It’s not as if you hear much about it. It’s not good for the narrative. But that doesn’t do much to help the victims of the ongoing destruction in Portland.
A palpably angry Mayor Ted Wheeler today pledged a zero-tolerance policy toward property destruction by “violent antifa and anarchists… rampaging through Portland,” and demanded the Oregon Legislature increase criminal penalties for repeat vandalism offenders.
“My good-faith efforts at deescalation have been met with scorn by antifa and anarchists bent on destruction,” Wheeler said. “It’s time to push back harder.”
Wheeler’s “good faith efforts” are rather awkward at this point. When protesters came after him at his condo, he “apologized” for them.
“I want to express my sincere apologies for the damage to our home and the fear that you are experiencing due to my position,” according to a screenshot of the email sent to The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s unfair to all of you who have no role in politics or in my administration.”
Of course, he was running for his second term as mayor then, so perhaps he was less inclined to condemn rioters and destruction. But it’s hard to be quite so understanding of destruction without implicitly enabling it. But now that he’s been re-elected, and destruction persisting despite his channeling his inner Neville Chamberlain, he’s putting his foot down.
The Jan. 1 press conference followed a New Year’s Eve in which several dozen protesters shot fireworks at the Multnomah County Justice Center, riot police deployed tear gas at the small crowd, and masked rioters shattered windows in downtown Portland.
After all, what’s a New Year’s Eve during a pandemic if not an opportunity to riot and destroy? You probably heard about it, or at least saw the videos, right? Oh wait, there were no stories in the New York Times, no viral videos on social media. Odd, right?
In his remarks, Wheeler described the holiday vandalism as the last straw after a year of civil unrest, and pledged to “change the dynamic” in 2021. He expressed bafflement at the actions of protesters, apparently leftists, who repeatedly smash windows and spray-paint buildings after rallies where they demand a reduction of funding to the Police Bureau.
“Why? This is the hardest of all questions to answer. Why would a group of largely white, young and some middle-aged men destroy the livelihoods of others struggling to get by? It’s the height of selfishness.
When people took notice of what was happening in the Great Northwest and cities around the country, it was understood that it was “mostly peaceful” protest. And protest is our constitutional right, so surely this was a valid means of bringing about recognition of our social ills of racism and police abuse. But as some asked during the brief and shining moment anyone cared enough to ask, “what the hell is happening in Portland?” to what end?
“There are just some people on this planet who are bent on criminal destruction,” the mayor continued. “There are just some people who want to watch the world burn.”
There are people who protested with good intentions in the hope of bringing about what in their minds would prove positive change. As dumb as “defund police” might have been, it was not the product of malevolence, but of naivete and ignorance. They meant well, even if their idea of fixing very real problems was to do something very unreal.
Now that Ted Wheeler has suddenly grasped that these “largely white” groups of “antifa and anarchists” are doing actual harm to actual people who did nothing to harm anyone or deserve to be the facile victims of their mindless destruction, he’s become concerned.
Wheeler pledged to convene federal, state and local law enforcement “as soon as next week” to adopt a coordinated response to property destruction. He asked the Legislature to increase criminal penalties for people convicted of repeatedly damaging buildings.
And just like that, we’re right back to where we were before this started. Who would have guessed it would turn out this way?
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