When it comes to public education in Oregon, the Oregon Education Association (OEA) makes a <a href="https://oregoned.org/about-oea">bold promise</a>: “to provide the basic right of great public education to every student.” The union’s direct involvement in school closures and watering down basic graduation requirements, however, indicates the opposite. In truth, the OEA has played an essential role in the deterioration of Oregon’s public schools.
<h2>COVID School Shutdowns</h2>
In response to the COVID pandemic, Oregon Governor Kate Brown, whom OEA endorsed, ordered the <a href="https://www.salemreporter.com/2020/03/18/school-closures-in-salem-around-oregon-extended-through-april-governor-orders/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statewide closure</a> of schools for over a year. During the <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2020/03/coronavirus-closure-wont-lead-to-online-classes-in-oregon-public-schools-this-is-why.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first six weeks</a> of Brown’s shutdowns, no online alternative was offered to students enrolled in public schools. In response, thousands of Oregon families began the process of transferring their children to Oregon’s online charter school programs. 
That is, until the OEA stepped in. Citing a 2011 law that sets a three percent enrollment cap for students transferring to online education in the state, the <a href="https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2019I1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/222653">OEA argued</a> that even a one-half-of-one-percent increase would redirect $55.5 million from district budgets. Siding with the OEA, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) not only <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2020/03/oregons-online-schools-also-subject-to-gov-kate-browns-coronavirus-closure-order-report.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">placed a temporary hold</a> on virtual education enrollment, but <a href="https://www.bendbulletin.com/opinion/guest-column-gov-brown-and-oea-shut-down-online-charter-schools/article_32cad56e-8336-11ea-b53b-ffedbd758d7c.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> all publicly funded online schools in statewide closures despite zero risk of COVID exposure.
Further, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uh0y7LjzOzMW4lB95LmdRvjBlyxGsNDC/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">email correspondence</a> reveals that the OEA not only developed a set of strict standards for return to in-person instruction for the ODE, but requested that the state “put pressure” on Oregon school districts to adopt similar requirements preventing students from returning to the classroom. 
The effects of OEA-sanctioned school closures continue to weigh down Oregon students. Data from the Nation’s Report Card ranks Oregon <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2022/10/oregon-ranks-no-5-for-pandemic-reading-loss-no-8-for-math-researchers-say.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">among the top 10</a> states in the nation for pandemic learning loss in both reading and math. In addition, students experiencing anxiety and depression in the state <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/health/new-study-shows-covid-19-impact-on-the-mental-health-of-oregons-youth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climbed to 40 percent</a> from 2016 to 2020. 
<h2>Graduation Requirement Suspensions</h2>
Prior to the pandemic, Oregon students were required to demonstrate <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/essentialskills/pages/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">basic proficiency</a> in reading, writing, and math through statewide standardized testing. Naturally, learning loss caused by school closures led to lower test scores. But instead of focusing on helping students get back on track academically, the Oregon Board of Education discarded standardized testing graduation requirements entirely <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/essentialskills/pages/default.aspx">through the 2023-2024 school year</a>.
