Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler banned the local police department from using tear gas even though the city has experienced ongoing protests and unrest for the past three months.
“It’s time for everyone to reduce the violence in our community,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “We all want change. We all have the opportunity and obligation to create change. We all want to focus on the fundamental issue at hand – justice for Black people and all people of color. That’s why, as Police Commissioner, effective immediately and until further notice, I am directing the Portland Police to end the use of CS gas for crowd control.”
Wheeler also praised the Oregon Legislative Assembly and its Joint Committee on Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform for “conven[ing] experts to evaluate the use of gas and what safer alternatives may exist that prevent the need for greater force.”
Wheeler noted that officers have relied on tear gas in places “where there is a threat to life safety.” But he added, “We need something different. We need it now.”
Portland has faced nightly protests since the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer on Memorial Day. The four officers who were on the scene at the time of his death have been charged. A video showing Floyd’s last pleas sparked nationwide protests in which activists sought to raise awareness about police brutality against minorities and racial inequality.
Wheeler also denounced acts of rioting and urged the police and judicial department to prosecute perpetrators.
“Arson, vandalism, and violence are not going to drive change in this community,” he said. “I expect the police to arrest people who engage in criminal acts. I expect the District Attorney to prosecute those who commit criminal acts. And I expect the rest of the criminal justice system to hold those individuals accountable. We must stand together as a community against violence and for progress.”
Portland has been one of the spots where protests sometimes turned violent. Some demonstrators have sought to burn down police departments and a federal courthouse. President Trump sent in federal law enforcement officers in July to help quell the unrest.
A Trump supporter, Aaron Danielson, 39, who was counterprotesting in Portland was shot and killed by a far-Left activist in August. The alleged shooter, Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, was then killed when law enforcement attempted to apprehend him.
