The following editorial is written by a retired Chief of Police and current staff writer for Law Enforcement Today.
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PORTLAND, OR- Despite Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s continuous attempts to downplay the violence in his city and continuing to tie the hands of law enforcement officer, a majority of Oregon residents believe that police should use MORE force in dealing with violent protesters.
According to a poll conducted by DMH research between September 3-8, “Nearly half of the participants said they lived in either Multnomah, Clackamas or Washington countries. Nearly a quarter lived elsewhere in Williamette Valley, while the remainder were from other parts of the state, according to OregonLive.
According to the poll, 42% of those responding believed police should use more force, while 18% felt the force currently being employed was good.
The poll also showed that 66% of Oregonians are opposed to the protests; the only demographic approving of the protests were millennials—voters age 18-29, at 62%. Thirty-three percent said they disapproved, DMH Research said.
In an overwhelming slap at the “leadership” of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a mere 10% of those polled approved of her response to the protests. Still, Brown did better than the gutless mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, who polled at a whopping 8% approval for his handling of the riots in that city.
Concerning police response to the protests in Portland, a small majority, 46%-45% approved of the Portland Police Bureau’s response to the rioting.
DMH said:
“At the end of the survey, we asked voters what is a more accurate description of the events in Portland: 55% said riot while 37% said protest.”
Guess that pretty much puts the “peaceful protest” narrative to bed.
In a separate survey published Tuesday of 435 Portland voters, OregonLive said, “Wheeler drew an unfavorable rating of 63%, around three-quarters of respondents said they supported the Black Lives Matter Movement, and close to 70% said they supported the Portland protests.”
So clearly, the problem appears to be there is something in the water in Portland.
Back in mid-July, Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf reached out to Wheeler to see if federal law enforcement could assist the beleaguered city.
“Today, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security asked to speak with me about demonstration activity in Portland. He expressed his concern about ongoing violence and asked how his agency can help,” Wheeler said at the time.
Wheeler of course deflected blame from himself and his invisible “leadership” to the federal government. Wheeler tweeted:
“I told the Acting Secretary that my biggest immediate concern is the violence federal officers brought to our streets in recent days, and the life-threatening tactics his agents use. We do not need or what their help.”
Portland has, of course had riots since the end of May when George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, with no end in sight.
In an apparent move to have the nonsense continue, the city of Portland last week banned the use of facial-recognition technology by the Portland Police Bureau.
“Its decision to prevent both local government and businesses from employing the technology appears to be the most sweeping ban yet by an individual city,” CNN said.
The report continued:
“The new rule prevents “private entities in places of public accommodation” in Portland from using it, too, referring to businesses that serve the general public—a grocer store or pizza place, for instance. It does not prevent individuals from setting up facial-recognition technology at home, such as a Google Nest camera that can spot familiar faces or gadgets that use facial-recognition software for authenticating users, like Apple’s Face ID feature for unlocking an iPhone.”
Wheeler, who is clearly in over his head explained away the new regulations saying:
“Technology exists to make our lives easier, not for public and private entities to use as a weapon against the very citizens they serve and accommodate.”
In case you’ve missed our reporting on the nightly riots consuming Portland, below is a story from this past week, where we highlighted some of the “outstanding” American citizens who have been arrested for rioting. We invite you to:
DIG DEEPER
Riots that occurred on September 5th in Portland played out in the usual form that many have come to expect. Those among the crowd of rioters threw rocks, firebombs, launched fireworks toward police officers, and numerous people wound up getting arrested.
Example of rocks thrown at police and seized dagger – Portland Police
There were reportedly 59 people arrested between the evening of September 5th and the early morning hours of the 6th in Portland, with the Portland Police Bureau sharing some of the photos of the damage that occurred, and some of the items seized from arrestees.
Oregon State Police vehicle damaged on September 5th – Portland Police
A police sergeant’s hand was burned via a commercial grade firework that was shot toward officers. The launched firework managed to burn it’s way through the sergeant’s gloved hand and caused injury.
PPB Sgt’s damaged glove – Portland Police 
PPB Sgt’s burned hand – Portland Police
The crowd of rioters had reportedly gathered at Ventura Park at approximately 9:00 p.m. on the evening of September 5th, and began heading toward the East Portland Community Policing Center. Many rioters were adorned in various forms of body armor and carrying around shields as well.
