Portland, OR has been the city that is most clearly showing signs of decline in the past several years. This once-safe and prosperous city is now a victim of high crime, Antifa is governing the streets and citizens live in terror. And in the midst of it of all, one man bears the lion’s share of the blame: Mayor Ted Wheeler.
In defiance of calls to abolish police funding, the Democrat intentionally allowed his community to decay. Far-left activists from all walks of the spectrum rule the streets, terrorizing residents. This has led to high business costs, including a recent anarchist rampage that caused half a million in damages. But for what?
…a violent mob of about 100 “anarchists” began running wild through the city, vandalizing walls, smashing windows, and setting fires at around 10 pm last Tuesday night. It caused $500,000 in damage. Police report that their officers could not act despite the chaos and were forced to watch their city fall to rioters by new laws.
That happened largely because Portland’s city government, chock full of brilliant strategists, passed a law that limited the ability of the police to disperse people participating in riotous behavior.
Maybe the aftermath of this attack may have given us some hope for some sort of mental health? Wheeler announced his desire to re-fund police and hire 300 additional officers. The program will include hiring officers who were fired in the last year. This is an acknowledgement of the failures of previous policies.
The City Council will be asked to approve a retirement-rehire program to allow officers to immediately start filling shifts.
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) October 30, 2021
That’s quite the turnaround for Wheeler. You may recall that this is the same guy who voted to disband the city’s gun violence reduction team last year in the wake of the George Floyd riots. It is because a city requires less policing for attempted and actual murderers. Portland’s murder rate has risen by over 80% in the last year.
The decision to increase the number of police officers can be seen as positive. Given the makeup of the city council, though, I wish Wheeler all the luck in the world because he’s going to need it. There is no indication that the council’s loony members will approve a plan to hire millions more officers. Given that, until voters in Portland actually wake up enough to enact change at the ballot box, they will continue to be run by radicals who do not care about the well-being of the city’s residents.
Antifa and other far-left terror groups in the city will not be stopped fighting. You can’t reason with these people. The only way to deter violence and rioting is by having a zero tolerance policy. Hiring more police may be a good start, but things won’t get better until those police are actually allowed to enforce the law.
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