Statement regarding Saturday's protest and police violence. (thread) 
Once again Portland is waking up to disturbing images following another night of protests. Our entire nation is grieving right now, and we need to heal. So, let me be clear, the solution to community members’ outrage over police violence is not to inflict further police violence.
It brings tears to my eyes knowing that young Portlanders are coming of age under this administration believing that when they speak out about police brutality, climate change, gun violence, they can expect to be met by armed police in military-style gear.
The impact this has on our children will last a lifetime. Instead, our youth should be taught that when they see injustice, they can proudly call it out and they will be listened to by their leaders and that the people charged to protect and serve them will do just that.
The response to destructive civil unrest is not to ban all peaceful protests. Curfews, pepper spray, and tear gas are not antidotes to outrage. We are better than this, Portland.
Our community needs to come together right now to mourn, to express our justifiable anger peacefully, and to be in community at a time in which so many of us are so hurt. Our city leadership must understand and ensure our safety in this time of need.
The morning after disruptive protests, I would have focused my outreach to faith leaders, community leaders, advocates, activists, and elders. Instead, the incumbent spent his time with the Portland Business Alliance and plotted vengeance against Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
I stand in the streets with peaceful protesters because I, too, desperately want justice for George Floyd. Those seeking justice for black lives are not opportunists or agitators, they are our neighbors. They are us.
I cannot express what a difference it would make for the Mayor of Portland to be visible and proud of standing with our community in mourning the victims of police violence at this critical time. Visible leadership is de-escalation.
The incumbent’s authoritarian-leaning tactics Saturday night of issuing a curfew, deploying violence against peaceful demonstrators, and rendering Portland a warzone to avoid protest is not only inhumane, but it is also costly.
In the midst of a pandemic, our dollars should be used in helping our community, not gassing it. We have seen no attempts at empathy, de-escalation, or accountability from the current administration.
We have seen no concern for the hundreds of unhoused people residing on the streets of downtown with no escape from the tear gas and sound cannons.
What we have seen is an ‘us vs them’ attitude perpetrated by the current mayor’s frustration toward his own community, which is simply not what we need if we are going to heal.
Portland needs a unifier who understands that if we spent more energy solving the underlying issues of institutional racism, lack of accountability, and displacement than we are on brutalizing those who speak out on such issues, we would have much better outcomes.
My daughter who like her Gen Y peers is passionate about eradicating racism in America chose to attend Saturday night’s protest. As a mother, I had serious misgivings about her attendance, not because I do not trust our community, but because I do not trust PPB to keep her safe.
I spent considerable time educating her about police tactics, warning signs that violence might erupt, and how to escape being tear-gassed, kettled, beaten, or arrested by Portland Police.
The incumbent mayor made a conscious choice in advance of Saturday’s peaceful gathering to escalate violence against hundreds of angry and grieving Portlanders just like my daughter by instituting an unconstitutional curfew to effectively ban their presence in our streets.
The Mayor then enforced that ban before it was even in effect with militarized tactics and indiscriminate weapons of war. We must put an end to the practice of pitting police against everyday Portlanders who simply seek justice.
I want to live in Portland where we can send our children to stand against racism and know that our public safety officers and resources will be deployed to support them, not harm them.
Were Portland a just city, when our officers are confronted with images of George Floyd getting his life squeezed out of him, they would join us in our grieving rather than being ordered to brutalize us.
Protests will continue in our city and across the country until our leaders address the problems of racism, police brutality, and white supremacy undergirding our society.
Our leaders cannot speak on these issues with any credibility while refusing to name the victims of police violence right here in Portland. We must dismantle the systems which uphold such atrocities and undermine accountability rather than banning peaceful protests.
We must seek justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Atatiana Jefferson. But also Quanice Hayes, Terrell Johnson, Kendra James, Keaton Otis, Aaron Campbell, Andre Gladen, and too many more.
More police violence will only beget more disturbances. If the City of Portland wants these protests to end, it must change course and deploy tactics proven to strengthen our civic fabric rather than destroy it.
