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Looting and violence continued in Portland Monday night following Mayor Ted Wheeler’s latest refusal of President Donald Trump’s offer of federal assistance to help reign in the lawlessness.
Video clips posted to social media by independent journalist Andy Ngo and others show looters “calmly” breaking into and looting, as well as defacing, Portland businesses while others show crowds of rioters setting off commercial-grade fireworks in front of the apartment complex where Wheeler lives.
In one video posted by Ngo, looters nonchalantly stole items from what he described as “a random business” they later used to start fires in the streets, as music plays in the background.
“Earlier in the night in Portland, antifa rioters calmly smashed up a random business to protest police & @tedwheeler . They stole furniture from inside to use as tinder for their fire. They then set the office’s lobby on fire,” he wrote in the post.
Earlier in the night in Portland, antifa rioters calmly smashed up a random business to protest police & @tedwheeler. They stole furniture from inside to use as tinder for their fire. They then set the office’s lobby on fire. #PortlandsRiots https://t.co/b7rNvAEqNn
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 1, 2020
The video was accompanied by a graphic, “Rose City’s Media on Facebook.”
Portland protestors light fireworks outside of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s condo on his birthday, as they march through downtown demanding he resign pic.twitter.com/aCbC9R6LOj
— Faiz Siddiqui (@faizsays) September 1, 2020
**Warning: Strong language
Some in the crowd broke windows and someone appears to have lit off a firework in the building. Some protesters are upset about this, saying it endangers the people in the building and minority-owned businesses in the complex. Police are now coming pic.twitter.com/zU6c8vuGrw
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) September 1, 2020
This was the arson fire that prompted a riot declaration tonight. It was critical to secure the area to allow firefighters to respond to this dangerous situation. https://t.co/k33vcLD4BY
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) September 1, 2020
This was the situation in front of a condo believed to be the mayor’s just prior to the riot declaration in Portland tonight pic.twitter.com/r5Ng3NLefy
— Faiz Siddiqui (@faizsays) September 1, 2020
Rioters set more business property on fire in downtown Portland. #Antifa #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/lUSB1WgW5E
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 1, 2020
Portland Police declare a riot after #antifa rioters break into a dentist office near @tedwheeler’s condo & set it on fire. Police finally rush in & make arrests. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/gLdRP47Kuy
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 1, 2020
Using bats, antifa black bloc rioters are smashing up property around @tedwheeler’s Portland condo. There have been no police at all tonight per Wheeler’s directive of “deescalation.” #PortlandRiots #antifa https://t.co/D0RtQtGL6j
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 1, 2020
On Saturday, a member of the conservative Patriot Prayer organization was gunned down, execution-style, on a street in downtown Portland in front of a friend and fellow group member who said both of them were “hunted down.”
‘They hunted us down’: Fellow Patriot Prayer member describes ‘execution’ of Trump supporter, calls on Trump to send ‘troops’ https://t.co/8ay3CgWunT
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) August 31, 2020
Monday’s anarchy comes after Wheeler last week once again refused federal assistance to help quell the outrageous lawlessness and violence in his city, which has dragged on for more than three months.
As for the shooting, Wheeler blamed the president — not his policies of restraint or the fact that the county district attorney is a Leftist who won’t prosecute the vast majority of rioters — for the ongoing violence.
“Do you seriously wonder, Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence?…you bring no peace. You bring no respect to our democracy,” he said during a press conference.
Video of @tedwheeler blaming @realDonaldTrump for the riots, "hate," and "division": "Do you seriously wonder, Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence?…you bring no peace. You bring no respect to our democracy." pic.twitter.com/oKnO4piomT
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 30, 2020
But Wheeler’s time to handle things in Portland may be running out.
A letter from acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to the mayor over the weekend sent an ultimatum of sorts: Either Wheeler handles the situation and brings an end to the anarchy or the Trump administration will do so in order to protect American citizens who just happen to live in Portland.
“I urge you to prioritize public safety and to request federal assistance to restore law and order in Portland,” Wolf wrote in the letter dated Aug. 31.
“We are standing by to support Portland. At the same time, President Trump has made it abundantly clear that there will come a point when state and local officials fail to protect its citizens from violence, the federal government will have no choice but to protect our American citizens,” the letter added.
For his part, the president has also indicated that the federal government is ready to act.
“Ted Wheeler, the wacky Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Mayor of Portland, who has watched great death and destruction of his City during his tenure, thinks this lawless situation should go on forever. Wrong! Portland will never recover with a fool for a Mayor,” the president tweeted Sunday.
“He tried mixing with the Agitators and Anarchists and they mocked him,” the president continued. “He would like to blame me and the Federal Government for going in, but he hasn’t seen anything yet We have only been there with a small group to defend our U.S. Courthouse, because he couldn’t do it.”
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Jon@bizpacreview.com
Jon is a staff writer for BizPac Review with 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.
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