A 'burb perturbed
It sure is getting wild and woolly on the other side of Columbia River from Portland. Last night's Halloween festivities at the Vancouver Mall came to an abrupt end when a person was shot dead in the food court in what police say was a targeted killing. The murderer, in a Halloween mask, walked away and is still out there.
Two other people were hospitalized. A mall full of young people and parents was terrorized.
“Terrifying. The most terrifying thing that I’ve ever seen... very scary,” the woman said. “It happened so fast. There’s a lot of kids here tonight. That was my first thought. I saw dozens and dozens of kids trick or treating in the mall. I was scared for them. I could hear kids crying everywhere, kids screaming. One girl saying, ‘I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die.’ She was probably 8 years old.”
The murder came on the heels of two earlier attacks involving ballot boxes in Vancouver. In one incident, a drop box was set on fire with ballots in them. The perpetrator also pulled the same stunt at the county elections headquarters in southeast Portland. In the other incident in the 'Couve, an "incendiary device" was left near a ballot box.
Down here the fire extinguisher inside the box minimized the destruction of ballots; up there, hundreds of ballots were destroyed, and with all the ash at the bottom of the box, it appears that some people's votes may have been lost forever.
I'd bet dollars to donuts that the ballot box torch guy is from Clark County somewhere. Nobody in Portland would drive their Volvo over to the 'Couve to torch a ballot box. And although the arsonist is leaving "Free Gaza" swag behind, it's a pretty good bet he's a MAGA goon. Orange Caligula's crew hates voting by mail.
Between the Trumpy wackos, the trigger-happy cops, and the dangerous gangster types, Vancouver has really developed some sharp edges. It may be a good place to move to get away from Portland's hideous state and local taxes, but if you move there, you have to live there.
And wait 'til they get the light rail over the new bridge.
I bet the perp involved in the ballot box arson is about to be identified. The background ideology will be interesting.
ReplyDeleteIs there any doubt?
DeleteYeah, it seemed likely from the start the “Free Gaza” was a false-flag red herring.
ReplyDeleteIf it was "targeted" then drug/gang related, possibly a bad relationship. Either way, c'mon man! Can we bring back public flogging for these losers? We have enough horrid things happening that are affecting our kids mental health.
ReplyDeleteYou think “public flogging” won’t affect anyone’s mental health? SMDH!
ReplyDeleteYou must want to live in 1650.
Get a life!
There are far fewer Trump wackos up here than you’d think.
ReplyDeleteTrigger happy cops? No different than Portland and up here they’ve been wearing body cams a lot longer than down there.
Gangster types? Not sure what you mean there. Are they different than the drive-by shootings of Portland? Is it the street takeover types which seem to be Portland-centric?
Each of your highlights are regional issues and hardly unique to Vancouver. The difference up here is there is far less hand-wringing over social issues and far far less of the non-profit industrial complex takeover of local government