/alt-right-antifa-death-threats-doxxing-quillette-a8966176.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/alt-right-antifa-death-threats-doxxing-quillette-a8966176.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=I was the target of alt-right death threats across the internet – here's what happened next|first1=Shane |last1=Burley|first2=Alexander Reid|last2=Ross|newspaper=The Independent|date=June 19, 2019}}{{cbignore}} Burley and Reid Ross described receiving death threats afterward, with Burley stating to Jacobin that Ngo "appears to target ideological opponents, which can make them fair game for harassment and violent confrontation." According to Vox{{'}}s Zack Beauchamp, Ngo doxed a political activist in 2019 by publishing her full name.{{Cite news|last=Beauchamp|first=Jack|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/3/20677645/antifa-portland-andy-ngo-proud-boys| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/7/3/20677645/antifa-portland-andy-ngo-proud-boys| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=The assault on conservative journalist Andy Ngo, explained|work=Vox|date=July 3, 2019|access-date=August 27, 2019}}{{cbignore}} Ngo is known for publishing the mugshots of arrestees in Portland to his Twitter account.

Ngo's credibility and objectivity as a journalist have been extensively criticized by other journalists,{{cite web |last1=Derysh |first1=Igor |title=Right-wing 'journalist' Andy Ngo outed: Video shows him hanging out with far-right hate group |url=https://www.salon.com/2019/08/28/right-wing-journalist-andy-ngo-outed-video-shows-him-hanging-out-with-far-right-hate-group/ |website=Salon |access-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119162141/https://www.salon.com/2019/08/28/right-wing-journalist-andy-ngo-outed-video-shows-him-hanging-out-with-far-right-hate-group/ |archive-date=19 January 2021 |date=28 August 2019}} Since 2019, he has been accused of using selectively edited videos{{cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/antifa-portland-protests-disinformation-propaganda/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/antifa-portland-protests-disinformation-propaganda/| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Edited videos of Portland protests are telling half-truths|first=Alex|last=Dalbey|date=August 20, 2019|website=Daily Dot}}{{cbignore}} and sharing misleading and inaccurate information to paint antifa activists as violent,{{cite news|last=Strickland|first=Patrick|date=29 September 2020|title=Antifa and America's revamped Red Scare|work=Al Jazeera|agency=|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/29/antifa-hysteria-americas-revamped-red-scare| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/29/antifa-hysteria-americas-revamped-red-scare| archive-date=2021-10-10|quote=Among the witnesses called to testify were legislators from several states and Andy Ngo, a Portland-based journalist who describes himself as independent and objective but who has been accused of working with far-right groups in the past. Ngo, who last year made headlines when an anti-fascist punched him, has been criticised for sharing misleading and inaccurate information about anti-fascist demonstrators in his hometown.}}{{cbignore}} and to underplay the violence of the far right,{{cite web |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/03/1007931/riot-porn-right-wing-vigilante-propaganda-social-media/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/03/1007931/riot-porn-right-wing-vigilante-propaganda-social-media/ |archive-date=2021-10-10 |last=Donovan |first=Joan |website=MIT Technology Review |date=3 September 2020 |title=How an overload of riot porn is driving conflict in the streets |quote=These narratives have been intensified and supplemented by the work of right-wing adversarial media-makers like Elijah Schaffer and Andy Ngo, who collect videos of conflict at public protests and recirculate them to their online audiences. Both have even gone 'undercover' by posing as protesters to capture footage for their channels, seeking to name and shame those marching. Their videos are edited, decontextualized, and shared among audiences hungry for a new fix of 'riot porn,' which instantly goes viral across the right-wing media ecosystem with the aid of influential pundits and politicians, including President Donald Trump.}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=https://abovethelaw.com/2019/09/andy-ngo-is-journalisms-problem/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://abovethelaw.com/2019/09/andy-ngo-is-journalisms-problem/| archive-date=2021-10-10|title=Andy Ngo Is Journalism's Problem|date=September 3, 2019|first=Alaric|last=Dearment|website=Above the Law}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|first1=Grant|last1=Butler|access-date=January 5, 2020|title=Oregon's top 15 newsmakers of 2019|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/12/oregons-top-15-newsmakers-of-2019.html|date=December 29, 2019|newspaper=The Oregonian|archive-date=December 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230174738/https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/12/oregons-top-15-newsmakers-of-2019.html|url-status=live}} with Columbia Journalism Review describing Ngo as a "discredited provocateur".{{cite web |last1=Tovrov |first1=Daniel |title=Dropshipping journalism |url=https://www.cjr.org/special_report/newsweek.php| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.cjr.org/special_report/newsweek.php| archive-date=2021-10-10 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |access-date=18 February 2021 |date=23 October 2019 |quote=The space freelancers once occupied has been partially taken up by new, inflammatory opinion writers like Ben Shapiro, Nigel Farage, and Newt Gingrich, who wrote the magazine’s May 10 cover story about China. Some of these writers, I'm told, do get paid. Other recent Newsweek writers have included Charlie Kirk, discredited provocateur Andy Ngo, and former Blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge, who wrote a thinly veiled advertisement for his new TV show about UFOs.}}{{cbignore}} While under cross-examination during the 2022 trial of a Portland citizen journalist, Ngo acknowledged that his tweets have resulted in threats and violence against those he targets.{{Cite web |last=Goforth |first=Claire |date=2022-11-16 |title=Andy Ngô has long been accused of knowingly causing the subjects of his tweets to be targeted by his followers, which include mass shooters and far-right extremists. He finally admits they do |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/andy-ngo-admits-his-tweets-lead-to-harassment/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=The Daily Dot |language=en-US |archive-date=March 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305215155/https://www.dailydot.com/debug/andy-ngo-admits-his-tweets-lead-to-harassment/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Journalist Andy Ngô loses criminal trial against Oregon journalist John Hacker |url=https://news.yahoo.com/journalist-andy-ng-loses-criminal-005811640.html |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=news.yahoo.com |date=November 17, 2022 |language=en-US |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202212441/https://news.yahoo.com/journalist-andy-ng-loses-criminal-005811640.html |url-status=live }}

