Portland,
I’m tired of writing these statements, and I know many of you are tired of reading them. (thread)
I’m tired of writing these statements, and I know many of you are tired of reading them. (thread)
It is particularly frustrating that even as a City Commissioner with a vision and ideas for re-imaging community safety that is driven by decades of personal experience and community engagement, our current form of government limits the power I have to execute them unless... 2/15
... the Mayor places PPB in my Portfolio. So, I am repeating what I said weeks ago: I am ready to lead the bureau and start working on solutions. I’ve spent 30 years on the work of police accountability and reform, and I am ready to step up to this monumental challenge. 3/15
The past 80+ days have laid bare the inequities and conflict deep in our city and across the country. People are angry and overwhelmed. We have seen too many Black people killed at the hands of police, and the nightly violence carried out... 4/15
..by police at protesters challenging police violence only adds more pain and trauma. We are experiencing the tension and pushback that comes with challenging the status quo. 5/15
We are seeing the dangerous effects of villainizing protesters – every night we see videos of police brutalizing protesters, last week a pipe bomb was thrown at protesters in Laurelhurst Park, and over this wkend a demonstration ended with a right-wing counter protester.. 6/15
shooting a gun towards protesters downtown. Just yesterday, a man wielding a baseball bat ran into multiple businesses displaying Black Lives Matter signs, threatening staff and ripping the signs off. 7/15
We also had incidents including the one over the weekend where a truck driver was beaten up after an altercation with a protester, or last night’s break-in and fires started at the Multnomah County building. 8/15
These actions are all inexcusable. I’m thankful that the Multnomah County building fire did not spread to damage the millions of pieces of PPE for the community to fight the COVID19 pandemic, but if it had, more harm would have been done to the community. 9/15
These fires also put my firefighters at risk and as the Commissioner in charge of Fire that is not acceptable. 10/15
As a child of the Civil Rights movement I have made my philosophy of non-violent direct action abundantly clear. I will consistently call out bad actors when I see them. While I call out PPB and condemn the nightly police violence... 11/15
... the pipe bomb thrown at protesters, and the gun shots towards protesters, I also condemn the small group of protesters’ last night at the MultCo building, and the several protesters who beat up the truck driver over the wkend. 12/15
We face an uphill battle to undo centuries of racist policies and governing and in absence of being Police Commissioner I will continue working with the community and my colleagues to build a future that is more just and safe for everyone. 13/15
That includes working with Commissioner Eudaly on a munitions ban, repeating the requests in my open letter to Chief Lovell regarding police conduct with protesters, and reviewing PPB’s budget in preparation for the Fall Budget Monitoring Process. 14/15
I know these issues are hard and messy, but I also believe in the power of Portlanders to bring about change and healing. Let’s keep moving forward together. 15/15
Important fact check: The statement includes "the [incident] where a truck driver was beaten up after an altercation with a protester" which has been proven false. The driver was attacked by several individuals not associated with the protests: kptv.com/news/they-were…
We're keeping the original thread up because public records law and transparency, but the full updated message can be found here: facebook.com/CommissionerHa…
