Portland and Seattle residents slam ‘weak’ response to Antifa riots
More On:
antifa
Twitter suspends Antifa accounts with more than 71K followers
Biden won’t stop them, and neither will cops, until Portland is burned down
A latte nerve: Antifa militants smash up historic Starbucks during anti-Biden protest
Leftist protesters wreak havoc, confront cops in Portland
Residents in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, say they’re fed up with local officials’ “weak” response to the Antifa riots that swept through the cities Wednesday.
In Seattle, city council members and Mayor Jenny Durkan merely issued statements over the Inauguration Day violence that resulted in smashed-up storefronts and burning American flags hours after President Biden was sworn in.
Victoria Beach, a community activist, told KOMO News that it wasn’t enough.
“Very weak. Very weak,” she told the Seattle-based radio station on Thursday. “It’s not addressing the problem. I reached out to the mayor today [because] she needs to come out and say, ‘Stop! Enough is enough.’”
The station reached out to Durkan for an interview.
Her office instead issued a statement saying, “Violent threats, vandalism, and misogynistic and homophobic hate speech are unacceptable in our community. Mayor Durkan has consistently denounced individuals who are targeting small businesses and government facilities.”
But Beach said the mayor was missing the point.
“We are not talking about all that other stuff,” Beach said. “We are talking about these fools [who are] nightly destroying our city. That’s what we want to hear about.”
Seattle council members Andrew Lewis and Lisa Herbold also issued statements — refusing to answer questions from KOMO News.
“Property destruction is a crime, not free speech,” Lewis said. “Last night a small group of people committed acts of vandalism in Downtown Seattle and were promptly arrested. It has never been hard for me to distinguish between acts of petty vandalism committed by opportunists.”
Herbold said, “I have spoken out against property destruction and violent behavior and will continue to do so.”
About 200 miles south, riots simultaneously took place in Portland, where the far-left militants vandalized the Democratic Party headquarters and the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.
On Friday, local business owner Stacey Gibson said politicians weren’t doing enough to condemn the acts of violence — or prosecute the criminals — that forced her to board up her Subway franchise.
“I mean, they say a lot of things, but actions are what matters,” Gibson said on “Fox & Friends.” “They don’t prosecute anybody. They’ll arrest them, but they’ll be out within a few hours.”
She added, “They’re just going to keep doing it, which is evident. I don’t have any idea why they don’t, you know, just actually crack down on it. It would be great if they did.”
Portland and Seattle have been hotbeds of violence at the hands of Antifa, the so-called leaderless group of anarchists who are against “fascism.”
The group routinely clashes with police and leaves a trail of destruction in their path.
In both cities Wednesday night, the crowds chanted, “F—k Trump, f—k Biden too, they don’t give a f—k about you.”
Tensions escalated in Portland in late August when Antifa follower Michael Forest Reinoehl shot and killed a right-wing counter-protester, Aaron Danielson.
Reinoehl was shot dead by authorities days later.
Share this article:
Source: Read Full Article
