On the garden issue, that would be entirely welcome in Portland. There will never be another "Lexington & Concord" until there is another mass hostile action on the part of one government body against another, with the victim being more locally popular than the aggressor.

The big issue with defending any of these people in these little fights is the question of how much backing you will get when you do it, and in many cases, a lot of these people who you are defending will straight up turn against you once they figure it is to their advantage to. That's the dangerous part. I have been into those situations more than once where someone figured they would be able to make a manipulation/sympathy play on some "anti-government nutjob", and then I found out they turned right around and were badmouthing me behind my back, some even collaborating over it once someone higher up in .gov figured out the people could get bought off.

That's where in these situations of defending someone's rights, you make your own decisions on when to commit to the fight, but nowdays I am pretty cautious about it, however getting involved for no cash reward does put one on a morally higher ground than the "consummate professionals" who thug for a living.