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Officer Violence, Tainted Milkshake Tweet Past violence by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) against demonstrators coming out to oppose neo-fascists in Portland (PPRs #72-77) was reflected again on June 29. While a variety of anti- fascist demonstrators created a positive, carnival-like atmosphere to stare down the hate, the PPB used pepper spray and pepper ball guns against crowds. There were some small disturbances and clashes, but numerous people who counter-protested did not witness any violence. The Bureau increased tensions by tweeting a rumor that vegan milkshakes provided by the group Pop Mob were tainted with quick drying cement. With no evidence the rumor was true, the Chief, the Mayor and the Mayor's police policy advisor, former Portland Police Association (PPA) President and PPB Captain Robert King, defended the fear-mongering. King called the tweet "responsible." One civilian-on-civilian act of violence recorded showed right-wing blogger Andy Ngo, who attends such gatherings to provoke leftists' anger, was punched. Ngo spun the attack into a media frenzy that capitalized on general fear of the anti-fascist movement ("Antifa") and the Bureau's nonsense milkshake tweet . Current PPA President Daryl Turner once again accused the Mayor and Chief of holding officers back from enforcing the law, implying they would have used more violence against the crowds if "allowed" to do so (also see Rapping Back, back page). Mayor Wheeler took time to call out the PPA's comments as false and misleading. Days after the protest, Portland Copwatch (PCW) posted a statement noting "when [Wheeler] says he condemns violence, it rings hollow when essentially saying the police get to decide how to attack demonstrators. The state, we've noted before, declares a monopoly on violence."
In late July, US Senator Ted Cruz and President Donald Trump started talking about labeling Antifa a "domestic terrorist organization." On August 8 PCW posted a statement which read in part: "We are very aware that efforts by the President and members of Congress to label Antifa as a criminal and/or 'terrorist' organization are unfounded and can only lead to criminalization of free speech and association. Portland Copwatch and its members stand against fascism." Prior to an August 17 far-right rally, the Mayor and Chief discouraged people from protesting. In a video, the Mayor said he would control the protests "by any means necessary," invoking the words of Malcolm X to excuse the projection of (white supremacist) state power. The Chief implied she asked the Governor to mobilize the National Guard. The day of the event saw militarized police who escorted the alt-right crowd over an otherwise closed bridge as other cops clamped down on anti- fascists. Read our whole statement at portlandcopwatch.org/antifa_solida rity.html. |
September, 2019
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#78 Table of Contents
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PCW also pointed out the Bureau
always tells community members "not to spread rumors and
assume wrongdoing after police shootings-- even as the facts have been harder to come by in the
last several years. If the PPB is going to ask for an 'innocent until proven guilty' standard for
themselves," we wrote, "surely at the very least any post about such rumors/suspicions can
be couched in terms such as 'allegedly' or 'suspected' rather than stated as facts." Fact-checking
site Snopes.com debunked the milkshake rumor, as well as local papers including Willamette
Week, which went so far as to literally mix quick-drying cement into milkshakes to see what
would happen ("Concrete Evidence," July 10).