A mayor’s deflection
It’s hard to see the connection between what’s been happening this summer in Portland, Ore., and the death of George Floyd. What began as protests to end systemic racism have turned into a sustained premeditated campaign of looting, vandalism, arson, and direct assaults against the police. The violence reached its apex Aug. 29 when a man was shot dead in downtown Portland.
The victim’s political ideology is irrelevant. What matters is that a life was lost because anarchy has been allowed to prevail in the city. For three months, rioters — armed with rifles, bricks, mortars, M- 80 firecrackers, slingshots, sledgehammers, Molotov cocktails and their own fecal matter — have wreaked havoc on Portland.
Last month, protesters smashed the doors of the federal courthouse, covered its facade with graffiti and repeatedly tried to burn it to the ground. They successfully set fire to the police union headquarters. Public and private property damage is a daily occurrence, and business owners have collectively lost tens of millions of dollars due to lost sales, looting and vandalism.
As a response, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown have worked against their own law enforcement’s interests by restricting anti- riot tactics and by limiting the use of tear gas to disperse protesters.
At a press conference the morning after the deadly shooting, Mr. Wheeler scratched an itch that he could not resist. Instead of condemning those responsible for the chaos and violence in his city — including the suspect in the deadly shooting who, before his own death at the hands of federal agents, called himself “100% Antifa” — Mr. Wheeler went after President Donald Trump, highlighting the president’s character flaws that had nothing to do with the issue at hand:
“We learned early about your sexist attitudes toward women.” … “We’ve had to endure clips of you mocking a disabled man.”… “We’ve listened to your attacks on immigrants.”… “We’ve heard you say that John McCain wasn’t a hero.”
What does any of this have to do with the madness in Portland? What progressive- leaning mayors dare not say aloud — in fear of losing any future in the Democratic Party — is that the people responsible for the mayhem in American cities are not Trump supporters. Imagine for one second what the national conversation would be if it were right- wing militias burning minority- owned businesses and federal courthouses to the ground in cities across America?
Instead of the attack on Mr. Trump that we’ve heard a thousand times before, Mr. Wheeler could have asked some relevant questions, such as who exactly are these protesters for which violence has become a primary tactic? What are they demonstrating other than a reflexive hostility to anything federal and anything related to law enforcement? What efforts have been made by the protest leaders and city leaders to stop the violence?
Mr. Wheeler’s press conference was a blatant deflection from his own failures to protect people and property — his primary duties as an elected official. The mayor can blame Mr. Trump all he wants, but he is responsible for the lawlessness and impunity that reign in this overwhelmingly white and progressive city.