PORTLAND, OR – Too little, too late?
Oregon Governor Kate Brown has finally activated and deployed the National Guard to assist state, county, and city officers in handling protests and riots in and around Portland.
But that didn’t stop demonstrators from laying siege to a city commissioner’s home for the fourth night in a row and setting several fires at Portland city hall.
Screenshot courtesy of KGW8 Portland
On Thursday night, Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan’s home was again the target of protestors, evidently the fourth night in a row this has happened.
Thursday, things seemed to escalate further as more than 60 people gathered at a North Portland park, and then marched to the home, surrounding it and vandalizing his property.
Ryan’s home was hit with a bombardment of a burning road flare, paint-filled balloons, a window was broken, and several potted plants were broken.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) released a statement on the events:
“The Portland Police Bureau and Portland Fire & Rescue are actively investigating this alarming criminal activity that put an entire neighborhood at risk.
This is the fourth night in the past week Commissioner Ryan has had agitators cause both vandalism and disruption to his home and neighborhood.”
It appears the main point of anger for demonstrators was that Dan Ryan very vocally pushed for $15 to 18 million in cuts to the Portland Police Department budget, but then voted against the cuts. Protestors have steadily been calling for more than $50 million in cuts to the police budget.
Commissioner Ryan was interviewed on Portland’s KGW8 on Friday:
“It’s been difficult to look at. The sad thing is I was expecting it and was prepared. My fiancé and I were safe. And we’re in communication with our amazing neighbors on the block.”
Ryan was asked what he thought about the violence and destruction by protestors in Portland. He said he believed it was limited to a few people, but it was time to put a stop to it.
“I think it says very little about the big picture of Portland. It says a lot about a small group of people that are taking it upon themselves to ignite more stress during a very, very difficult time in our city. We have to call it out. We need common sense to take over and take our city back.”
At around 10 pm, emergency services dispatchers were called and informed that Portland city hall was on fire. Fire inspectors believe a burning object was thrown at the city hall front door or placed near the door. The fire was extinguished before it spread past the main entry doors.
Police and fire investigators are searching for the person or person who started the fire.
Mayor Ted Wheeler also spoke out on Friday:
“Last night’s criminal destruction, and attack on Commissioner Ryan’s home are reprehensible. Violence, criminal destruction and intimidation are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
Another city commissioner, Jo Ann Hardesty, also spoke with KGW8:
“Fighting for systemic change is messy and complicated, but what shouldn’t be complicated is recognizing when lines have been crossed, and that’s what happened last night.”
The week before, Jo Ann Hardesty expressed her views following the rejection of additional budget cuts for Portland Police, where she disagreed with Ryan’s change of heart:
“The people have spoken. And I’m pretty sure they’re just as disappointed as I am with the lack of courage in this historic moment where, just for a second, Black lives mattered in Portland.”
“We have to find ways to follow up on the $15 million cuts to the Portland Police budget with even more substantial cuts.” – Dan Ryan’s website https://t.co/4SzUKLd4pU
— Robin Castro (@Robin4PDX) November 6, 2020
Ryan explained his change of vote, showing a disagreement with Hardesty’s opinion of Portland residents:
“At a time when we have unprecedented crime, and upticks, and people aren’t feeling safe, it was very important not to make such a drastic cut. It didn’t pencil out. It made no sense and we heard from a lot of people who didn’t want this change at this time.”
Ryan also said the council has already cut $27 million from the police budget in the current fiscal year and he also wants to give the new police chief, Chuck Lovell, a chance to succeed.
Will Portland PD be saved? City council votes 3-2 against cutting $18 million from police budget
November 5, 2020
PORTLAND, OR – After a delay in the vote, the Portland City Council on Thursday voted against cutting an additional $18 million from the Portland Police Bureau budget.
In June, the Council had already stripped the bureau of $15 million in their budget, but some of the farthest left-leaning council members didn’t think that was enough.
Portland, Oregon rejects bid to cut $18M more from police https://t.co/k0VePuOQrw
— The Independent (@Independent) November 6, 2020
Just prior to the vote, Jo Ann Hardesty, who has been no friend to the police, said:
“Portland police have one basic job. It’s to solve crime, and they’re not that good at it.”
.@JoAnnPDX speaking on her proposal to cut $18 million in @PortlandPolice funding now.
Says, after losing $15 million in June, PPB is choosing not to solve crimes.
“Portland police have one basic job. It’s to solve crime, and they’re not that good at it.”
— Maggie Vespa (@Maggie_Vespa) November 5, 2020
Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Dan Ryan and Mayor Ted Wheeler were the three votes that blocked further funding cuts to the Bureau.
Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, who was recently voted out and will leave her position come January, joined Hardesty in her vote to cut the budget.
One of the banners carried at last night’s Portland antifa protest-turned-riot.
