Saturday in the park
Many people in Portlandia are on edge this morning over the right-wing extremist fest that's coming to town around noontime. The last time they staged one of these, one of their boys was killed, and a short time later the killer was killed. People are afraid that the militia types on the right are coming back to get their revenge today. The chatter on the internet has been alarming.
The governor has declared an emergency, which puts the state troopers in charge. And so tear gas is an option, which it might not be if the city police were running the show.
The "patriots" are reportedly going to stage their event at Delta Park on the north edge of the city. The authorities have had the park closed overnight, but it's reopening this morning.
Delta Park is an awkward space. It's up against the freeway, some busy highways, and an outdoor shopping complex, and it isn't an easy place to get into or out of. The Columbia River is nearby. There are few, if any, homes in the vicinity, but there are a lot of homeless people.
The left-wing types who can't resist demonstrating at the same time are gathering at Peninsula Park, which is about three miles from Delta Park.
There were lighted message boards near the freeway last night flashing "Black lives matter" and "Hate has no place here." I'm guessing that somebody hacked the signs to say that, but maybe it's some kind of official statement. It should be.
At one of the previous "proud boy" throwdowns, there were few if any police present to keep the peace. The police chief said he just didn't have personnel available. At least this time, the state police are showing up from the get-go.
But if I had to predict, I'd say that the cops will pound on the lefties and pretty much let the righties get away with almost anything.
Because that's how the police are.
And that's why all this is happening.
It will be an interesting afternoon, for sure. Let's hope it's a dud.
Who knows if this will become the next level of escalation in these parks today - the kind that becomes another grim milestone in our nation's history. I certainly hope not, but there's a clear possibility. If that doesn't happen, the danger really goes up when the big meeting part ends and we have small groups from both sides roaming around Portland hunting each other. If the numbers on both sides are in the thousands - as the authorities have predicted - that puts downtown in play as well as various neighborhoods. For the police, it'll be too spread out to handle. For example the other night the riot portion was at 47th and Burnside and when it broke up there were 2 people shot in the 4400 block of Glisan. Last time around for one of these big confrontations, the killing was at 4th and Alder - a ways from the actual protest with opposite members roaming downtown looking for each other. Either model for how this goes bad is scary.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be a long day and a longer night.
Jack, I was watching the news last night and they said that Chloe E. had PDOT put the sign up at Delta Park. To me that is just another case of local politicians who seem to see ‘hate’ only from one side. I might be wrong here, but the damage caused by the Black-blockheads and BLM have far outweighed any damages or violence caused by the Vantucky militia.
ReplyDeleteIn fact the national support for BLM is way underwater.....and I suspect that a lot of people are saying they support the movement just not to appear as to be haters or something. Just my guess. What the city of Portland seems to do is to ignore the ideology of the ‘good side’ while getting all righteous when the goons from Vancouver decide to come to town. Also remember, the guy who got shot downtown a few weeks back was a local guy. I don’t remember any speeches or candlelight vigils at Pioneer Courthouse square for him but if it had been the other way around it would be have been non-stop memorials and such.
Looking at it from someone who has lived in Portland well over 50 years the response from the mayor and city council has been a joke and this should had been handled long ago. I bet that the business owners being forced out of downtown are not seeing a lot of “Love” from the rioters and they could probably care less at this point about any hollow messaging about hate when they are in the trenches dealing with all sorts of problems on a daily basis.
Ah, Commissioner Chloe. She may be gone soon. Her opponent certainly has my support.
DeleteI've decided to take an optimistic approach. Maybe they'll just pick sides and have a touch football game, but I wouldn't count on it.
ReplyDelete