(Casey Harper, Headline USA) Democratic Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler called out the “anarchists” wreaking havoc in Portland and asked local residents to reveal their identities.
Portland has endured intermittent protests and riots since the death of George Floyd last year.
Rioters drew the ire of some locals recently after vandalizing a church and a Boys & Girls Club, according to The Oregonian.
Those cases are just two examples representing countless victims of damaged property in the last year.
Wheeler pointed to those recent acts of vandalism in his plea with residents to report the participants in an attempt to end the ongoing riots.
“The city is beginning to recover, but self-described anarchists who engage in regular criminal destruction don’t want things to open up, to recover,” Wheeler said.
“They want to prevent us from doing the work of making a better Portland for everyone,” he added. “They want to burn, they want to bash.”
So far, some residents have responded to the call.
“I want to personally thank neighbors, family and friends who have come forward with vital evidence,” Wheeler told KOIN News. “People know who these criminals are.”
Mayor Wheeler has extended the state of emergency in Portland through noon Monday. He asks members of the public to get license plates of people dressed all in black and report them to the police. "Our job is to unmask them, arrest them and prosecute them." pic.twitter.com/QsW73Me9fL
— PDX Frontline Alerts (@pdxfrontline) April 23, 2021