Ngo has been accused of having ties to the far-right groups Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer.{{cite web |last1=Covucci |first1=David |date=14 October 2019 |title=Andy Ngo smears antifa activist killed in hit-and-run |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/andy-ngo-sean-kealiher/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.dailydot.com/debug/andy-ngo-sean-kealiher/ |archive-date=2021-10-10 |access-date=18 February 2021 |website=Daily Dot |quote=Ngo has long maintained he is an independent reporter who covers the far-left despite his ties to the far-right. He’s also had a loose relationship with the truth while reporting on antifa.}}{{cbignore}} After Ngo was assaulted by left-wing protestors in Portland in 2019, the Portland-based newspaper Willamette Week quoted the Portland Mercury's Blogtown in saying an unnamed Proud Boys member said that the attack on Ngo "happened because he ignored Proud Boys' offer of protection"{{cite web |last=Jaquiss |first=Nigel |author-link=Nigel Jaquiss |date=August 28, 2019 |title=Right-Wing Brawlers Discussed a Hammer Fight While Being Filmed |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/08/28/right-wing-brawlers-discussed-a-hammer-fight-while-being-filmed/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/08/28/right-wing-brawlers-discussed-a-hammer-fight-while-being-filmed/ |archive-date=2021-10-10 |website=Willamette Week |quote=Ngo has claimed to be an independent journalist. It is increasingly clear he is coordinating his movements and his message with right-wing groups. On Aug. 26, The Portland Mercury published an allegation by a Vancouver infiltrator of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer. 'There's an understanding,' the man told the Mercury, 'that Patriot Prayer protects him and he protects them.' Ngo could not be reached for comment.}}{{cbignore}} and accordingly stated "it is increasingly clear [Ngo] is coordinating his movements and his message with right-wing groups".

