PORTLAND, OR– On Tuesday, police said that officers did not engage in the violent clashes between rival protesters in downtown over the weekend because they did not want to escalate the tensions that were already very clearly present.
Portland ‘Back the Blue’ Rally Turns Into Riot When Antifa Shows Up and Starts Assaulting People https://t.co/xjpZZ4X905
— TRowcliff (@TRowcliff) August 26, 2020
During a news conference, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said:
“When you interject yourself as the police into this volatile mix, sometimes it has a worse intention or worse outcome than what was happening initially.”
Authorities are investigating a rally in which Black Lives Matter protesters squared off with pro-police protesters at their “Back the Blue” rally that took place on Saturday. Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis said in a statement:
“Sometimes the more prudent course is to not get involved. You run the risk of making a bad situation remarkably worse.”
Police said that the two groups fired paintballs and fireworks back and forth for two hours. Several protesters were injured. Over a loud speaker, police made announcements for protesters to “self-monitor” for criminal behavior.
Portland ‘Back the Blue’ Rally Turns Into Riot When Antifa Shows Up and Starts Assaulting People https://t.co/9D9jOvYBTj via @Conservative Journal
— Kristin’s Stuff (@kristinh1208) August 25, 2020
Oregon Live reported that about 300 people attended the right-wing rally in support of law enforcement and a counter protest group gathered near the Multnomah County Justice Center, including members of the Proud Boys and Black Lives Matter.
Now, Portland police are facing criticism for not trying to break up the clashing between the two protest groups. Davis said the department only had 30 officers available for the protest because the night before a peaceful protest turned into a riot outside of a police precinct, which required a heavy police presence.
Aftermath: A violent crowd confronted officers at North Precinct the evening of August 23rd, into the following morning. Officers were targeted with ceramic debris, rocks, heavy metal bolts, fires, and more. When the crowd cleared, they left behind a field of debris. pic.twitter.com/iPHFwBgXFr
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) August 24, 2020
30 officers would only be a fraction of the number of officers typically deployed during a downtown protest and would be insufficient for police to safely step into a crowd of that size. Davis said:
“We want to make sure we prevent violence and prevent people from getting hurt. It was not an easy decision to make.”
He added:
“These events and the decision making that goes into them will always involve limitations, trade-offs, and incomplete information in a rapidly evolving situation. Finding out exactly what officers knew and at what times decisions were made in those circumstances is absolutely necessary.”
Despite several verbal warnings over a loudspeaker, Portland police never went into the crowd once the clashes began. According to reports, the pro-police group retreated after two hours of clashing and the counter-protesters were dispersed by federal officers.
Allegedly, a right-wing activist, since identified as Alan Swinney, drew a gun and pointed it at Black Lives Matter demonstrators. It was captured on video and shared widely across social media. Davis said that the incident is under investigation and they are seeking witnesses to come forward with any information.
Chief Lovell on what would meet the threshold for police intervening in large scale confrontations like Saturday’s rally pic.twitter.com/5d990aWt8O
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) August 25, 2020
He also said it is unclear as to whether officers downtown at the time were aware of the situation that unfolded. Davis said:
“We are certainly interested in speaking with anyone who was put into danger by that guy’s actions.”
He added:
“As a community, now would be a good time to send a clear and consistent message to the relatively small number of people engaged in violent activity on our streets that it’s not OK. It’s not what we do here.”
During the press conference, Lovell said that Portland police would continue to work on monitoring future demonstrations that could lead to clashes between political rivals and make more resources available. He said:
“There’s an expectation that we’ll do what we can to keep people safe, but we can’t be everywhere and intervene in every situation. We have to make some determination with what is safe to do.”
Portland police said that for the past few months, the protests and riots have impacted their ability to respond to some high priority calls. Portland police posted a video to their Facebook page showing an interview with Sgt. Joshua Silverman that was filmed on Friday night.
I bet the good people of Portland who aren’t getting responses to their 911 calls wouldn’t mind some Fed help Mayor @tedwheeler
Portland police forced to prioritize riot unable to immediately respond to other 911 calls https://t.co/Bi9YOWvfZ9 #FoxNews
— 🇺🇸Colonel, USAF, Retired🇺🇸 (@TopFighterPilot) August 24, 2020
That was the same night that a riot was declared outside of the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct. In the video, Silverman tells viewers the types of calls that are coming in that police are unable to respond to because of the riot.
