Roy Exum
I have always disliked the “I told you so” crowd but after I wrote a story on Chattanoogan.com for Sunday, labeling the City of Portland, Oregon, as a “National Embarrassment,” it was a foregone conclusion what would happen once the West Coast darkness fell over a city within our United States on Saturday night – this long hours after my story was written.
Last Thursday the Portland district attorney, Mike Schmidt, announced his office recognizes the outrage and frustration over a history of racial injustice that has led to the city’s often violent protests and the practical realities of the court system.
Further, he said, Multnomah County is running more than two months behind in processing cases because of COVID-19.
According to an Associated Press dispatch, “As a result, at least several hundred people arrested since late May will not face criminal prosecution, according to statistics provided by Schmidt’s office. The same no-prosecution policy applies to those arrested on similar charges in future demonstrations, he said. “The protesters are angry … and deeply frustrated with what they perceive to be structural inequities in our basic social fabric. And this frustration can escalate to levels that violate the law,” Schmidt said.
The day after Schmidt’s blatant disregard for the United States Constitution and his obviously ignoring his personal oath to uphold the law, Oregon’s State Police (state troopers) also had an announcement. As I reported in yesterday’s story, “Timothy Fox, a spokesman for the Oregon State Police as well as a captain in its ranks, was tight-lipped when he told reporters on Friday, ‘We are in a county (Multnomah) that is not going to prosecute this criminal behavior.’ Capt. Fox explained the State Police ‘is constantly reassessing our resources and the needs of our partner agencies and at this time we are inclined to move those resources back to counties where prosecution of criminal activities is still a priority.’”
With the State Police gone and the Portland Police Bureau (Department) unable to issue valid citations, what do you think would occur in Portland Saturday night? On the 80th straight day of rioting, this is the official report from the Portland Police Bureau website:
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PEOPLE ASSAULT POLICE WITH PROJECTILES CAUSING INJURIES – ARRESTS.
(An official statement from the Portland Police Bureau)
On August 15, 2020, a crowd of people gathered at Laurelhurst Park. At about 9:10 p.m., the crowd of hundreds walked, blocking traffic on city streets, to the Penumbra Kelly Building in the 4700 block of East Burnside Street. As the crowd gathered it blocked all lanes of East Burnside Street from Northeast 47th Avenue to Northeast 50th Avenue.
At about 9:30 p.m., Portland Police gave public address announcements reminding the crowd not to engage in violence, criminal activity, or trespass on the Penumbra Kelly Building property. The announcements included warnings that people who commit crimes may be subject to arrest or force, including crowd control munitions, pepper spray and tear gas. The crowd continued blocking the street, chanting, and socializing for almost two hours.
Some of the crowd chants included, "Kill a cop, save a life", "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! If we don't get it, burn it down!"
At about 11:17 p.m., officers reported members of the crowd were launching mortars at the police and cars well back in the Penumbra Kelly Building parking lot, followed by thrown objects. People began to trespass on the property. Portland Police gave public address announcements directing people to stay off the property, which was closed to the public. At about 11:35 p.m., people approached the front doors of the Penumbra Kelly Building, trespassing on the property.
People in the crowd continually threw large river rocks at officers. Portland Police gave more announcements and force warnings. For the next 20 minutes people in the crowd increased their violent actions toward police officers who were standing behind cars 50 feet or more away from the crowd. Officers reported having rocks, frozen eggs, glass bottles, and frozen water bottles thrown at them. Officers reported people were shining green lasers at them, which is against the law in Oregon. Somebody spray painted over a security camera on the Penumbra Kelly Building.
During this time period a group of about 50 people walked east on East Burnside Street, arguing with each other. As they did vehicle and pedestrian traffic had to turn to avoid them. They stopped near a shopping center near Southeast 55th Avenue and argued loudly for a short period of time, eventually breaking up.
Portland Police gave more public address announcements warning the crowd that due to the large number of people acting out violently, trespassing, and damaging property, individuals may be subject to arrest, or the use of force. The criminal behavior continued. At about 11:57 p.m., the crowd had engaged in violent, tumultuous conduct creating grave risk of causing public alarm for a sustained period of time; the crowd was rioting.
Portland Police announced to the crowd that its conduct constituted a riot and ordered people to leave to the west. People in the crowd persisted in throwing rocks and other objects. At about 12:01 a.m., Portland Police moved the crowd to the west, made some arrests, and moved many people all the way back to Laurelhurst Park. People threw objects at police. At about 12:20 a.m., many people entered the park, which is closed after midnight. Police disengaged, then returned to the Penumbra Kelly Building, allowing people to make the decision to act lawfully.
Instead, a large group of people formed up and walked east, blocking city streets, back toward the Penumbra Kelly Building. By about 12:30 a.m., around two hundred people arrived at the Penumbra Kelly Building. Portland Police gave announcements as before. People began throwing rocks, glass bottles and other objects at police who were standing back in the parking lot.
At about 12:36 a.m., Portland Police began moving the crowd to the west as before. This went on for about 20 minutes. Police made more arrests. During this time people in the crowd mingled with those with "press" written on their outer garments as cover and threw rocks and bottles at police.
People with "press" written on their outer garments also threw objects at police. Somebody threw a rock, which broke a window in the vehicle giving public address announcements. Others pelted the same vehicle with rocks causing dents. Other vehicles were dented by thrown objects. At least one car parked along a street had windows broken out when a rock or rocks thrown at police, missed them and struck the car windows.
