The mayor of Portland, Oregon said that it’s time to ramp up official responses to “lawlessness” after rioters targeted the federal courthouse on New Year’s Eve in a press conference Friday.
Democratic Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said that his efforts to oversee and keep the peace at demonstrations haven’t worked and that it’s time to ramp up law enforcement’s response capabilities, video shows.
“My good faith efforts at de-escalation have been met with ongoing violence and even scorn from radical Antifa and anarchists,” Wheeler said. “In response, it will be necessary to use additional tools and to push the limits of the tools we already have to bring the criminal destruction and violence to an end.”