Portland police don’t stop violent street fight between far-right, anti-fascist groups

(The Center Square) – Portland police again failed to intervene in a violent street brawl between far-right groups and anti-fascists, which saw one armed point a rifle at a member of the media.

Late Sunday night, a lone man dressed in tactical gear and armed with an AR-15 rifle pointed his weapon at a local photojournalist while leaving a violent gathering of far-right groups gathered on the Portland waterfront downtown.

As documented on social media by freelance photographers Nathan Howard with Getty Images and Grace Morgan, whose bylines include The Washington Post and CNN, the gunman drew no police presence as he left the scene.

According to Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos, the man walked to the Multnomah County Justice Center at the request of local authorities and turned himself. In one video, he calls the police on his smartphone and complains about being followed by counter-protesters and photographers.

The incident was one of the numerous altercations involving individuals gathered for a two-day church service led by pastor Artur Pawlowski, a far-right figure from Calgary, Canada. Pawlowski is known for his anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ views. He was fined in November 2020 for holding an anti-mask rally in Calgary.

Beginning on Saturday, Pawlowski’s service at Tom McCall Waterfront Park drew a crowd of at least 200 people, including men in body armor and long guns. A group of several dozen anti-fascists clad in black bloc at the scene damaged sound equipment and macing armed attendees. Oregon is an open-carry state. State lawmakers passed legislation this year allowing cities to create gun-free zones.

On Saturday, the ensuing chaos spilled into downtown Portland where anti-fascist counter-protesters and far-right gunmen fought in front of storefronts.

Sunday night saw more of the same as far-right gunmen pelted anti-fascists with rubber bullets and set off flash bangs in the street as officers looked on. Portland police say they made no forcible arrests over the weekend. Far-right groups are set to rally at the same spot on Sunday, Aug. 22.

In a statement on Monday, Portland police claimed they were short on officers as they were responding to a homicide and a robbery over the weekend. The city’s police bureau comprises almost 900 sworn officers whose overtime pay has risen year over year. In 2018, overtime cost the city $827,320. Last year, it cost Portland more than $6 million.

The Portland Police Bureau’s claims drew criticism from civil rights leaders such a Zakir Khan, who chairs the Council of American-Islamic Relations.

“If you need to send 400 officers to two calls, more funding is not going to fix that problem,” Khan said. “That’s a management problem. What exactly are Portlanders paying for?”

Khan was among a panel of civic activists and members of law enforcement who issued numerous recommendations to Wheeler in September 2020 on how to mitigate political violence in the city. The city has not implemented any new changes.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has yet to issue a statement on the incident as of Monday afternoon. He has been the target of a recall petition since July. It needs 47,788 signatures by Sep. 29 to trigger a recall election. The Center Square has reached out to his office for comment.

Last September, Portland police faced similar criticism for failing to intervene in a large brawl outside the Multnomah County Justice Center. State lawmakers took to Twitter to express their outrage over this past weekend.

“Is this my city?” state Rep. Lisa Reynolds, D-Portland, tweeted. “No police response? Are we really allowing far-right extremists free resign in our downtown? Or at the very least, a street fight with weapons continue unabated?”

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) saw its entire 50-member crowd control team resign in June after one of its officers, Corey Budworth, was charged by a grand jury for unlawful use of force last summer. The bureau is currently negotiating a new contract with the city.

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