A few days after the drug overdose death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody, violence broke out in Portland, Oregon. It has continued essentially unabated since then.
Fred Lucas of the Daily Signal notes,
Residents of the Portland area have “become accustomed to chaos,” says William Deatherage, 22, a recent college graduate who has lived in a suburb of the Oregon city since he was 5 years old.
“It’s safe during the day, but with all the litter and graffiti and statues torn down, I don’t even like to go there anymore,” Deatherage told The Daily Signal. “It’s not the city I grew up knowing.”
At first, a few windows were broken and a courthouse had graffiti spray painted on it. The vandalizing of government buildings continued during the first week of violence.
With the dawning of the second week, the rioters, many apparently identifying with the Black Lives Matter movement, upped their game. In addition to spray painting graffiti and breaking windows, they now started destroying fencing around various government buildings.
This continued for a couple of weeks. The next ratcheting up move by these terrorists was to attempt to shine commercial grade lasers into the eyes of police officers. This was in addition to all the other things they were doing. As many people know, one could actually be blinded by these lasers.
During all of this nary an arrest was made. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler had ordered the police to stand down.
In retrospect this was clearly a step-by-step escalation in violence by the anarchists leading the riots. There is little doubt that this could have been stopped by the beginning of June if the mayor had allowed the police to do their job. The anarchists were trying to see just how far they could go breaking the law without the police responding. They were attempting to normalize violence in the minds of the public.
When July rolled around, another escalation took place. The rioters blocked access to the courthouse and refused to vacate the area when ordered to do so by law enforcement. Instead they threw objects at police officers and launched fireworks at and into the courthouse in an attempt to burn it down. In addition, at least one rioter attempted to run down a Portland police officer with his car.
It was at this point that the rioters started setting fires at various locations in the city. Police officers started being injured. This led to the arrest of a couple of people including one individual who appeared to be carrying a pipe bomb.
As a result of the arrests, July 7th was declared a “Night of Rage” by the rioters. According to DHS, a mob of some 500 terrorists assaulted officers with rocks and bottles. Injuries to officers continued to climb.
Finally the federal government stepped in to protect federal property. Acting DHS Secretary Wolf called out state and local leaders for trying to blame law enforcement for the problems seen in Portland.
Wolf said,
This failed response has only emboldened the violent mob as it escalates violence day after day. This siege can end if state and local officials decide to take appropriate action instead of refusing to enforce the law. DHS will not abdicate its solemn duty to protect federal facilities and those within them.
As the days of July grew to double digits, arrests for assaulting officers climbed. Rioters were now carrying hammers, tasers, stun guns and other instruments of violence. Flaming debris was being launched at officers. The rioters threatened to burn down a Portland police precinct.
At this point the situation has escalated beyond the ability of Mayor Wheeler to control. Arrests of violent agitators early in June could have helped to tamp down the violence that we are now seeing. Anyone who objectively looks this now can see the steady escalation that has taken place.
Now that the federal government has taken steps to protect federal property, supposedly it is responsible for the tense situation in the city. This is laughable. Wheeler has completely lost control of his city. This is his doing and his alone. The anarchists have taken over.
This is a practice run for doing this in other cities led by Democrats. Just as Ferguson and Baltimore were practice runs for the Floyd riots, this is a practice run for creating chaos in cities nationwide. When will it come to a city near you?