Bat-wielding man terrorizes SE Portland businesses over Black Lives Matter signs, cops and shops say

[Nevilledog]

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/08/bat-wielding-man-terrorizes-se-portland-businesses-over-black-lives-matter-signs-cops-and-shops-say.html

A man wielding a baseball bat burst into several Southeast Portland businesses, ripped down Black Lives Matter signs and menaced employees and patrons alike, police, owners and the suspect told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Police arrested Eric Michael Potratz, 36, in one of the Monday attacks and said he had been fuming over videos that showed a man being beaten unconscious near a Black Lives Matter rally in Portland the night before.

Potratz snatched a pro-racial justice placard from the Screen Door on East Burnside Street near Southeast 23rd Avenue about 3:10 p.m. and hurled it at a Black man outside the restaurant, said police spokesman Officer Derek Carmon.

“He walked in with a bat, took down a sign and yelled at some people,” Carmon said. “He was upset about the man who was attacked downtown by who he believes were BLM protesters.”

*snip*

[llashram]

1. the protestors coulda been

RW agitators. With the proper pay and incentive, they come from all races and backgrounds. He was just a short-fused trump chump looking for a reason to act out his hate, I believe. Hope he's prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[Dream Girl]

2. They get worked up and enraged by right wing media and hate radio.

[CentralMass]

4. Ths protestors causing the late night trouble are not ringers.

They have been doing this for 83 straight nights.

[oasis]

3. Nutcases like this will be springing up everywhere after Trump's defeat

in November.


It would be wise to keep our heads on a swivel well into next year.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. I'm Optimistic Of The Opposite

I think the vast majority will slither back into their holes. The "emboldener in chief" will no longer be there to provide cover.

[oasis]

13. I get that the vast majority will slither back. It's the "dead ender"

Timothy Mcviegh types I'm worried about. I hope the FBI has at least been keeping up with their tracking of ultra right extremists under Atty.Gen. Wm. Barr.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. A Fair Concern!

That's a continuing threat, for sure. Borderline disturbed & a bad loser could be dangerous.

[Thunderbeast]

5. I AM losing patience with the vandals among the crowds

Last night, they broke into the County Office Building and set a fire. These are the offices charged with helping the poor and disabled. They burned the space where the first gay marriage was performed in the city. We were awakened by the police loudspeakers calling on the crowd to disperse.

The misguided vandals and rioters need to be stopped. The police have few options when protecting lives and property. It is inevitable that cops and protesters will suffer injury if this continues. I make no excuses for cops that "lose it" and instigate violence. They must act professionally. The rioters, whomever they are, need to be brought to account. Our community can not see our investments in public services burned in unrelated acts of rage.

[CentralMass]

9. +1

[gratuitous]

11. I agree

But I can't help but have my suspicions. The Portland Police have been pretty aggressive in the past in their reaction to peaceful demonstrators. They've shown very little compunction in gassing and shooting citizens with "less lethal" rounds, but somehow they are powerless in the face of violent window-breakers and would-be arsonists. Considering the cozy past relations between Portland Police and (for example) the Proud Boys, are the vandals being extended the same sufferance previously shown to white supremacists and nazis, and for the same reason?

At this point, I'm operating solely on gut-level suspicion, no facts or proof beyond past actions to back it up.

[CentralMass]

12. I live fairly close to Portland and have been watching the local news cover this for the last

80 + days. The late night trouble makers are not any of the groups you mentioned.
This group seems to come up a lot.
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/06/who-is-the-pnw-youth-liberation-front-at-the-center-of-recent-portland-protests.html

[bbernardini]

6. His Facebook post defending himself is priceless. And the comments are actually open.

https://m.facebook.com/story/graphql_permalink/?graphql_id=UzpfSTE2MTYzNDkxMjA6MTAyMjA2OTk5MjQ3NjA3ODY%3D

[MagickMuffin]

7. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, he wrote his phone number in his pity party post

And calling on gun owners to his rescue to defend his home!

Well Eric Potratz YOU are the one who started your own mission to be a jerk. Don't blame others for your ACTIONS, and don't ask other people to defend your ACTIONS.

[dalton99a]

8. Eric Michael Potratz, nutritional consultant

Specialty: Threaten random people with a baseball bat