Last Friday (Aug. 28) Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler sent a letter in response to President Trump's offer to help with federal troops to support local police.
Mayor Wheeler wrote, "On behalf of the City of Portland: No thanks."
Afterwords describing how well things are going in his city, he concluded his letter with, "Stay away, please."
Saturday night thousands descended on downtown Portland as they have for nearly 90 consecutive nights, looting, burning buildings, breaking, and taunting the police.
Saturday night a man was shot dead in the street. I watched it happen. The news media and police spent the day yesterday reporting they are uncertain what happened.
Be informed, not misled.
Saturday evening our son called my wife and me and told us he was sending a link to live-streamed coverage from people embedded in the Portland, Kenosha, Oakland, Chicago, and Washington DC riots.
He said, "Dad needs to see this." So we put it on our screen and started watching. The group streaming the riots went from city to city as, in their words, the "action would pick up."
As the images cut from Washington DC, where BLM protesters were harassing people eating in restaurants, starting fires and victimizing people, to Portland where we saw the image of a man firing a firearm from a red car and a man falling to the ground in the middle of the street. The car fled away. Within minutes several people gathered around the fallen young man removing his shirt, attempting to administer first aid.
About the victim.
The activity soon stopped. The young man was dead. Eyewitnesses said the shooter in the red car shot the victim in the chest and fled away. With the go-pro camera running, you could clearly see the bullet wound in the dead man's chest.
Initial news reports suggested that the shooter was a Trump supporter and the victim was a Black Lives Matter peaceful protester.
That line was soon abandoned.
Then Antifa members began claiming the man killed was one of their own and had been shot by a Trump supporter. That "truth" also faded in a few hours.
The man lying dead in the street was white. People at the scene said the shooter in the car was black.
Finally, The New York Times reported that the victim was wearing a hat associated with 'Patriot Prayer,' a part of a larger group who were also demonstrating their support of President Trump in Portland on Saturday.
This will be, as they say, a developing story.
The dead victim has been identified as Jay Bishop, a member of the Washington State-based Patriot Prayer organization headed by Joey Gibson.
Patriot Prayer is a right-wing group that supports President Trump and conducts public prayers for the nation.
Gibson said yesterday: "We love Jay and he had such a huge heart. God bless him and the life he lived."
There will be a lot of conversation about this in the media today.
About the letter.
In his letter to the President, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler also told the President, "We don't need your politics of division and demagoguery. Portlanders are onto you...And we know you've reached the conclusion that images of violence or vandalism are your only ticket to reelection."
If this is true, why would Trump be wanting to shut down the riots and restore law and order?
Wheeler says, "There is no place for looting, arson, or vandalism in our city."
His city has become the symbol of lawlessness and rioting. Looting, arson, and vandalism---and now murder. It's the hallmark of the nearly 90 consecutive days of rioting in his city.
The mayor says:
"Tens of thousands of Portlanders have peacefully protested and marched for the noble cause of fixing our broken criminal justice system. They are part of the proud progressive tradition of fighting for justice-from racial justice to economic justice to environmental justice."
He claims Trump made the situation "much worse" when he sent the feds to Portland last month to protect federal buildings---claiming Trump is merely trying to "stroke fear and distract us from the real work of our city."
The mayor concluded in his letter to the president,
"In Portland, we are focused on coming together as a community to solve the serious challenges we face due to systemic racism, a global pandemic and an economic recession. Stay away, please."
Black Lives Matter are demanding he resigns as a prerequisite to ending the "peaceful" protests. Perhaps it's the mayor who is trying to "distract" from the real problems.
This is an echo of Seattle's Jenny Durkan and every other far-left so-called "progressive" mayor and governor across the nation. Every city that is experiencing rioting is run by the far-left "progressives."
So-called "progressivism" doesn't work any more than socialism does.
A house built on the shifting sands of relativism always collapses.
Takeaway
Joe Biden emerged from his basement yesterday, saw the violence, and made this statement:
"The deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable. Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally...whether on the left or the right."
Profound.
After nearly 90 days of burning, looting destroying structures, and general lawlessness, Biden felt the need to break his silence on the matter and make a statement.
Why now? Did he only become aware of the riots this weekend?
Unfortunately, he has likely been aware all along. Most of the rioters support the Democrat candidates---including Biden.
But now that they've killed someone in front of everyone, it's time to take a stand.
Last Tuesday night CNN's Don Lemon noted that Democrats ignoring riots in some cities "represents a 'blind spot' for the party" and called on Joe Biden to "address the problem because it is 'sticking' in polls and focus groups."
Lemon noted that the demonstrations have become one with the riots, admitting that the demonstrations, politically, are attached to the Democrats and people are getting sick and tired of them.
He called on Biden to come out and denounce them or it could cause Trump to win the election.
So yesterday, Biden came out and did exactly what he was told to do. For the first time, he denounced the demonstrations/riots.
This reveals two things. Biden does what he's told to do. And first and foremost to the Democrats, these "peaceful demonstrations" that have become riots are about politics, not black lives.
Pray for our country. Pray for the President.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.