This editorial is brought to you by a staff writer for
Law Enforcement Today.
PORTLAND, OR – Since the death of George
Floyd in
May, members of Black Lives Matter and opportunists members of
Antifa crawled out of their mother’s basement and began to wage
war.
The two groups have destroyed millions of dollars’ worth of
businesses, killed people, and injured over 100 cops. Instead of
just targeting downtown centers, they have also begun attacking
residential neighborhoods.
A large group of militant
antifa wearing armor and carrying shields have shut down a street
in north Portland. They are trying to march to the police union
hall, the place they broke into and set on fire last week. A police
line stops them from continuing. pic.twitter.com/jD4YohjKfw— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo)
August 15, 2020
In
Portland, members of
Antifa have stepped up their newer attacks in
residential areas. This after they unsuccessfully attempted to
march on the Precinct as well as the Police Union office. On
August 14th, the Portland Police Bureau released the following
statement:
“As the group marched, several support vehicles
followed, blocking vehicular traffic. The lead marchers held
wooden shields. Many in the crowd were wearing helmets, gas masks,
and other protective gear.
More scenes of chaos in north
Portland as police disperse antifa rioters who are throwing
projectiles. This is a residential area.
#PortlandRiots
#antifa pic.twitter.com/1wRAfrxptP— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo)
August 15, 2020
“Police learned that the march was likely proceeding
to the officers of the Portland Police Association (PPA) in the
1800 Block of North Lombard Street. During multiple previous
demonstrations, individuals broke into the PPA office and lit arson
fires, in addition to committing a burglary, theft, and
vandalism.â€
Officers formed a perimeter around the area to keep the
criminals from getting access to the office. Displeased with not
being able to get their way, the rioters began launching
projectiles at the officers. As the officers were getting
attacked, they declared an unlawful assembly and ordered all
rioters to leave the area.
Portland Police said:
“As officers dispersed the crowd, individuals launched
commercial grade fireworks, golf balls, large river rock, palm
sized chunks of concrete, glass bottles, and ball bearings from
sling shots at officers. One officer was punched in the head
multiple times, causing minor injury, and the suspect was
arrested.
“Another officer was struck by an object, possibly a
stick or bat, and suffered a minor injury. Green lasers were
shined in officer’s eyes. Several people with ‘press’
affixed to them shined flashlights in officer’s eyes. Multiple
dumpster fires were set in traffic intersections. Some of the
fires were set close enough to traffic that several cars had to
swerve to miss them.â€
Rioters then descended into the residential neighborhood that is
near the police substation. Once again, they began defacing
private property and shouting out personal addresses of women who
live in the area.
Officers were eventually able to remove the crowd, but, as they
have every night, they will simply return.
LAST NIGHT: Antifa was caught
doxing a Portland residentIt appears Antifa has it’s operative leaders identify a target
to then find out who they are, then give that personal information
directly to their so called “press†to obviously distribute
pic.twitter.com/4WJQSPGQ7y— Drew Hernandez (@livesmattershow)
August 15, 2020
And to make matters worse, the prosecutors in
Oregon, specifically in the Portland area, have announced their
intention of dismissing the charges against the criminals.
Earlier this week, the office of Multnomah County District
Attorney Mike Schmidt announced a new policy regarding rioting and
looting prosecution.
District Attorney Mike Schmidt
is refusing to uphold the law. He’s refusing to prosecute criminal
activity.Citizens have rights, too. Since when has trespassing, rioting,
damage to property, and assault been considered acts of “free
speech”? https://t.co/CPVn7wLNgR— ModSquad (@Designsage)
August 11, 2020
Schmidt said:
“The protesters are angry…and deeply frustrated with
what they perceive to be structural inequities in our basic social
fabric. And this frustration can escalate to levels that violate
the law.
“This policy [of not pursuing criminal charges]
acknowledges that centuries of disparate treatment of our black and
brown communities have left deep wounds and that healing process
will not be easy or quick.â€
Schmidt’s reasoning behind the policy change is as
follows:
“If we leverage the full force of the criminal justice
system on individuals who are peacefully protesting and demanding
to be heard, we will cause irreparable harm to them individually
and to our city.
“The prosecution of people exercising their rights to
free speech and assembly in a non-violent manner takes away from
the limited resources that we have to prosecute serious crimes and
to assist crime victims.â€
The major problem with these statements is that it notes the
complete and utter failure of the criminal justice system in this
area. People who may have refrained from committing criminal acts
because of the repercussions of their criminality now know that
they can do what they want with impunity.
The message that Schmidt gave is that criminals are free to burn
down buildings, attack police officers, vandalize, and steal
whatever they like and not fear any backlash. Not to mention, a
large portion of these events are run by Antifa, a group of grown
children, sure, but their aim is totally and complete anarchy, a
far cry from why the protests supposedly started.
