...Poindextrous lefty Dem mayor of Portland, Oregon. Allowed a year and a half of Antifa/BLM riots to destroy downtown sections of his city while playing catch and release with the perpetrators and hamstringing his police. He got reelected in the course of all that because the alternative was worse...said in a presser Friday that Portland residents are fed up with the small group of "self-described anarchists" who are intent on property damage and destruction. He called on Portlanders to help police by reporting suspected vandals and noting their license plate numbers.
Over the last year, Wheeler has held numerous pressers like that one, condemning property damage and promising more action from the city.
But the Mayor said last week that the city is at a "turning point" as the group of people committing damage gets smaller and the city works to hold accountable those who do commit destruction. He said he was pushing for higher bail and pretrial restrictions for destructive protesters and that the Multnomah County District Attorney's office was reviewing some prior arrests that resulted in dropped charges to ensure that repeat offenders are held accountable.
The Portland City Council last week also approved $250,000 in new grants for businesses that have had their windows shattered or experienced property damage and reallocated $150,000 for additional graffiti removal.
"We're seeing law enforcement come together in ways they've not previously come together," Wheeler said. "We're putting those individuals who like to engage in this kind of criminal destruction and violence on notice that we're going to attempt to arrest them and hold them accountable."
Some business owners are unconvinced.
Noha Kassab, the owner of Kassab Jewelers, is in the process of filing a lawsuit against the City of Portland, alleging that the Portland Police Bureau and city politicians failed to protect downtown businesses during a May 30 riot last year. Kassab said her store lost $1.5 million in merchandise when it was looted during the riot.
While Kassab's two stores in Portland's suburbs are open, the downtown store has been closed and boarded up since last May's riot. Kassab said she was in the process of getting bids to replace several display cases that were smashed by looters in anticipation of potentially reopening a portion of her downtown store in the next several weeks.
But the recent incidents of property damage to businesses in downtown has prompted her to put those plans on hold.
Kassab said she no longer feels safe downtown. She faulted Wheeler for creating an environment in Portland over the last year where vandals and criminals feel as if they can cause destruction and damage without being held responsible.
"Wheeler is just all talk, no action," Kassab said. "He's the reason we're at this point. When you cultivate or tolerate an environment of lawlessness that's what you're going to get -- arson, looting, destroying property. I hope he gets out of the way and resigns."
Sturgeon said that there have been failures at multiple levels of government that have led to the continued destruction.
She said the city and the Police Bureau don't have the resources necessary to address the ongoing property destruction on their own and need more support from the state. She also faulted Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt for not doing more over the last year to ensure that offenders were held accountable.
Schmidt has charged nine people arrested during direct action marches over the last several weeks, including two individuals that damaged buildings downtown on April 16. Brent Weisberg, a spokesperson for the District Attorney's office, said the office is navigating a significant backlog of cases, which has been exacerbated by court closures due to the pandemic.
"It's the same group of 100 people committing crimes over and over again," Sturgeon said. "It's continued because they haven't been held accountable for their behavior."
