Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) issued a statement on Sunday blaming President Donald Trump for the violence seen across American cities, particularly in Portland, after a Trump supporter was shot and killed.
Brown’s comments came after months of inaction by local authorities to wrangle violent protests across the city of Portland under Mayor Ted Wheeler.
“For the last several years, and escalating in recent months, President Trump has encouraged division and stoked violence,” Brown said. “It happened in Charlottesville. It happened in Kenosha. And now, unfortunately, it is happening in Portland, Oregon.”
“But despite the President’s jeers and tweets, this is a matter of life and death,” Brown added. “Whether it’s his completely incompetent response to the pandemic, where nearly 200,000 have died, or his outright encouragement of violence in our streets: it should be clear to everyone by now that no one is truly safe with Donald Trump as President.”
Brown continued, noting that she has “supported” peaceful protests in the state.
“Throughout this pandemic, whether it was demonstrations protesting my COVID-19 executive orders, or large crowds marching for the cause of Black Lives Matter to call for police reform, I have supported the rights of all Oregonians to peacefully protest.”
“For months this summer, we have seen powerful images of Oregonians uniting for the cause of racial justice, calling for justice for black men and women who have been killed by police violence,” Brown stated. “We remember them, we say their names. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Philando Castile. Alton Sterling. And far too many other Black lives taken by racist violence.”
“For weeks, we have also seen small groups of demonstrators from all ends of the political spectrum who are intent on committing acts of vandalism and violence,” Brown continued.
Brown concluded her anti-Trump message by claiming the state would find who was “responsible” for the murder and hold them “accountable.”
“Tragically, yesterday a life was lost in downtown Portland,” Brown added. “We do not yet know the full circumstances of this person’s death. Regardless, a life has been lost, and our hearts go out to this person’s family. We will find those who were responsible, and they will be held accountable.”
Since the death of George Floyd, Portland has become a hot spot for violent crime, including the burning and looting of buildings, the tearing down of statues and monuments, and various shootings.
Police in Portland have been left to fend for themselves with little to no backing from state or local officials.
Protests across Portland for the past few months have been mostly anti-police. One group took to the streets to burn the American flag and copies of the Bible. Another group set ablaze a severed pig’s head, donned with a cop hat sitting atop an American flag.
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