Navy Veteran from Viral Portland Protest Video Says Unidentified Agents Broke His Arm: ‘If They’re Going to Gas Moms, They’re Going to Beat Up Vets’

Chris David, the Navy veteran from a viral, Portland protest video appeared on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes on Monday to describe his experience and speak out against the unidentified agents who broke his arm.

Video of David’s interaction with masked, and unnamed federal agents on Saturday quickly went viral over the past weekend. Wearing a backpack and a white Navy sweatshirt, David was seen in the video absorbing numerous unprompted baton blows and then direct tear-gassing to his face from agents, only to gracefully pirouette away and depart without arrest, seemingly unfazed by the whole assault. His bold, double, middle-finger gesture to the agents as he walked away only added to his mystique.

“Mr. David, as you can see, never flinched they finally sprayed him in the face,” guest host Ali Velshi said as he replayed the clip of the 53-year-old Naval Academy graduate. “It’s kind of unbelievable. I can’t believe how you didn’t flinch. This guy had two arms on a baton and he’s hitting you in the legs and above the body are you injured?”

“Yeah, yeah. I did get injured. Principally my arm was broken, but in addition to that, I’ve got, you know, some bruising all over my body from the baton.”

David then explained that his plan was to approach the unnamed federal agents and peacefully ask them about upholding their oath to the Constitution after the huge backlash about the snatch-and-grab tactics being used to remove protestors from the street with no legal explanation.

“The thing that was so upsetting was that there didn’t seem to be any recognition that as a veteran I was even going to be listened to or treated any differently than anybody else,” David said of the agents’ unprovoked attack. “And that sort of makes sense because if they’re going to gas moms, they’re going to beat up vets.”

Velshi then asked David if he has yet discovered which federal agency the officers that assaulted him came from.

“Oh, I had no idea to this day who they actually are,” David said. “I am still mystified and I’m not sure I have a good answer as to who those gentlemen were were they Customs and Border Patrol? Marshal service? Federal protection service? Nobody knows I haven’t gotten a good answer for that I think that would be a good question for [Acting USCIS chief] Ken Cuccinelli.”

“I do think this is the test case,” David warned. “I think this is supposed to be the first domino to fall. What we’re finding is that they probably were using Portland as a testing ground for rolling out in other cities, and Trump pretty much listed exactly what those cities were going to be, which are Chicago, New York, and any place that he decides he doesn’t like to see protesting happen.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.