Ride-along with Sgt. Silverman during protests
On the night of August 21 – as protesters converged on North Precinct – Sgt. Joshua Silverman was one of only four patrol vehicles patrolling and taking priority calls in North Precinct, which boundaries include the Columbia and Willamette rivers, I-84 and the City of Gresham. Hear some of the police calls he says will not be answered for hours.
Posted by Portland Police Bureau on Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Silverman said:
“We’re only going to calls where people are actively being hurt or there’s an active disturbance where people are physically in danger. Short of that, we’re not going to the call.”
That night, Silverman was only one of four patrol units available to respond to calls. All others were assigned to the riot and crowd control. In the video, Silverman also details some of the calls that are waiting in the queue as an officer will not be assigned to that call for several hours.
PPB @ChiefCLovell is addressing media on a wide range of topics regarding protests in Portland. @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/b98tnbdjiq
— Drew Reeves (@DrewReevesTV) August 25, 2020
Silverman said:
“We have six to seven street racers doing donuts in a business parking lot. We have someone who was a victim of a hit and run and because they have dyslexia, they’re unable to fill out the online report, so they need an officer to come in person to take that.”
Chief Lovell added to the discussion by saying the the number of calls that go unanswered each night vary. He said:
“I’ve seen as many as 80 calls holding. We’ve had calls holding upward of 20-something hours depending on the staffing.”
He said that many patrol units are getting called to help with crowd control during protests and riots, which at times leaves only a handful of units able to respond to other calls. Lovell said that the resources are getting stretched thinner and thinner with more than 50 people retiring by the end of August.
Portland mayor and city commissioner launch full-blown assault against police, conservatives (op-ed)
The following editorial is written by a former police officer and current contributing staff writer to Law Enforcement Today.
—
PORTLAND, OR – We are in the midst of three straight months of rioting in Portland, Oregon.
Not “peaceful protests”: rioting.
During that three months, we did not hear the mayor, Ted Wheeler once condemn the violent protests. That is until this week.
What changed? This past Saturday there was a pro-police rally. Now Wheeler is all offended. What a gutless, spineless hypocrite. We’ll get back to Wheeler shortly.
Of course, Portland’s political class is full of gutless, spineless weasels. Take for example city commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. We’ve reported on her before. She is a radical, cop-hating shrew.
This past weekend, she issued another one of her mindless anti-cop, pro-anarchist rants. This time she quoted an article from a publication called Courthouse News.
The article alleges that police in Portland are arresting blacks at a disproportionate rate to other races in the Portland riots.
According to the article, police officials in Portland have arrested in excess of 550 people in Portland between May 29 and August 21. According to the outlet, blacks make up 11% of those arrested, which they say is double the rate of the black population of the city. Indeed according to statistics, blacks make up just under six percent of the city’s population.
This is of course assuming that only residents of Portland are attending the riots in the city, which is a stretch. However the article cites criminal justice “experts,” who claim that attendance by blacks at riots in Portland at a higher rate than their proportion of the city’s population doesn’t account for their increased likelihood of arrest.
“It is highly unlikely that a disparity this high is a result of composition of the protestors or criminal activity,” said Dr. Mark Leymon, who is a criminology professor at Portland State University in an interview. “Research shows that people of color are not more likely to commit crime, especially in this context.”
However, Bureau of Justice Statistics showed that in 2017, blacks accounted for 27% of arrests for all offenses, including 38% of violent crimes. If blacks offend at a higher rate than whites, or other races, the disparity in the number arrested in the Portland riots is easily explainable.
According to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, police arrested 429 whites, 61 blacks, 36 Hispanics, 11 Asian or Pacific Islanders and one Native American.
If you want to take this to an illogical conclusion, 2.5% of those the police arrested were Pacific Islanders, while the population of Portland is only 0.69% Pacific Islanders. Are the Portland police also targeting that demographic?
There’s nothing peaceful about BLM now, Sweetheart. They’re murdering people in the streets! I lay this squarely at the doorstep of JoAnn Hardesty because her inflammatory language and standing down the police as well as the removal of Chief Resch led directly to these savages. pic.twitter.com/mGSfrRf0HU
— Dean Burney (@BurneyDean) August 17, 2020
Leymon tries to make the claim that the arrests need to statistically match the demographics of the community, which is absurd. Of course, his suggestion? The Portland cops are racist.
“We know from research that people of color, especially black individuals are much more likely to be perceived as dangerous,” Leymon said. “And so they are more likely to be arrested for low-level criminal activity—frivolous things—or for no criminal activity at all.”
