By Steve Pomper
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was just reelected, as the alternative candidate, if you can believe it, was even worse than him. You’ll recall this anti-cop mayor. The one who refused to allow Portland police officers to respond to a 911 call (from a civilian employee) from the ICE facility when it was under attack by Antifa. Anyway, in September, the second worse mayor in America (he must thank de Blasio, daily), accidentally agreed to have Portland Police Officers federally deputized by the U.S. Marshals.
Wheeler allowed it because he thought the officers’ federal authority would be in effect for only one weekend. Also, because he’d planned to use it against members of the Proud Boys at an upcoming demonstration. This was despite Portland denying the group a permit because (I’m guessing they said this with a straight face) “the rally of right-wing groups would violate social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic” (insert rolling-on-the-floor-belly-laughing, here).
Well, Wheeler lost the argument, and Portland cops, deputization in tact, benefitted by being just a bit safer. But, remember, the radical side of the political aisle is no longer allowed to lose. They don’t believe in a representative democracy; they believe only in getting what they want, or they will, as they’ve promised, “burn it down.” Recent history has proven this true to an appalling degree.
So, officer and public safety be damned, “the Portland City Council unanimously approved a resolution… to restrict the actions of 56…” federally deputized police officers. Finally, something was actually being done after months of continual rioting. Yet, the council is still issuing ideological, pap statements such as, “We do not want to see dozens, hundreds of Portlanders who are exercising their freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech be arrested and charged with bogus federal crimes.” This came from the office of Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who “crafted” the new restrictions on deputized Portland cops.
No longer are we in the realm of debating political opponents; this is something different—something ugly and violent. Portland government is actively instituting policies and statutes that result in reduced public safety and bring harm to police officers. The proof is in the many reports of injuries to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers in the City of Portland. That city’s so-called leadership are purveyors of chaos.
What the new restrictions do, according to OregonLive, is limit law enforcement, not rioters. Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting, mostly peaceful protesters. No, the resolution restricts federally deputized officers only allowing them to make arrests under city and state law. Further, Portland police officers “shall not take any order, directive or assignment…[from the feds] for purposes of crowd control or demonstration responses….”
Though Portland officials tried, they could not thwart the feds entirely. Despite their best efforts, the feds can still protect Portland’s cops in spite of their city’s “leaders.” Federal prosecutors can still bring cases to charge and federally prosecute rioters who assault deputized Portland police officers.
This is astonishing. The federal government is showing more concern for Portland cops than the politicians who ostensibly hired them and who have abdicated their responsibility for enabling their public safety mission. Wheeler, Hardesty, and the other thugs pretending to be city leaders are an embarrassment. But, more importantly, Portland’s politicians are a menace to law enforcement officers who are trying to do a job that is not supposed to be mission impossible.