Portland, Oregon has long been a hotspot of antifa violence, and that has only intensified in the months since the George Floyd protests began and were quickly turned into widespread riots, looting, arson, vandalism, and murder.
The situation became so bad that the Department of Homeland Security sent in federal law enforcement to protect federal property, particularly a federal courthouse that antifa and its cohorts in BLM were vandalizing and attempting to torch.
Instantly, the leftist narrative became that the violence in Portland was simply a reasonable reaction to “Trump’s stormtroopers.” And/or that Portland antifa violence was a “myth.”
Absolutely no one believed that for one second. Not the right, not the left, certainly not antifa and BLM who were well aware of their activities prior to the arrival of federal officers, but the lie kept getting told and retold.
So what happens when the federal law enforcement agrees to leaves Portland? Yep. More rioting, looting, arson, and mayhem.
Portland, Ore., police Chief Chuck Lovell on Wednesday morning decried violent instigators who he said are marring the message of mostly peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters.”Portlanders need to send a strong message that enough is enough,” Lovell told reporters at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, according to KGW-TV in Portland. “This is not forwarding the goals that are going to lead to better outcomes for people of color. This movement is really powerful, but the violence has taken away from it. … This is not what Portland is about. This is not what we need in our city.”The protests, which have sometimes turned into late-night riots focused on the Multnomah County Justice Center and the federal courthouse, have continued unabated for more than two months since the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.Lovell said there have been many large peaceful protests that required no police presence but the smaller offshoot actions — setting fires, breaking windows and throwing objects at police — are taking away from the larger message.Late Wednesday, Portland police declared a riot and said they believe an explosive device had been left outside a precinct. People were ordered to disperse, and some streets were closed.. . . . Downtown protests have become more peaceful since federal officers agreed to leave last week, so some instigators have moved to other police buildings across the city to cause problems.Early Wednesday, police had declared a riot and made three arrests after saying demonstrators set fires, erected barricades in a street and broke into the police union headquarters. Police said someone also fired a gun during the unrest and a pickup truck accelerated into the crowd while pushing an unoccupied motorcycle in front of it.Lovell wrote a New York Times op-ed Monday titled, “I’m the Police Chief in Portland. Violence Isn’t the Answer.”“As a Black man and a public servant, I see that spectacle is drowning out the voices that need to be heard to make positive change,” he wrote. “This violence is doing nothing to further the Black Lives Matter movement.”
Here’s a thought, instead of begging the instigators to stop instigating violence, how about arresting them? One by one, just get them off the streets. Repeat until law and order is restored.
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