Photo: Dave Killen/Oregonian pic.twitter.com/5ZGMLzNyB2
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) November 5, 2020
Hardesty, continuing her disdain for police and pushing her Marxist Black Lives Matter agenda, said:
“So we’ll continue to talk about black lives, but we won’t actually do anything to make black lives better.”
Portland, Oregon Rejects Bid to Cut $18M More From Police https://t.co/moa4koTHUL pic.twitter.com/AEJah2azh8
— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) November 6, 2020
This, of course, also pushes the narrative that police make the quality of black people’s lives poor.
Hardesty’s plan was to reinvest the millions of dollars taken from the police budget and “new model” of public safety, which goes along with the term drummed up from the defund the police movement to “reimagine” policing.
Why do riots keep happening in Portland? 90% of protest-related criminal cases have been dropped by the District Attorney. Those cases include those accused of violent crimes. Michael Reinoehl, the antifa shooter, was one who had his charges dropped. https://t.co/UFPw98Tzt7
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) November 5, 2020
Prior to the vote, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell spoke avidly against the cuts to the bureau, saying they would be “detrimental” to public safety, especially during this time of unrest.
He said:
“An additional cut of $18 million would require significant layoffs and affect the police bureau’s ability to respond to 911 calls.
“In addition, the proposed budget reductions also will reduce training and diversity initiatives, increase response times, slow investigations, and challenge the police bureau’s ability to meet our community’s expectations and needs.”
Lest you think Mayor Wheeler (who was re-elected this week for another term against self-described Antifa member Sarah Iannorone) has had a change of heart regarding the police department, he has not.
He is still very much of the same anti-police mindset that he announced at the beginning of the social unrest in his city, which was, of course, following the death of George Floyd in police custody.
Portland City Council votes NOT to slash $18M from PPB https://t.co/nX5ZSkhKZs via @YouTube
— melissa jacobs (@deathrep) November 6, 2020
He simply wants to find a different way to “reimagine” policing. His statement on his reasons for voting against the budget cut, in part, read:
“The testimony we’ve heard is clear: the status quo is unacceptable. Many Portlanders, and most of the people who testified about this item, do not trust the current criminal legal system – they do not trust the Police Bureau.
“There are many ways to change the status quo – to stop the criminalization of the poor and those experiencing houselessness; to stop the over-policing of community members who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; to end the use of excessive force against those with physical disabilities or overcoming mental health issues.
“I am committed to preventing and interrupting these patterns of injustice.”
Meanwhile, the “unrest” in the city, which is more accurately described as domestic terrorism riots, as Law Enforcement Today has been reporting for nearly six months) rages on just about nightly.
Here is Mayor Wheeler’s full statement regarding his decision:
“I cannot support this amendment, and I’m going to vote against it, but I’m going to take a few minutes to explain why, because Portlanders deserve for this conversation to be transparent.
“In terms of process, and the integrity of our debates, I am very troubled that the proposal was not shared with our independent City Budget Office for review and analysis – they are our budget watchdog, and they weren’t given the chance to weigh in.
“Without their input, we were unable to nail down even basic facts about the proposal – for example, last week we heard that it won’t require layoffs, which is wrong. It will require layoffs.
This is not a detail. This is a critical piece of information. But at the end of the day, this is a discussion about values, not about process, so that’s where I want to focus my remarks.
“I am grateful to the many Portlanders who have written to my office, my colleagues’ offices, the City Budget Office, and the Portland Committee of Community-Engaged Policing.
“As Mayor, I have the responsibility and the privilege to hear and read this testimony, these deeply personal stories from residents of our city, and to learn more about the community work that is bringing people to the table.
“I have met, and continue to meet, with residents, local businesses, mission-driven organizations, and elected officials from Multnomah County, neighboring counties, the State, and the Federal government to learn, align, and coordinate our collective work to change the criminal legal system.
“The testimony we’ve heard is clear: the status quo is unacceptable. Many Portlanders, and most of the people who testified about this item, do not trust the current criminal legal system – they do not trust the Police Bureau.
“There are many ways to change the status quo – to stop the criminalization of the poor and those experiencing houselessness; to stop the over-policing of community members who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; to end the use of excessive force against those with physical disabilities or overcoming mental health issues.
“I am committed to preventing and interrupting these patterns of injustice.
“And I have been reflecting on a piece of testimony that quoted Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu: “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”
“We need to identify the root of our problems and identify and invest in upstream solutions.
“I believe we succeed in changing the status quo by continuing these conversations and phasing investments in a wide array of services, policies, programs, and skillsets that prevent and interrupt harm, and promote healing.
“I am grateful for all of the testimony we received – it will inform the execution of my 19-point police reform action plan and the City’s vision of a community safety system, and help us identify new onramps for community engagement.
“Again, I thank my colleagues for their commitment.
“Respectfully, I vote no on the amendment.”
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