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BIDEN AND MAYOR BLAME TRUMP FOR PORTLAND KILLING. Former Vice President Joe Biden had made his most extensive statement yet on the violence and unrest in Portland and some other cities around the country. His conclusion: It’s all President Trump’s fault. When a Trump supporter shoots a rioter in Kenosha, Wisconsin, it’s Trump’s fault. When a rioter shoots a Trump supporter in Portland, it’s Trump’s fault. And in that latter case, Biden suggested, the victim was asking for it.
Biden began with a general condemnation of the Portland killing. “The deadly violence we saw…in Portland is unacceptable,” he said. “I condemn this violence unequivocally. I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right. And I challenge Donald Trump to do the same.”
But Biden did not just condemn the violence. He condemned the “incitement of hate and resentment” that led to the violence. “It is not a peaceful protest when you go out spoiling for a fight,” he said after a caravan of Trump supporters attempted to drive through downtown Portland. “What does President Trump think will happen when he continues to insist on fanning the flames of hate and division in our society and using the politics of fear to whip up his supporters?”
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Just to be clear — the shooting in Portland that Biden was condemning was not done by a Trump supporter. This is how the Oregonian described the man under investigation for the shooting: “Michael Forest Reinoehl calls himself an anti-fascist and has posted videos and photos of demonstrations he attended since late June, accompanied by the hashtags #blacklivesmatter, #anewnation and #breonnataylor.” In June, he wrote “I am 100% ANTIFA all the way!…Today’s protesters and antifa are my brothers in arms.” That is not exactly the profile of a Trump supporter.
Meanwhile, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler revealed his plan for stopping the violence that has wracked his city. It’s simple: Get rid of Trump. “You’ve tried to divide us more than any other figure in modern history,” Wheeler said to the president in a news conference Sunday. “And now, you want me to stop the violence that you helped create. What America needs is for you to be stopped so that we can come back together as one America.”
Beyond posturing, Wheeler appeared to have no idea what to do about the violence. When asked what specific steps he is taking to deal with the unrest, Wheeler said that he is implementing his “19-point plan to achieve racial justice.” That includes, Wheeler said, “reducing programs within the Police Bureau that were seen as biased…reinvest[ing] in the community…and re-imagining what local policing can look like.” Most of that would fall under what many on both left and right call “defunding the police.”
By the way, one of Wheeler’s 19 points is to close down the police gun violence reduction team. In other words, his answer to the fatal shooting in Portland is to hamper officers’ ability to prevent and investigate fatal shootings. When Wheeler was asked, “How come the city didn’t take action to prevent something like this?” he answered, “I’m not sure you can specifically, operationally prevent something like this.” Especially when you’ve tied the hands of the Police Bureau. He doesn’t know what to do, even if he wanted to do something.
Meanwhile, the troubles continue in Portland. There was more unrest on Sunday night into Monday morning. And some of the protesters appear to be happy that one of their own has killed a Trump supporter. “He was a f–king Nazi! Our community held its own,” one speaker told a crowd. “I am not sad that a f–king fascist died tonight.” That attitude, coupled with the mayor’s determination not to do anything that might stop the violence, does not bode well for peace in Portland anytime soon.