BuzzFeed News reported that "[Ngo's] literal brand is that anti-fascists are violent and loathe him", adding that he "has been building to a dramatic confrontation with the Portland far left for months, his star rising along with the severity of the encounters .... [Ngo] is willing to make himself the story and to stream himself doing it. He proceeds from a worldview and seeks to confirm it, without asking to what degree his coverage becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy". Brian Levin, an extremist expert from California State University, San Bernardino, stated that Ngo was "a political pundit who certainly makes the most out of his conflicts, which sometimes turn violent on him. ... But to his credit, I've never seen him be the physical aggressor in the posts that he's made generally."{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Mike |title=In Portland, Milkshakes, a Punch and #HimToo Refresh Police Criticism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/01/us/portland-protests-mayor-cruz.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206083940/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/01/us/portland-protests-mayor-cruz.html |archive-date=6 February 2021 |date=1 July 2019}}

In June 2020, Ngo sued individuals allegedly associated with antifa, seeking $900,000 in damages for assault and emotional distress, and an injunction to prevent further harassment. The lawsuit cited Rose City Antifa, five other named defendants, and additional unknown assailants.{{cite web|last=Sparling|first=Zane|date=2020-12-23|title=Andy Ngo's lawsuit against Rose City Antifa, protesters can move forward, judge decides|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/12/andy-ngos-lawsuit-against-rose-city-antifa-protesters-can-move-forward-judge-decides.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/12/andy-ngos-lawsuit-against-rose-city-antifa-protesters-can-move-forward-judge-decides.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-17|website=The Oregonian|language=en}}{{cbignore}} The suit stems from multiple alleged attacks on Ngo in Portland during 2019: at a demonstration on May 1, at his local gym on May 7, and during a protest on June 29. In particular, the suit accuses Rose City Antifa of a "pattern of racketeering activities".{{cite web |url=https://katu.com/news/local/portland-conservative-writer-andy-ngo-suing-antifa-for-injuries-during-protest| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://katu.com/news/local/portland-conservative-writer-andy-ngo-suing-antifa-for-injuries-during-protest| archive-date=2021-10-10 |title=Portland conservative writer suing 'antifa' for injuries |website=KATU |date=June 5, 2020 |access-date=June 5, 2020 |first=Don|last=Thompson}}{{cbignore}} On December 15, 2020, a Multnomah County judge denied a special motion to strike down the suit.

Ngo has been invited by Republican lawmakers to testify before Congress on several occasions.{{Cite web|last=Buchman|first=Brandi|date=February 25, 2021|title=Domestic Terror Still Thorny Issue for Lawmakers After Capitol Attack|url=https://www.courthousenews.com/domestic-terror-still-thorny-issue-for-lawmakers-after-capitol-attack/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.courthousenews.com/domestic-terror-still-thorny-issue-for-lawmakers-after-capitol-attack/| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-10|website=Courthouse News Service|language=en-US}}{{cbignore}} On August 4, 2020, he provided testimony at a United States Senate Judiciary subcommittee titled "The Right of the People Peaceably to Assemble: Protecting Speech by Stopping Anarchist Violence."{{cite web |last1=Lennard |first1=Natasha |title=Ted Cruz's Hearing on Anarchist Protest Violence Was a Total Farce |url=https://theintercept.com/2020/08/05/ted-cruz-hearing-antifa/| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://theintercept.com/2020/08/05/ted-cruz-hearing-antifa/| archive-date=2021-10-10 |website=The Intercept |access-date=18 February 2021 |date=6 August 2020}}{{cbignore}} Fox News reported that Ngo disputed media coverage of protests and criticized Democrats for not condemning antifa for violence in Portland; however, prosecutors focused only on criminal conduct and did not provide evidence that any of the people arrested in Portland were linked to antifa.{{cite news|last1=Howard|first1=Christopher|date=5 August 2020|title=Democrats refuse to condemn Antifa in domestic terrorism hearing, Andy Ngo says|work=Fox News|url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/democrats-refuse-condemn-antifa-andy-ngo| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.foxnews.com/media/democrats-refuse-condemn-antifa-andy-ngo| archive-date=2021-10-10|url-status=live|access-date=24 March 2020}}{{cbignore}} The Southern Poverty Law Center stated that Ngo has been a vocal proponent of listing antifa as a terrorist organization.{{cite web |last1=Gais |first1=Hannah |title=Congressmen, Right-Wing Media Push Baseless Claims That Antifa Fueled Far-Right Riot at Nation's Capitol |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/01/07/congressmen-right-wing-media-push-baseless-claims-antifa-fueled-far-right-riot-nations| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/01/07/congressmen-right-wing-media-push-baseless-claims-antifa-fueled-far-right-riot-nations| archive-date=2021-10-10 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=18 February 2021 |date=7 January 2021}}{{cbignore}}

