A group of unruly Antifa members dressed in all black barged in and harassed people, including kids, that were attending a campaign event hosted by Republican gubernatorial candidate Stan Pulliam in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The Antifa members hurled smoke grenades, paint-filled balloons and fireworks at people. According to police, two people were injured by ‘mortars.’
Pulliam, who supports re-funding the police, said it took more than 20 minutes to respond to 911 calls even though the event was being held near police headquarters. The event was cut short with supporters of Pulliam retreating to an event bus and their vehicles, some of whom appeared to be frightened.
Pulliam tweeted out videos of the alleged assaulting behavior of antifa saying,
“This is what happens when a Republican dares to hold an event in Portland to talk about funding our police. Antifa shows up.”
Pulliam talked about the “underfunded police” saying they didn’t show in time to “allow our free speech.”
Pulliam said this is the type of anarchy the “neighbors throughout the Portland community have to experience on almost a daily basis. We called the police, we called 911. In fact, at the Justice of Peace Center, we were just outside of their headquarters, sat on hold for over 20 minutes. No police officers ever arrive until the very end, just to take our statement.”
Pulliam pointed out the major shortage in police officers in the city.
“And then we wonder why we have all the violence and destruction happening on our streets,” he added.
Democrat run Portland has seen an spike in crime and a decrease in their police force. In June 2020, the Portland City Council and the mayor cut millions of dollars from the police budget leading to a shortfall in resources.
According to police, Portland residents who call 911 are often put on hold for hours as police have to prioritize the calls they take first, based on the seriousness of the crimes being committed.
Sgt. Kevin Allen said,
“We’re pretty good, generally, at deploying resources to the area of the highest need. It’s been a while since I could say that I feel like we have enough cops to do everything that we want to do to keep the public safe.”
