Portland Police Chief Discusses Police Response At ICE Facility

By
Rachel Stevenson
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Oh, Portland. The place where fires can burn, windows can shatter, cops can get pelted with bricks — and local officials still smile into the camera and insist, “Everything’s fine!”

At a Monday press conference that felt more like a gaslight therapy session than a public safety update, Portland Police Chief Bob Day stood before the media and tried to downplay the chaos by pointing out, with an impressive amount of confidence, that all the turmoil is taking place on just one city block. One block! So, you know, what’s the big deal?

“The City of Portland is about 145 square miles,” he helpfully reminded us. “This is one city block.”

Right. Because apparently, if your city is on fire, but only in one corner, you’re not really on fire — just selectively combusting.

It’s one city block?

Meanwhile, 200 National Guard troops have been approved by the Trump administration to deploy to Portland for federal functions over the next 60 days. Their mission? To protect federal property from protests that have a very well-documented history of turning into something a lot more, shall we say, expressive than peaceful free speech.

But Chief Day insists, “The events happening down there do not rise to the level of attention they are receiving.” Tell that to the federal agents who have to put on body armor to go to work. Or the businesses that still haven’t replaced their windows since 2020. Or the city residents who are now experts in dodging Molotov cocktails on their way to dinner.

Well, that “one city block” is incredibly violent, but one member of Antifa almost got more than he bargained for.

A far-left extremist was harassing an independent journalist recording the violence. Then a DHS sniper put a laser on the chest of the man attacking the journalist, and he immediately backed off.

Additionally:

Of course, local officials — and, not shockingly, Oregon’s Attorney General Dan Rayfield — are throwing a fit. He filed a temporary restraining order to stop the deployment of the National Guard, because God forbid anyone step in and try to prevent another courthouse from getting torched. Priorities, people.

And if you were hoping for one public official — just one — to step up and say, “Hey, maybe letting masked radicals riot in front of an ICE facility every weekend is not the hallmark of a healthy democracy,” you’ll be disappointed. Instead, we got County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards talking to local media about how concerned she is that the National Guard is coming to town.

However, more good news:

“There’s concerns about the president’s rhetoric that this is an unsafe place to be, in Portland,” she said, apparently unaware that the video footage of fireworks aimed at law enforcement speaks louder than Trump ever could.

And let’s not forget the mystery helicopter. Yes, people have been reporting a low-flying helicopter in the area. Chief Day? No idea who it belongs to. Not PPB. No clue. Just casually shrugged it off. That’s the level of control we’re working with here. Helicopters in the sky. Protesters in the streets. Feds en route. And local leaders pretending it’s all a big overreaction to a single block.

Here’s the kicker: only two demonstrators were arrested over the weekend, despite hundreds showing up. So either Portland has achieved a miracle in crowd control, or no one’s bothering to enforce the law anymore. Either way, residents should totally feel safe, right?

So, to recap: there’s a protest zone that doesn’t “rise to the level” of federal concern — even though it routinely ends in criminal charges and broken glass. National Guard troops are on their way. Oregon Democrats are fighting to keep them out. And city leaders are playing PR instead of playing defense.

Oh, and here’s a little more info on Mr. “it’s one city block.”

Just one block, they say. As if the rest of the city hasn’t already learned what happens when you ignore the first.

Keep telling yourselves it’s fine, Portland.

The rest of America’s watching the footage — and we’re not buying the brochure.

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