Not to mention, there is nothing peaceful that is coming out of
Portland as they are destroying, burning, and looting businesses.
What could possibly be peaceful about those crimes?
And it’s not just Portland.
On Saturday, a small Oregon city – Eugene – less than
two-hours from Portland experienced rioting as hundreds of people
targeted a county jail and federal courthouse with fireworks.
Eugene Police became aware of a planned protest at the US
Federal Courthouse starting at 8pm on Saturday night. Based
on…Posted by Eugene Police
Department on Sunday,
July 26, 2020
As if that wasn’t destructive enough, they attacked local
businesses downtown while employees were trapped inside. Fox News
reported that the violence, destruction, and vandalizing
mirrored those seen in Portland the last 60 plus nights.
Rioters arrested https://t.co/0RjQRwVV82 pic.twitter.com/4CBMgbtk4M
— Eugene Police Dept. (@EugenePolice)
July 26, 2020
Crowds blocked the streets and prevented one man in a pickup
truck from passing. As the crowd surrounded the man’s vehicle,
the driver opened his door and pointed his handgun toward another
man wearing a back t-shirt and a helmet.
The two faced off amid a shouting crowd as the demonstrator
pointed his own weapon at the driver through the open car door
window. Someone video recorded the incident and posted it to social
media where it has gone viral with 1.6 million views as of
Monday.
This was in Eugene, Ore.
yesterday at the violent antifa gathering. They blocked off the
streets and prevented a driver from using the road. When they
surrounded him, he brandished a gun. One of the far-left protesters
then brandished a gun back. pic.twitter.com/WY1TgdI738— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo)
July 26, 2020
Seven adults and one juvenile were arrested in Eugene from
Saturday night’s events. It is unclear at the time of this
writing if either man depicted in the video were among those
arrested. It seems an anti-fascist group of teens who have become
popular in the Portland riots raised money to help bail out those
arrested.
The Pacific Northwest Youth Liberation Front’s unverified
account retweeted messages directing people to use the mobile
service Venmo to send funds to go towards their bail. The Eugene
Police Department said it became aware of a planned protest at the
U.S. Federal Courthouse starting at 8 p.m. on Saturday night.
1/3 Pacific Northwest Youth
Liberation Front is ORGANIZING NATIONWIDE RIOTS TONIGHT–VIA
FACEBOOK. Facebook blocked VDARE’s page over two months agohttps://t.co/ka4h9QgodW— VDARE (@vdare)
July 25, 2020
According to reports, armed counter-protesters showed up and a
man was arrested after firing a handgun into the air in the middle
of a crowd of about 300 people. The man has since been identified
as Robert Welch, 44. He has been charged with unlawful use of a
weapon and recklessly endangering another person.
Police said that the counter-protesters left before 10 p.m., but
that a crowd of about 200 demonstrators remained.
An older woman tried to stop
#antifa rioters from continuing their attack on the Portland
Police east precinct tonight. She stood in the front and they
dumped some white liquid all over her & curse her out.
#PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/fYEu08DOfJ— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo)
August 7, 2020
Protesters in that large group began to launch fireworks toward
the federal courthouse as well as blocking traffic. The group then
marched towards the Lane County Jail where they proceeded to launch
more fireworks into the employee parking lot. They also lit smoke
bombs in front of the facility.
Information about events that
took place over the weekend https://t.co/gbbfSR9y7g— Eugene Police Dept. (@EugenePolice)
July 27, 2020
As the group continued to march, they grew louder and more
destructive. They advanced downtown and began ripping down street
signs, spray painting buildings, and smashed the windows of a Wells
Fargo and Whole Foods.
Windows were broken at Wells
Fargo, Elkhorn Brewing and Whole Foods. https://t.co/UyBawwiZP1— KEZI 9 NEWS (@KEZI9)
July 26, 2020
The violent protesters spray painted a police auditor car and
launched fireworks at the local Elkhorn Brewing Company as well as
broke several windows while employees were trapped inside.
The Eugene Police Department wrote in a post on Facebook:
“Employees were inside the building at the time and
managed to escape safely as police moved into the area to prevent
further damage or harm to life safety. It’s important to note
that police were not on the ground during much of the initial hours
to avoid any escalating presence. Monitoring for crowd and
pedestrian traffic safety was down remotely via
drone.â€
Protesters began throwing harmful objects at the officers as
they were making announcement that the assembly was unlawful.
Police deployed less-than lethal munitions (pepper-ball munitions)
and CS gas to disperse the remaining large crowds.
Out of the
seven arrests from that weekend, three of them were charged
with disorderly conduct, two of them for resisting, and two for
interfering.
Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said in a statement:
“It’s unfortunate that yet again we’re having a
conversation about a small group of individuals that after
three-plus hours of being heard felt like what being heard meant to
them was to damage local businesses and public property and to
throw rocks at police officers, damaging police cars, and hurting
officers with rocks.â€
Police and city officials emphasized the progress and actions
taken over the last two months to build relationships with Black
Unity and other community organizations to address police reform,
racism, and social inequality. After the weekend’s events, Chief
Skinner citing the ongoing protests in Portland:
“It’s unfortunate that what we see in Portland has a
tendency to manifest itself here in local Eugene. There wasn’t a
better day for us when we were able to take the boards and fencing
down at EPD. That was a milestone day for us.â€
He added:
“I don’t have any plans on putting the boards back
up or fences back up. I’m. going to continue to extend that
trust, but it’s not lost on me that what we see in Portland and
some of the emotions that we’re seeing in Portland have a
tendency to manifest themselves down here.â€
Here is another article from Law Enforcement Today about the
violence, destruction, and rioting taking place nightly in
Portland:
Demonstrations have entered a seventh consecutive week in
Portland. This includes a clash that lasted into Tuesday morning in
which demonstrators and cops faced off for hours at a police union
building in a north Portland.
Tuesday evening, the Portland Police Department took to
Twitter to declare the protests a riot, tweeting:
“A riot has been delcared. Everyone needs to disperse
immediately and leave to the East.â€
Monday marked the
46th consecutive night of demonstrations in the city which
authorities said have cost
$23 million in damages and lost revenue to businesses in the
downtown area.
In addition to declaring a riot, the Portland Police sent out
another tweet saying their officers have been hit with paint, ball
bearings, and glass bottles, which the added are criminal acts.
Some of the items thrown at
officers include paint, ball bearings, and glass bottles, which are
all criminal acts. pic.twitter.com/9ghKqB8urT— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice)
July 14, 2020
Police repeatedly ordered the crowd to disperse and threatened
to use tear gas, but ultimately did not.
Monday’s events, the latest after the death of George Floyd in
police custody in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, followed a similar
incident over the weekend, when a federal officer protecting a
courthouse was hit in the
head with a hammer.
Damages reached an estimated $50,000 when rioters attempted to
break through the court’s doors, local NBA affiliate
KGW reported.
Police were able to arrest a 23-year-old from Texas on assault
charges.
The officer injured was one of many
federal law enforcement agents called in to help settle the
mayhem, deployed earlier this month among a dozen agencies and
departments sent by the Department of Homeland Security,
Fox News said.
Federal officers from the U.S. Marshals, the Federal Protective
Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have moved through
the city to protect federal property such as Mark. O Hatfield
Federal Courthouse, Pioneer Courthouse, and the Edith Green-Wendell
Wyatt Federal Building as well as Terry Schrunk Plaza.
Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler has criticized the decision to send
in federal officers, accusing President Donald Trump of escalating
the violence.
Wheeler tweeted out that the president did not quell the
violence, instead saying:
“His heavy-handed tactics led to a serious injury and
enflamed an already tense situation.â€
The President did not quell
it, he escalated it. His heavy-handed tactics led to a serious
injury and enflamed an already tense situation. https://t.co/V1lZeOLWD1— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler)
July 14, 2020
Just last week, Portland’s Deputy Chief Chris Davis defended
what some have called aggressive tactics by the department.
Refusing to label the demonstrators as “protesters,†Davis
referred to them as “agitators.â€
He said:
“There’s a very big difference between protests and
the kind of mayhem that we see every night. You’re going to hear
me make a lot of effort not to refer to what we’re talking about
here as protests, because protests and this are two different
things.â€
The press conference, which was organized by Mayor Wheeler’s
office, highlighted the divide of many city officials.
Commissioners
Jo Ann Hardesty and Chloe Eudaly have continually questioned
police tactics in handling the events of the recent weeks, the
police have amped up their criticism of the riots.
Tim Becker, the mayor’s spokesman, mentioned in a statement
that the mayor is “supportive of the intent†of Davis’
presentation, which described “what’s happening every night
from an operational standpoint.â€
Davis offered support for the Black Lives Matter movement and
peaceful protesters during his press conference.
He also displayed the infographic for protest roles created by
the Hong Kong “freedom fighters†who are protesting to remain
autonomous from China’s authority.
We have seen all of this at
demonstrations in Portland. https://t.co/jYlZrHKhH8— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice)
July 6, 2020
Davis’ presentation followed a press conference in which
Portland Police Association president Daryl Turner said the union
had issued a
no-confidence vote against the City Council to “stop the
rioting and looting and protect the safety and livelihoods of all
Portlanders.â€
Turner said:
“If City Council won’t stand up for Portland, we
will.â€
For more on that vote, as well as Turner’s plan for standing
up for Portland, keep reading below.
