Police Declare Portland Protest A Riot, Mayor Ted Wheeler Tear-Gassed By Federal Agents

[Nevilledog]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/07/23/police-declare-portland-protest-a-riot-mayor-ted-wheeler-tear-gassed-by-federal-agents/

TOPLINE A riot was declared outside Portland’s Justice Center early on Thursday, with protesters ordered to clear the area immediately or face arrest and riot “control agents” including tear gas and “impact weapons,” as a federal crackdown on anti-racism protesters in the city intensifies.

KEY FACTS

The Portland Police Bureau tweeted in the early hours: “A riot has been declared outside the Justice Center. Disperse to the north and/or west. Disperse immediately.”

The bureau added: “Failure to adhere to this order may subject you to arrest or citation, or riot control agents, including, but not limited to, tear gas and/or impact weapons.”

The area covering SW 1st Ave to SW Broadway from SW Columbia to SW Harvey Milk was shut down, the police said, with protesters told again to “leave the area now.”

It comes after a group of mothers protesting federal agents in the city took to the streets for a fourth night, to voice their opposition to the Trump Administration's move to deploy federal agents to the city to intervene in the anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who has called for federal agents to leave the city, was hit with tear gas after meeting with protesters outside the federal courthouse.

The Democratic Mayor told New York Times correspondent Mike Baker: “I’m not going to lie—it stings, it’s hard to breathe . . . and I can tell you with 100% honesty, I saw nothing which provoked this response.”

*snip*

[triron]

1. The mayor needs to fire the police chief immediately.

[Nevilledog]

2. Agreed.

[Sherman A1]

6. Absolutely

If the Mayor was on the ground with in talks with the protestors and the police initiated the use of chemical agents I would think the conversation with the chief and the commander at the scene would likely be a rather tense one and I would hope a very short one starting with "clear out your desk tomorrow, you are terminated."

[MissB]

7. But... new police chief

So Portland has a new police chief. His predecessor stepped aside and suggested him as a replacement. She was a white woman and he’s Black. Once BLM really took off, she took over the job and then almost immediately stepped aside.

Systemic racism and poor action by the police shouldn’t allllll be at his feet.

And on edit: it wasn’t the Portland police that lit off the tear gas. It was the feds.

[Baclava]

3. Up in smoke

[MineralMan]

4. It has to suck being the head of a police department that

tear-gasses its own mayor, I'd think. Someone has been called into the Mayor's office to do some 'splaining, I'm betting.

That the Mayor was there seems to indicate that there wasn't much of a riot going on, I think.

[triron]

5. Have to agree with that assessmnt.

[MissB]

8. Mayor is the commissioner of the police bureau.

Note it was the feds that lit off the tear gas, not the local police. The local police are constrained from using tear gas in most circumstances.

[triron]

9. So mayor is police bureau commissioner? The point being?

[MissB]

10. I mean, he could call himself into the office

Or even the police chief. But it really doesn’t matter because the Portland police aren’t the ones that tear gassed the mayor last night. It was the feds.