An 18-year-veteran of the Portland Police Bureau sat down in an interview with KGW to speak out against the violent protests in Portland, Oregon.
“These protests…have now devolved, have been hijacked by anarchists, essentially. And they’ve just kind of devolved into these masses of people that are just bent on destruction and hurting, mainly hurting police or anybody that really disagrees with that message,” Sgt. Brent Maxey told KGW on Thursday.
“These things that are happening, they’re not peaceful,” he added.
Maxey said he was motivated to speak out after Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland) blamed the police for escalating the violence in the city.
Kotek represents the district in North Portland where many of the riots are taking place, and many of the officers had to use pepper spray and tear gas to break up many of the violent protesters.
“It really struck a little bit of a chord with me,” said Maxey. “I really thought that it was time for somebody who has firsthand knowledge of this to speak up.”