Portland leaders struggled for answers Tuesday after a night of rioting that reached new depths, including an attack by left-wing demonstrators on an occupied apartment building.
Mayor Ted Wheeler, who lives in the building, said the demonstrators were “terrorizing families with children,” and said it is ruining the racial justice message the protests sprang from. And he lashed out at community groups he said were condoning the violence, saying they’re fueling the unrest.
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell, meanwhile, blasted the city’s political leaders, saying they need to be the ones to “draw a line in the sand” on the violence.
He said Tuesday night’s mayhem was “another escalation” after months of growing violence.
Police say demonstrators smashed windows in buildings, gathered furniture then used it as kindling for their fire, which he said endangered the lives of those in the building. Police had to declare a riot and disperse the crowd after the fire was lit.
“The families that live inside have done absolutely nothing to provoke a threat to their lives,” Chief Lovell said in a statement.
He said his officers are stretched so thin in dealing with the near-nightly riots — chiefly from left-wing racial justice demonstrators — that they are not able to answer emergency calls. And he said gun violence is “skyrocketing” in the Oregon city.
“Our elected officials need to do their part to draw a line in the sand and to hold people accountable. The violent behavior must end,” he said.
Mr. Wheeler appeared to take his advice, issuing a lengthy statement denouncing violence and calling for a return to peaceful protests.
But Mr. Wheeler also drew an equivalence between the rioters and police, condemning one officer for being captured on video this week “repeatedly striking an individual at a protest.”
Andy Ngo, a right-wing journalist in Portland, took to Twitter to say the protester had pulled off the officer’s helmet and was resisting arrest.
The rioting in Portland has flummoxed the left-wing politicians who control the city government. They have blamed President Trump, outside agitators and police for the mayhem, but have been slow to blame the violent elements of the anti-police movement that are most closely linked to the nightly riots.
This weekend, which saw a Trump supported killed in the city, sparked a rethink from some officials.
Gov. Kate Brown, while still blaming Mr. Trump and praising protesters, said she wanted to surge police to quell the violence.
She asked neighboring counties to provide sheriff’s deputies to help alleviate the strain on Portland police.
Two sheriffs rebuffed her on Monday, saying they didn’t see an environment of support for police from political leaders.
One of the sheriffs took particular aim at Multnomah District Attorney Mike Schmidt, whose jurisdiction covers Portland, and who has announced a policy of not pursuing cases in many of the arrests stemming from riots.
Mr. Schmidt said last month that unless police connected rioting to a specific violent act against someone, he felt it was criminalizing speech to pursue charges such as resisting officers’ orders.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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