Weird, first tried getting here and got a page that said original server offline. Closed my iPad down and tried again…
This is from a close friend of mine
The horror of the Feds in Portland…firsthand report from a friend who works a night shift in the city.
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A true account of what is really going on in Downtown Portland.
“Peaceful Til It’s Not
I have never thought I would need a safety plan to get to or from work. I never thought my husband would worry about me going to work. I never thought I’d be so worried about who was behind me in my car and how long they’d been following me.
If you don’t know I work in the Justice Center in downtown Portland. Every night for the last 50+ nights there have been protests. I am all for peaceful protests but I put my foot down when it stops being peaceful. Rioters, looters, setting buildings on fire, all of these things are not ok and it’s not peaceful.
The building where I work has been set on fire multiple times with hundreds of people inside me included. Doors are blocked so there is no way out. Co-workers being followed home, harassed and our lives and our families lives threatened.
I normally keep quiet about this stuff but I am sick of seeing friends and loved ones repost things that aren’t true. Don’t be a reposting warrior and repost things if you don’t know the truth. News outlets aren’t posting the whole truth. And most reposts I see and very one sided.
Last night, July 20, I got a text from work saying “hundreds of protesters around the building. Call in before you try to enter.” My husband was worried and the closer I got to work the more my anxiety level rose. I made it in the building safe for my 16 hour shift that started at 11pm. I turned YouTube on to watch the live streams of what was going on outside our building. Multiple live streams where available to watch to get different perspectives. Protesters stayed peaceful till approximately midnight. No Portland police in sight. No federal police in sight, just protesters. Then it changed.
Rioters started banging on the federal building. It’s like they were taunting the Feds to see what they would do. Why else would someone start messing with a boarded up building? The banging and kicking turned in to pulling plywood off of the building. Not just a piece here or there. Large pieces of plywood to keep rioters out. This is not peaceful, this had turned into criminal activity. Once the rioters were able to see windows they started smashing the windows with fire extinguishers. Windows were broken and the Feds now had to take action. I honestly was surprised it took as long as it did for the Feds to come out and stop all the criminal activity. Good job on their part for holding back as long as they did!
Yes, the Feds used CS gas. Yes, they used other crowd control devices. Why wouldn’t they when their building has been broke into and burned? The Feds “fixed” the building and retreated back inside. An hour later (230am), fires were being lit on the doors of the building, at the base of trees, at the old elk statue, and around the Multnomah County Court house. To protect the people inside these buildings, the Feds came back out to put fires out and to arrest these criminals. A federal officer was ambushed and taken to the ground. Luckily he was able to get away. (You can see the video of this on Twitter)
The peaceful protesters, the “moms and dads” that were out earlier in the night, left around midnight when the criminal activity started. I wonder why?Maybe because it wasn’t peaceful anymore. The fires, looting and criminal activity lasted until 4 in the morning.
Portland Police’s hands are tied by the Mayor and other city officials. I can tell you that the police, both local and federal, want this to stop. They want to be home with their families. Their families want them home safe. Stop breaking in and burning the buildings and the police won’t have to get involved. I can tell you that we will not give up the Justice Center. The Feds will not “go home” and give up the court house. Portland Police won’t give up any of their precincts to criminals that want to burn them down. We are there to protect the buildings and everyone inside.
Yes, peaceful protests need to happen. Change needs to happen as well. Be a part of the solution, not part of the problem, and be willing to have conversations with the other side and honestly listen. What’s happening in Portland every night isn’t helping. Portland is a dump and I am not proud to say I grew up here.
Just like in every profession, there are a few bad apples. There are bad teachers, bad politicians, bad doctors, and, yes, bad officers. But like in every profession the good outweigh the bad.
The next time when you say F the Police, Defund the Police, ACAB, please think of A* and I. You can’t say these words and still be ok with being our friends or family. You can’t say these words then say, “Well, not you guys”. You can’t say these words and then say,
”We know you guys are good”. We won’t stand for it and we don’t need it in our lives.”
E. Torres
Saw several men today wearing those beard mesh things as masks. Lots just smiled at them.