(TargetLiberty.org) – The Democrat mayor of Portland, OR, seems to have finally realized the violence that’s been tearing his city apart for two months can’t go on. Less than two weeks ago, Mayor Ted Wheeler was boasting on Twitter, saying he would refuse to meet with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials if they asked to talk to him.
A number of people have asked if I know DHS leadership is in town, and if I’m going to meet with them. We’re aware that they’re here. We wish they weren’t. We haven’t been invited to meet with them, and if we were , we would decline.
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) July 16, 2020
Just last Thursday, July 23, the mayor told CNN, “I have no reason to reach them. My demands are clear. I want them to leave.” Now, it looks like reality has caught up with him.
Commissioner @JoAnnPDX and I are calling for an immediate meeting with Department of Homeland Security leadership on the ground in Portland and with Acting Secretary @DHS_Wolf to discuss a cease-fire and the removal of heightened federal forces from Portland.
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) July 28, 2020
Wheeler has faced growing criticism for allowing riots and property destruction – which the mayor’s own figures say has already cost local businesses $23 million – to continue unchecked. He only got involved when DHS agents arrived to protect federal buildings Wheeler’s inaction had left exposed to the mobs. Even then, his response was to complain about the DHS agents being there.
It’s unclear why Wheeler now wants to negotiate what he calls a “ceasefire” between law enforcement and criminals. It might be Monday’s reports that the DHS is mobilizing another 100 agents to fight the violence in Portland. Or, it might be the fact he was booed and jostled by rioters when he went to visit them last week. Whatever the case is, maybe the Portland mayor is finally coming to his senses.
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