Police: $23 million lost due to ongoing Portland protests (/Biden rally)

Times Union ^ | 7/08/20 | Gillian Flaccus

[Libloather]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Downtown businesses in Portland, Oregon, have sustained about $23 million in damages and lost customers because of violent nightly protests that have brought the city to its knees, authorities said Wednesday.

At a police briefing, Deputy Chief Chris Davis said the intensity of the violence by an “agitator corps” and the length of the protests that are now in their sixth week are unprecedented in Oregon's largest city.

Davis made a sharp distinction between Black Lives Matter protesters, whom he said were not violent, and a smaller group of people he repeatedly called “agitators.”

“Quite frankly, this is not sustainable," he said. "There’s a very big difference between protests and the kind of mayhem that we’ve seen every night. ... The Black Lives Matter movement is not violent. The story that we're going to talk about today is about a small group of agitators that is attempting to hijack that message and use it as a cover for criminal activity.”

**SNIP**

“The reason why we’re seeing more and more C.S. gas has to do with really unprecedented levels of violence that we’re seeing and not that we’re trying to find excuses to use it. And that would be irresponsible of us to somehow ratchet down the definition of a riot so we can get to use C.S. gas quicker.”

[SteveH]

mostly. peaceful, mostly.

(and now, you all may drink)