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Leftist Protesters Target Portland Official’s Home After He Won’t Defund Police

   DailyWire.com
Portland city protestors march in Portland, Oregon on November 4, 2020, during a demonstration called by the "Black Lives Matter" movement, a day after the US Presidential Election. - Democratic
Kathryn Elsesser/AFP via Getty Images

On Thursday night, a group of leftist protesters targeted the home of Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan after he refused to vote for defunding the police, hurling objects at his home, breaking a window, shining bright lights through windows, and throwing burning flares and paint-filled balloons at the home.

In late October, the five-member city council met to consider Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s proposal to cut the Portland Police Bureau’s budget by $18 million. The night before, protesters visited Ryan, who was sworn in September after winning an August runoff over former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith, at his North Portland home, pushing him to vote for the proposal.

But Ryan voted not to have a formal vote on Hardesty’s proposal, asserting he needed more information, delaying the vote until November 5. On Thursday, the vote was taken; the Portland City Council voted down Hardesty’s proposal. “The majority of the council called for more comprehensive discussions of how to best reform public safety in Portland and expressed concerns over the layoffs that could result from a cut of that size,” Oregon Live explained.

“After nearly six hours of testimony Wednesday evening, Ryan in effect cast the deciding vote—to not have a formal vote on Hardesty’s proposal, saying he needed more information about the impact the cuts would have on the bureau. He sided with Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Amanda Fritz in delaying a vote until Nov. 5,” Willamette Week reported.

The sheriff’s office stated, “The Portland Police Bureau and Portland Fire & Rescue are actively investigating this alarming criminal activity that put an entire neighborhood at risk. This is the fourth night in the past week Commissioner Ryan has had agitators cause both vandalism and disruption to his home and neighborhood,” ABC News reported.

In September, a poll found that a near-majority of Oregon voters thought police should use more force in confronting protesters.

DHM Research conducted a poll between September 3 to 8, 2020. “Nearly half of the participants said they lived in either Multnomah, Clackamas or Washington counties. Another quarter of them live elsewhere in the Willamette Valley and the rest are from other parts of the state,” Oregon Live noted.

42% of respondents felt the police should use more force; another 18% felt the force currently used was fine with them.

66% of Oregonians disapproved of the protests. “Voters ages 18-29 are the only group to approve of the protests, with 62% saying that they approve compared to 33% who disapprove,” DHM Research pointed out.

Only 10% of respondents approved of Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown’s response to the protests, and even that was better than the 8% of respondents who approved of leftist Democrat Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s response. 46% of Oregon voters approved of the Portland police response to the ongoing protests and 45% disapproved.

DHM Research stated, “At the end of the survey, we asked voters what word is a more accurate description of the events in Portland: 55% said riot and 37% said protest.”

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