House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made no public comment so far on the Inauguration Day protest violence by leftists in Portland and Seattle, but the same cannot be said of civil-rights lawyer Leo Terrell.
Mr. Terrell accused “Democrats and left-wingers” of a double standard over their reaction to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol versus Wednesday’s attack on an Immigration Customs and Enforcement facility in Portland as well as protest vandalism at a federal courthouse and businesses in Seattle, including smashed windows at the first Starbucks.
“I’m looking for the outrage. Where’s all the outrage from the left regarding what’s going on now? I don’t understand it,” the Los Angeles-based lawyer said on Fox News.
Mr. Terrell, a supporter of former President Trump, said there was a “passiveness [on] the rioting that’s going on in the Northwest,” which was carried out by crowds touting Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
The Capitol rioting spurred the second Trump impeachment and ignited widespread condemnation on the left and right, in large part because the mob sought to stop the 2020 election certification, while the months of protest violence in major U.S. cities over issues such as racism, capitalism, border policy and police conduct has been mainly denounced at the national level on the right.
Mr. Terrell challenged Democrats to speak out.
“It’s criminal conduct. They’re terrorists. What’s the difference?” he asked.
“Domestic terrorism is domestic terrorism regardless if it’s left or right, but the silence on the left — there’s no outrage, and that’s what disappoints Trump supporters,” he said. “They’re mad because there’s a double standard in this country based on race and skin color.”
Portland: Antifa came to riot at the local @ICEgov facility in coordinated attacks across the country. Federal police were prepared to protect the government property. Video by @Julio_Rosas11: pic.twitter.com/FQEslRahwN
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) January 21, 2021
At her Thursday press conference, Ms. Pelosi again decried the pro-Trump mob that descended on the Capitol, raising concerns about trauma to lawmakers and staffers over the attack that led to five deaths, including that of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.
She also defended the House vote to impeach Mr. Trump, saying that nobody should forget that “people died here on Jan. 6,” nor “the attempt to undermine our election, to undermine our democracy, to dishonor our Constitution.”
She made no mention of Wednesday’s violence by left-wing perpetrators, some of whom carried weapons including knives, Molotov cocktails, rocks and batons. Three of the eight suspects arrested in Portland were booked on charges of assault or attempted assault on a police officer, the department said.
Also vandalized was the Democratic Party of Oregon headquarters in Portland, where protesters smashed windows and spray-painted an anarchist “A” on the building, which the party addressed in a Wednesday statement.
“We’re frustrated and disappointed about the damage done to our Democratic Party of Oregon Headquarters in Portland this afternoon,” said the DPO. “We’re thankful that none of our staff were in the building at the time. This is not the first time our building has been vandalized during the past year – none of the prior incidents have deterred us from our important work to elect Democrats up and down the ballot, and this one will be no different.”
Protest violence spurred by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody has resulted in an estimated $1-2 billion in property damage and nearly 30 deaths, among them federal Officer David Patrick Underwood in Oakland and retired St. Louis Police Capt. David Dorn.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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