National Review
Portland is ‘sick and tired’ of anarchist violence and destruction, officials say
Elected officials and community leaders in Portland, Oregon, came together on Monday to call for an end to the violence, destruction and intimidation by far-left anarchists who have spent nearly nine months wreaking havoc in the city amid protests against racism and police brutality . “The community is fed up with people engaging in criminal destruction and violence in the guise of some noble cause,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said during a news conference, according to the Associated Press. Although the city was the scene of a series of peaceful protests after the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by Minneapolis police during his arrest in May, officials say small groups of anarchists continued to break business windows, threaten residents and assaulting police officers. “Poorly oriented and ill-educated anarchists reject civility and instead intentionally create chaos through destructive criminal behavior that destroys our city. This should stop, ”said former state senator Avel Gordly. “I tell them today, ‘Stop, you are not helping, you are harming black people,’ added Gordly, the first black woman to be elected to the Oregon State Senate. Federal Court Mark O. Hatfield was the site of nightly clashes between protesters and the police last spring and the violence has increased again in recent weeks. Federal officials were stationed in front of the building for much of the summer, but were removed at the behest of local and state officials. Wheeler was forced to move out of his Portland building after protesters set fire to the building’s lobby over the summer. The Justice Department paid more than $ 1.5 million to repair the damage done to the court in the months of unrest, according to the Oregonian. Municipal police spent nearly $ 8 million responding to the disturbances, making more than 900 arrests in 120 consecutive days of unrest. “People who work here support the voices of racial and social justice and will not be intimidated by doing our job for ugly graffiti or broken windows,” said Scott Erik Asphaug, US attorney for the District of Oregon. “We don’t confuse the voices of the many with the screams of the few who hope to hold our city hostage to petty crimes and violence.” The fence surrounding the building was removed last week, but was later re-installed on Sunday after protesters set fire to it, smashed windows and spray-painted the federal court. The fence was rebuilt at the end of another destructive week for the city: protesters broke windows and marked buildings in the city center with anti-government and anti-police feelings on Thursday. The next day, about 100 people marched through the Pearl district, breaking windows and blocking the street. The policemen used “kettling” – the action of creating a perimeter around the protesters and detaining people – while some rebels threw stones at the policemen. Police said they had recovered items left behind by the group, including a crowbar, hammers, bear spray, rock bullet, high-impact slingshot and knives. At least 13 people have been charged with crimes. “I want to make it clear that this was not a protest group,” said Chris Davis, an assistant to the Portland police chief. “This was a group of people who came to believe that they have the right to damage other people’s property, threaten members of the community and assault police officers.” The police said the protesters were the same group they had faced in the past nine months: the “self-styled anarchist left” made up mainly of young whites.