It’s Always 9/11: “Unmask” the rioters?

Ted Wheeler, our delightful mayor, has been on a roll lately. He declared a “State of Emergency” after the (guilty) Derek Chauvin verdict, which he extended through the weekend. A state of emergency gives him the right to declare curfews and call in the National Guard, among other powers. It should be reserved for just that–an emergency, such as an earthquake. By diluting the term , he’s exerting a pathetic grab for power, and lessening any power his statements or actions might carry in a genuine emergency.

Wheeler urged residents to “unmask” rioters, an ironic remark for someone that’s repeatedly urged all of us to mask up every time we leave the house. But then our delightful mayor is remarkable for his cluelessness. “They want to burn, they want to bash, the want to intimidate, they want to assault”, he whined. He urged the citizens of Portland to report any suspected rioters to the police.

The black clad anarchists have been around for the twenty-eight years I’ve lived in Portland, causing their minor bits of trouble, and until last year they were the only ones wearing masks. They’re not super focused in their politics, they like to show up at any demonstration and disrupt. They are, after all, anarchists. Over the past year, their profile has increased for some obvious reasons. The Black Lives Matter movement showcased the increasing militarization of the police force, and the arrival of the Feds last summer truly brought it home. Much of Portland’s population, especially young people, found their lives seriously limited. Tens of thousands lost their jobs. Others found their high school and college educations on hold, their future seriously uncertain. They could not even gather casually with their friends. Day after day we were isolated, told to huddle in our homes. The only opportunity to gather with others, to express a degree of passion, and frustration, and anger, was in the protests. I would not throw a rock through a window, but there was many a warm empty summer night last year when I felt angry enough to do so.

Which brings up another point. The empty streets. Do you think for a minute that if that Starbucks on 23rd St was full of people lounging on the couches and sipping coffee, if people were eating in the cafes or coming down from the West Hills to buy an ice cream and take in the evening air, that even black clad anarchists would throw a rock through the glass? Empty streets make for trouble.

And what on earth is this garbage about reporting suspected rioters? Even in kindergarten I despised snitches and tattletales. It would take a pretty bad offense–armed robbery, say, or sexual assault– for me to report the perpetrators to any authority, and believe me, a broken window or graffiti isn’t it.

If Mayor Wheeler is so concerned about his city he might direct his attention to the cities of homeless that line our open spaces and highways, including families, as bad as any third world country. He might direct his attention to the ugly and unsanitary piles of garbage, to the boarded up windows, the empty storefronts, the dashed dreams of so many, the lonely people behind their closed doors.