The OEA played an active role in the passage of <a href="https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB744/Enrolled" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> that authorized the suspension of graduation requirements. A member of the OEA’s Special Education Committee boasted that the committee “<a href="https://oregoned.org/professional-excellence/leadership-development/member-spotlight/niels-pasternak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">helped to develop</a>…and helped OEA pass…Senate Bill 744 during the last legislative session” to address “several equity concerns” surrounding Oregon’s graduation requirements. On October 19, the Board of Education voted unanimously to <a href="https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard/viewSingleRule.action?ruleVrsnRsn=306489" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extend the OEA-endorsed suspension</a> through the 2027-2028 school year.
While <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/education/oregon-department-of-education-records-2nd-best-graduation-rate-to-date/#:~:text=Across%20all%20Oregon%20schools%20during,school%20year%20was%20just%2080.6%25." target="_blank" rel="noopener">graduation rates</a> in Oregon have unsurprisingly skyrocketed, the value of a high school diploma in the state has plummeted. In the <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/education/ode-oregon-students-test-proficiency-still-lower-than-before-covid-19-pandemic/#:~:text=Last%20school%20year%2C%20about%2043,ELA%20saw%20a%200.6%25%20decrease." target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021-2022 school year</a>, just 43 percent of students were proficient in English, while only 30.6 percent of students were proficient in math. 
<h2>Continued School Closures</h2>
As if a year of school closures wasn’t enough, roughly 45,000 students in Oregon’s largest school district continue to lose out on instructional time due to the Portland Association of Teachers’ (PAT) <a href="https://labornotes.org/2023/11/first-ever-strike-portland-teachers-tackles-student-needs#:~:text=The%20Portland%20Association%20of%20Teachers,cost%2Dof%2Dliving%20adjustments." target="_blank" rel="noopener">inaugural strike</a>. 
In addition to typical demands such as increased salaries and smaller class sizes, the union’s proposal includes <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/pdxteachers/pages/1673/attachments/original/1678819362/PAT_Bargaining_Platform_-_QR_petition_edition.pdf?1678819362" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fringe stipulations</a> that have little to do with education, such as district support for first time house buyers, housing assistance for families, and professional development with a focus on “addressing implicit bias, anti-racism, and culturally responsive practices.” 
The union’s demands come with an enormous price tag and would require the district to come up with an <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2023/11/portland-public-schools-strike-what-you-need-to-know.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">additional $372 million</a> over the next three years. If the OEA affiliate refuses to budge, Portland Public Schools may need to fire up to <a href="https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2023/11/01/46822117/portland-teachers-strike-district-asks-state-for-money-teachers-say-hold-the-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">300 current teachers</a> to balance the district budget. 
The OEA’s demands are not only financially “irresponsible,” according to Oregon <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/education/gov-kotek-potential-portland-teachers-strike/283-a7b5734b-359a-4b37-9348-5d395e783017" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Governor Tina Kotek</a>, but could keep Portland students out of the classroom for weeks or longer. 
<h2>OEA And The Future Of Oregon Education</h2>
As student success continues to decline in Oregon, it’s clear that the Oregon Education Association has broken its promise to ensure “great public education” for students. In truth, every action that the OEA has taken regarding school closures and graduation requirements has solidified the deterioration of public education on the taxpayer’s dime.
The OEA’s willingness to leave students behind is in stark contrast to its <a href="https://oregoned.org/about-oea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mission statement</a> and begs the question of which promise the OEA will break next. OEA members, parents, and the Board of Education need to take a closer look at the union’s impact on education and act accordingly. The future of Oregon’s students depends on it.
Jason Dudash is the Northwest Director of the <a href="http://www.freedomfoundation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Freedom Foundation.</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Oregon state detailed editable map