At about 12:56 a.m., Portland Police decided to disengage again from the crowd again to see if individuals would decide on their own to act peacefully and lawfully. Slowly, some of the crowd dissipated, but small clusters remained in the area and periodically threw rocks at police and their vehicles either in the parking lot of the Penumbra Kelly Building or in the street. By 1:45 a.m., there were still about 75-100 people still standing in the middle of East Burnside Street facing the Penumbra Kelly Building and occasionally throwing things.
Over the next hour, most people wandered off. A group of about 20 remained late into the morning blocking East Burnside Street at Northeast 50th Avenue, standing around a dumpster in which they ignited a fire.
Portland Fire & Rescue treated two Portland Police members injured by rocks thrown by individuals in the crowd. Both of them went to the hospital for further treatment. One of the rocks weighed 9.5 pounds and was thrown by a person in group of people wearing "press" as the officer prepared to ride away on a truck.
Portland Police did not deploy CS gas but did deploy smoke.
At the time of this release over 60 calls for police service were holding around the city. Some had been holding for the length of the events described here. Call types ranged from theft, vandalism, suspicious activity, hazards, hit and run, burglary, violation of restraining order, alarms, stolen cars, harassment, and many others.
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WHILE THIS WAS GOING ON IN PORTLAND …
* -- FROM THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER: “Cincinnati joins cities such as Detroit, Chicago, and Minneapolis in having more than one mass shooting on a single day in 2020, following an outbreak of shootings in the dark hours of Sunday morning. Four people were dead and 17 wounded in four separate shootings Sunday, according to city police and the Hamilton County coroner. Police identified four of the victims as part of three separate shootings. No one had been arrested by 4 p.m. Sunday. Police Chief Eliot K. Isaac said in a statement released Sunday afternoon, "Enough is enough! We must not sit by silently and say we can't do anything to end gun violence. We all have a moral obligation to stop the violence and stop the killing in our communities.”
* -- FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “Peaceful demonstrations in downtown Chicago ended in a violent clash between police and protesters Saturday, leaving 17 officers injured and two dozen people arrested. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said that the day’s five-mile march began peacefully, but that a separate rally later in the afternoon provoked police to deploy pepper spray and led to 24 arrests, including four felonies for aggravated battery of an officer.”
* -- FROM THE ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION: “Protesters from the left and right ends of America’s political divide squared off for hours Saturday in the city of Stone Mountain arguing, and at times fighting, over race, politics and the massive granite carving of Confederate leaders in the adjacent state park. The protest drew dozens of heavily armed private militias from around the state, neighboring states, and as far away as Arkansas. They were motivated by the taunting of the leader of an all-black militia who marched on Stone Mountain Park July 4, but they also expressed their rage over the removal of Confederate monuments, shared conspiracy theories, and voiced their support of President Donald Trump.
* -- FROM ONE AMERICAN NEWS NETWORK: “Cities across the nation have been spending millions of dollars to repair the damages incurred during ongoing riots and demonstrations. Already debt-ridden from the economic impact of the coronavirus, cities are now feeling the massive financial burden of these protests, which were sparked by the death of George Floyd. In Minneapolis, where the riots first began in May, total damages could cost the city as much as $500 million. In Chicago, property damages alone were estimated to be worth approximately $20 million. Portland, Oregon has seen similar issues. Dozens of nights of protests and riots have cost the city around $23 million in total damages. The total cost of these riots nationwide is reportedly expected to exceed that of any demonstration in American history, including the $1.4 billion recovery from the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
* -- FROM THEHILL.COM: “In Kalamazoo, Mich., the alt-right organization Proud Boys held a rally in support of police and faced off with the anti-fascist Michigan People’s Defense League and others. As the clashes mounted, police worked to disperse the crowd, and Kalamazoo Public Safety said in a statement obtained by Reuters that officers made several arrests. CNN affiliate station WOOD reported that the demonstrators were "punching, kicking and even pepper-spraying one another. Once the event turned violent, the officers responded quickly and restored order," Kalamazoo Public Safety said in a statement obtained by CNN. The statement said police declared "a police zone and dispersed the crowds." (The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies Proud Boys as a hate group, and Facebook has banned the organization.)
* -- FROM THE NEW YORK POST – “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday refused to condemn Black Lives Matter protesters who demanded White folks “give up their homes,” instead saying there is a need to “establish just policies and address the core issues of brutality in order for us to come together.”
The Democratic socialist made her remarks Saturday during a stop at the Woodside Houses, a NYCHA housing complex in Queens, where she greeted residents and spoke to locals and reporters. “Since this is happening in Seattle, I don’t have as close of a view on what’s happening. Of course I represent New York’s 14th Congressional District, so I don’t know the details of the protests that are going on, but I think what’s really important is that we make sure people are safe and it’s important for us to enact legislation and policy that actually addresses the core reasons behind why all of this kind of disruption is happening,” AOC said, adding, “until we do that, this is going to keep occurring, whether we want it to or not.”
She said her message is that it’s “extremely important that we establish just policies and address the core issues of brutality in order for us to come together.”
The firebrand progressive also fought off talk of a potential run for president. “Everyone leave me alone,” AOC scolded. “I am focused on making sure that we preserve our democracy so that we can make sure there is a fair and just 2024 election at all, so I never want to hear anything about an election after November right now.”
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* -- “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.” -- Theodore Roosevelt
* -- “If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.” -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
* -- “Violence sends deep roots into the heart, it has no seasons, it is always ripe, evergreen.” -- Pat Conroy
* -- “Great anger and violence can never build a nation.” -- Nelson Mandela
* -- “the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 26, 26:52): "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." – The Gospel of Matthew, 26:52
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