Yes, low-level crime—such as burning down buildings, throwing bricks, rocks and feces filled balloons at cops—you know, minor stuff.
The newly elected district attorney for Multnomah County, Mike Schmidt said that he would not prosecute the majority of protest arrests, but instead would focus on charges involving violence such as arson and assault.
Every night, again and again. Just a bunch of Punk ass Criminals looking for trouble. This is all on you Mayor Wheeler and city council JoAnn Hardesty and Gov. Brown. These Punks need a good Ass Kicking. More Cops-Less Crime. Let the PPB do their job. Clean up Portland NOW.💙🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/cleeRZygjU
— Blue (@BlueBrotherPain) August 19, 2020
Captain Tina Jones, spokeswoman for the Portland Police Bureau, said that the use of census data to measure race and compare that to the arrests made was disingenuous.
“It does not reflect the current composition of the city and does not take into account those who visit or work here,” she said in an email. “Arrests are made based upon probable cause for criminal acts.”
Hardesty is of course familiar to us at Law Enforcement Today. Earlier this month, we reported on a complaint filed by the Portland Police Association for abusing her oath of office.
Hardesty is basically a power-hungry tyrant who is on a power trip. She has demanded that Wheeler turn over his duties as police commissioner to Hardesty. A true legend in her own mind.
Hardesty in fact is so blind with faux rage over the death of George Floyd that she denies that the protesters who have been burning Portland nightly for three months even exist. In fact, she has blamed the police for “sending saboteurs and provocateurs into peaceful crowds.”
In other words, she’s a lunatic.
THIS is JoAnn Hardesty’s fault. Her inflammatory rhetoric and standing down of the police to placate her and Black Lives Matter has emboldened these Shitbirds to attack. The guy who keeps yelling “Black Lives Matter, N-world” is mentally ill. I think we can find these Shitbirds. pic.twitter.com/Pw1Etk3wJ0
— Dean Burney (@BurneyDean) August 17, 2020
Another lunatic in Portland is Wheeler. This past weekend, a counter-demonstration was held in downtown Portland which consisted of pro-police protesters, along with some other right-leaning groups such as the Proud Boys and Three Percenters militia group, with some wearing body armor and helmets.
Meanwhile, the Antifa mob, all dressed in black with helmets and face masks were also in the area. There was a large police presence in the area which consisted of representatives of some two dozen local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.
The gathering of the right-leaning groups was put out on social media for weeks. Wheeler, who has yet to speak out against the violent protests that have turned his city into Fallujah, was having none of the “right wing” groups coming into the city.
In the days leading up to the event said that “people who espoused hate ore engaged in violence were ‘not welcome.’”
Yes, he said that.
Antifa and the right-leaning groups were not the only ones who showed up on Saturday, with a group that attended a nearby prayer service holding up signs that said things such as, “No Trump, No NRA.”
Portland City Commissioner JoAnn Hardesty, who is trying to take over the Portland Police Bureau, blatantly lied that the attackers of the truck driver Adam Haner are not BLM…despite all the evidence proves BLM protesters were the vicious attackers.https://t.co/G2pPanIZhU
— Catt (@CattHarmony) August 23, 2020
Antifa had promised to confront the rally and leaders from some of the far right groups asked their followers to show up to protest the arrest of six members of such groups in the lead up to the event.
This brings us back to Wheeler. This feckless, incompetent clown has stood on the sidelines for months and not condemned the violence that has gutted a once beautiful city. Why? Because he’s evidently afraid of being “canceled.” Or maybe, he endorses the violence?
Anyway, he finally crawled out from under his rock this past weekend and condemned violence—no, not the Antifa violence. He condemned the “right wing” violence.
In a Facebook post, wacky Wheeler said:
“I vehemently oppose what the Proud Boys and those associated with them stand for, and I will not tolerate hate speech and the damage it does in our city (emphasis added). White nationalists, particularly those coming to our city armed, threaten the safety of Portlanders, and are not welcome here (Antifa however is welcome to torch the place). Regarding Saturday afternoon’s protest, I am closely reviewing and discussing with Chief Lovell Portland Police Bureau’s strategy to limit their intervention in the right-wing protests and counter-demonstrations. We will share more information with the public. We are at a critical place where police offices are needed to intervene in protests where police officer themselves are the flashpoint.”
You got that? Police need to get involved with protests only when they involve opposing factions, one of which is supportive of the police. As far as Antifa and BLM having daily competition to see how much damage they can do to the city?
No big deal apparently, at least according to Wheeler.
_
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