Another riot was declared last night in Portland. Meanwhile, local sheriff’s have rejected a call for Oregon Gov. Kate Brown seeking reinforcements to assist police in Portland. Not surprisingly, no one wants the job under current conditions. We’ll get to that in a moment but first here’s what happened last night.
The rioters returned to a high-rise condo where Mayor Ted Wheeler owns property and set off fireworks next to the building. I’m sure Mayor Wheeler’s neighbors are thrilled.
After the fireworks ended, the group set a large fire in the street. Then a few people began breaking into the lobby of a business on the ground floor of the building by smashing the glass with bats:
Another angle:
The rioters eventually pulled furniture out of the lobby and added it to the fire in the street. At this point police declared an unlawful assembly and ordered people to disperse. Moments later the police observed someone toss a flaming object inside the looted office.
According to the Oregonian, “the 16-story building contains 114 residences.” Obviously if a fire started on a ground floor that would be potentially deadly for everyone living above. So once the fire was set inside the building, police declared a riot, put out the fire and demanded the crowd leave the area. Rocks and other objects were thrown at the police and 19 arrests were made.
In case it’s not clear, these are not protests that get out of hand. The violence and destruction is the point. As this kid said last night, “We’re done being peaceful. This is a revolution.”
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