Shield used by rioters on September 5th – Portland Police
It only took approximately 15 minutes after the crowd had gathered at the park initially before assaults against police started, which began with rioters tossing firebombs at officers who were strategically positioned to hinder the crowd from reaching the East Precinct.
Seized explosive – Portland Police
This is the riot where video footage went viral of a rioter who managed to catch their legs on fire from their own arsonist attacks.
Body armor worn by one of the rioters – Portland Police
Things like mortar fireworks were also launched at police officers and even slingshots were used to attack the police. It didn’t take long for police to declare the protest as a riot and warned those present that tear gas was about to be deployed. This of course was ignored by the volatile crowd and police were forced to utilize tear gas.
The following people were reportedly booked into Multnomah County Detention Center following the riot from the evening of the 5th:
Evan Burchfield, 34, of Portland – Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer.
Evan Burchfield – MCSO
James Castle, 43, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
James Castle – MCSO
Tony Girard, 34, of Tigard, Oregon – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Tony Girard – MCSO
Sara Rider, 30, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Sara Rider – MCSO
Sarah Martin, 32, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer (no photo available).
Victor Philips, 34, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Victor Philips – MCSO
Evelyn Luhman, 27, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Evelyn Luhman – MCSO
Henry Loeb, 31, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Henry Loeb – MCSO
Jesse Joseph, 25, of Portland – Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Resisting Arrest, Escape in the Third Degree.
Jesse Joseph – MCSO
Enzo Zimmerman, 18, unknown residence – Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer.
Enzo Zimmerman – MCSO
Sherry Mothedi, 45, unknown residence – Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Resisting Arrest.
Sherry Mothedi – MCSO
Jaimie Crush, 26, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Jaimie Crush
Kiko Kurosawa-Grasa, 25, unknown residence – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Kiko Kurosawa-Grasa – MCSO
Donovan Speed, 19, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Donovan Speed – MCSO
Eleanor Rose, 22, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Eleanor Rose – MCSO
John Alger, 23, of Portland – Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree.
John Alger – MCSO
Jawad Fakhuri, 35, unknown residence – Attempted Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Unlawful Use of the Weapon.
Jawad Fakhuri – MCSO
Meganne English-Mills, 24, unknown residence – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Meganne English-Mills – MCSO
Michael Skaggs, 23, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Michael Skaggs – MCSO
Sarah Rascoe, 39, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Sarah Rascoe – MCSO
John Mulkern, 33, of Olympia, Washington – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
John Mulkern – MCSO
Noel Ruiz, 27, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Noel Ruiz – MCSO
Folajade Dgunfieitiani, 27, of Hillsboro, Oregon – Riot, Interfering with a Peace Officer.
Folajade Dgunfieitiani – MCSO
Kristina Narayan, 29, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer.
Kristina Narayan – MCSO
Joel Beal, 32, of Skull Valley, Arizona – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Joel Beal – MCSO
Simona Arteaga, 39, of Portland – Riot, Interfering with a Peace Officer.
Simona Arteaga – MCSO
Leslie Branch, 26, of Lakewood, Colorado – Attempted Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Leslie Branch – MCSO
Elizabeth Elder, 27, of Portland – Attempted Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Riot.
Elizabeth Elder – MCSO
Jil Heimensen, 50, of Portland – Riot, Harassment, Interfering with a Peace Officer.
Jil Heimensen – MCSO
Ty Fox, 23, of Astoria, Oregon – Arson in the First Degree, Escape in the Third Degree, Riot.
Ty Fox – MCSO
Cassandra Tighe, 24, of New Mexico – Riot, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Escape in the Third Degree.
Cassandra Tighe – MCSO
Samantha Sartin, 22, unknown residence – Interfering with a Peace Officer (no photo available).
Bandr Alzafiri, 22, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Bandr Alzafiri – MCSO
Alaric Dinh, 21, of Beaverton, Oregon — Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot.
Alaric Dinh – MCSO
Nicholas Foster, 19, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer, Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Nicholas Foster – MCSO
Nearly everyone that was booked into the county jail wound up getting released on their own recognizance or got bailed out.
There were also those simply listed as being “cited and released” by police, which those cited had charges ranging between disorderly conduct and/or interfering with a peace officer.
Two juveniles were also reportedly arrested, with a 15-year-old being booked into the juvenile detention center for rioting, second-degree disorderly conduct, and an active warrant.
The second juvenile, 17, was released to a parent after allegations of rioting, second-degree disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer.
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