On February 24, 2021, Ngo provided testimony at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security following the U.S. Capitol attack. During the congressional hearing, which focused on the rise of domestic terrorism in the United States, lawmakers denounced the insurrection that left five dead but diverged on how to address the problem. Democratic lawmakers condemned false equivalencies and raised concerns about white supremacist violence and homegrown extremism, whereas Ngo, the sole witness called by Republicans, suggested the media was at fault for failing to criticize the looting and rioting that occurred after the murder of George Floyd.{{cite web|last=Woodward|first=Alex|date=2021-02-25|title=House Democrats strike back at GOP 'false equivalencies' during domestic terror hearing|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/house-judiciary-domestic-terror-hearing-b1807045.html| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/house-judiciary-domestic-terror-hearing-b1807045.html| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=2021-04-10|website=The Independent|language=en}}{{cbignore}}

In 2021, a Multnomah County grand jury indicted citizen journalist John Hacker on a third-degree robbery charge stemming from a 2019 incident with Ngo. Ngo alleged that Hacker—who was among those named in the June 2020 lawsuit—spilled liquid on him and took his phone at a Portland gym.{{Cite web |date=October 29, 2021|last=Williams|first=Kale|website=The Oregonian |title=Portland man charged with robbery for allegedly stealing Andy Ngo's phone at gym two years ago |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/10/portland-man-charged-with-robbery-for-allegedly-stealing-andy-ngos-phone-at-gym-two-years-ago.html?outputType=amp |access-date=2023-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127060541/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/10/portland-man-charged-with-robbery-for-allegedly-stealing-andy-ngos-phone-at-gym-two-years-ago.html?outputType=amp |archive-date=2022-11-27 }} Hacker was subsequently acquitted of the charge in November 2022.{{Cite web |date=November 15, 2022|last=Gaitán |first= Catalina |title=Andy Ngo phone dispute ends in not guilty verdict for self-styled 'citizen journalist' John Hacker |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2022/11/portland-citizen-journalist-who-took-phone-of-right-wing-author-andy-ngo-in-2019-not-guilty-of-robbery-judge-rules.html?outputType=amp |access-date=2023-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105232537/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2022/11/portland-citizen-journalist-who-took-phone-of-right-wing-author-andy-ngo-in-2019-not-guilty-of-robbery-judge-rules.html?outputType=amp|website=The Oregonian |archive-date=2023-01-05 }}

After five defendants settled, were removed from the case by a judge, or evaded trial entirely, Ngo modified his 2020 civil suit to include an accusation that Hacker and Elizabeth Richter participated in an assault on him at a 2021 rally on the one year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Prior to the trial, which took place in early August 2023, attorneys for Hacker and Richter claimed that video evidence would prove that neither touched Ngo that night or participated in beating him.{{cite news |last=Sparling |first=Zane |date=August 1, 2023 |title=Right-wing writer Andy Ngo's trial against Portland activists begins: 'This is Twitter come to real life' |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2023/08/right-wing-writer-andy-ngos-lawsuit-against-portland-activists-begins.html |work=The Oregonian |quote=Their attorneys told the jury that surveillance footage will prove neither Hacker nor Richter ever touched Ngo that night or participated in a brutal mob beating. Ngo's four black-clad assailants remain unidentified, they said. "Mr. Ngo has sued the wrong people," said defense attorney Michelle Burrows. "The people who did cause harm to Mr. Ngo and his family, they're not here."}} Hacker and Richter were found not liable after their attorney argued they were not among the assailants.{{cite web | last=Sparling | first=Zane | title=Andy Ngo loses civil lawsuit against Portland activists | website=oregonlive | date=2023-08-08 | url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2023/08/andy-ngo-loses-civil-lawsuit-against-portland-activists.html | access-date=2023-08-09 | quote=The lawsuit itself had been amended significantly since Ngo first filed it in 2020 — eventually mostly focusing on a May 28 protest that Ngo attended while dressed incognito…Richter's attorney…pointed to Oregon laws that protect so-called "fighting words" as a form of free speech and said Richter left the hotel without touching Ngo. "Her speech does not match her conduct. It amounts to trash talk," attorney Cooper Brinson said. | archive-date=August 9, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230809000343/https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2023/08/andy-ngo-loses-civil-lawsuit-against-portland-activists.html | url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Vaughn |first=Courtney |title=Jury Rules Against Andy Ngo in Activist Lawsuit |url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2023/08/09/46651345/jury-rules-against-andy-ngo-in-activist-lawsuit |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=Portland Mercury |language=en |archive-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810024337/https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2023/08/09/46651345/jury-rules-against-andy-ngo-in-activist-lawsuit |url-status=live }}

Ngo is gay,{{Cite web |last=Ocamb |first=Karen |date=2019-07-01 |title=Conservative gay journalist attacked covering Portland protest |url=https://www.losangelesblade.com/2019/07/01/conservative-gay-journalist-attacked-covering-portland-protest/ |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=Los Angeles Blade: LGBTQ News, Rights, Politics, Entertainment |language=en-US |archive-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810231843/https://www.losangelesblade.com/2019/07/01/conservative-gay-journalist-attacked-covering-portland-protest/ |url-status=live }} and he considers himself to be politically center-right.{{Cite web|last=Osborne|first=Mark|date=June 30, 2019|title=Right-wing protesters clash with anti-fascists as march gets violent|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wing-protesters-clash-anti-fascists-portland-march-violent/story?id=64043549|access-date=July 2, 2019|website=ABC News|quote=Andy Ngo, a conservative journalist ... .|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701155239/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wing-protesters-clash-anti-fascists-portland-march-violent/story?id=64043549|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Quinn|first=Allison|date=June 30, 2019|title=Conservative Writer Andy Ngo Attacked at Portland Rally|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/conservative-writer-andy-ngo-attacked-at-portland-rally| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211010/https://www.thedailybeast.com/conservative-writer-andy-ngo-attacked-at-portland-rally| archive-date=2021-10-10|access-date=July 1, 2019|website=The Daily Beast}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|date=July 10, 2019|title=Joe Rogan Experience #1323 - Andy Ngo|website=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI2EHMy1lgs|access-date=July 11, 2019|time=33:01–33:16|archive-date=July 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711080655/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI2EHMy1lgs|url-status=live}}

In 2021, The Oregonian reported that Ngo relocated to London, citing concerns for his personal safety. A Portland Police Bureau spokesman confirmed that Ngo filed at least 10 police reports about threats made to him or his family since June 2020.

• Ngo, Andy (2021). Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy. Nashville, Tennessee: Center Street. {{ISBN|9781546059585}}.

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