As Student Success In Oregon Plummets, Teachers’ Unions Deserve Blame

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Education

Opinion

Oregon

Portland

Readers Pass

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Teachers Unions

Teachers in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/portland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland</a> kicked off a strike on Wednesday, walking off the job and closing schools for about 45,000 students.
The Portland Association of Teachers, which represents more than 4,000 teachers in the area, is complaining about salaries, large class sizes, and not enough resources.
There are no classes, even online instruction, during the strike.
The teachers union has been bargaining with the district for months after its contract expired in June. The union said this is the first time teachers have gone on strike in the Portland school district.
Meanwhile, Portland Public Schools claims it does not have enough funds to give the union what it wants despite Oregon&#8217;s record $10.2 billion K-12 budget for the next two years. The district said the union&#8217;s demands would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more and mean staffing cuts as well.
“Funding has not kept pace with the needs of our students, nor our educators,” Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said Wednesday. “We strive to offer a compensation that attracts and retains talent. But unlike a private organization, we don’t have record profits we can tap into.”
Salary is one of the main sticking points between the district and the union. The district&#8217;s annual base salary is about $50,000, although the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/01/us/portland-oregon-teachers-strike.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">average</a> salary for a Portland teacher is $87,000, according to the district, which is slightly above the median income for a single person in the area.
The union has asked for a roughly 20% salary increase over three years, while the district has suggested offering about half that much.
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Teachers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/01/us/portland-oregon-teachers-strike.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> they are working overtime to handle their workload as students&#8217; academic and mental health needs have spiked since the pandemic. The union is asking for more time for teachers to plan lessons.
On Friday, the district and the union are set to meet with a state mediator together, the superintendent said.
Declining enrollment is another factor as the Portland district has lost close to 3,000 students since the pandemic, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/teachers-strike-portland-oregon-7c437cefd322b19c1d915a1a32431781" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to state data.
The Portland strike is the latest of several school worker strikes in large cities this year.
In March, Los Angeles school workers in the country&#8217;s second-largest public school district <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/25/business/la-school-strike-growing-trend/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">walked</a> off the job, shutting schools for about a half million students for three days. The workers, which included teachers&#8217; aides, cafeteria employees, and custodians, were demanding better pay and that the district hire more people.
Then in May, teachers, librarians, counselors, and other workers went on strike in Oakland in the Bay Area for about two weeks. That union demanded higher pay, as well as housing assistance for homeless students and reparations for black students. The strike shut down the city’s public schools, and the district eventually <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/striking-oakland-teachers-district-reach-agreement-on-four-common-good-issues/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caved</a> on the union’s housing assistance demand.
Back in September, the Portland teachers union <a href="https://freebeacon.com/policy/portland-teachers-threaten-school-shutdown-if-their-district-declines-to-provide-subsidized-housing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to strike over subsidized housing for poor students as well.
The teacher strikes also come amid cost of living woes this year, especially in bigger cities, due to skyrocketing inflation.

Inside of a First Grade Classroom

Portland Teachers Walk Off Job, Shutting Schools For 45,000 Kids

Public Schools

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U.S.

The off-duty <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/off-duty-pilot-accused-of-attempting-to-shut-down-plane-engines-mid-flight-charged-with-83-counts-of-attempted-murder-reports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alaskan Airlines pilot arrested</a> on Sunday for allegedly trying to shut down the engines of a fully occupied passenger flight in midair has been charged in federal court.
Joseph Emerson of Pleasant Hill, California, was charged with one count of interfering with flight crew members and attendants, according to a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/duty-commercial-airline-pilot-charged-federal-court-interfering-flight-crew" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the District of Oregon Department of Justice.
Emerson, 44, was riding in the cockpit jump seat as a passenger on Horizon Air flight 2059 — an affiliate of Alaska Airlines — when he attempted to shut down the plane&#8217;s engines during a flight that departed from Seattle Paine Field International Airport and was scheduled to land at San Francisco International Airport.
Emerson was sitting in the jump seat located in the cockpit just behind the captain and first officer flying the jet. Pilots commonly ride in the jump seat to hitch a free ride when traveling personally or professionally.
Airline officials said in a news release following the incident that the pilots were forced to divert the aircraft to Portland International Airport in Oregon for an emergency landing because of &#8220;a credible security threat related to an authorized occupant in the flight deck jump seat.&#8221;
“The jump seat occupant unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines,” the airline said in a portion of the news release <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-charged-attempted-murder-trying-shut-alaska-airlines-engines-fligh-rcna121681" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by NBC. “The Horizon Captain and First Officer quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.”
Federal authorities said the incident began halfway between Astoria, Oregon, and Portland.
&#8220;Emerson attempted to grab and pull two red fire handles that would have activated the plane&#8217;s emergency fire suppression system and cut off fuel to its engines. After a brief physical struggle with the pilots, Emerson exited the cockpit,&#8221; authorities said.
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During the flight&#8217;s descent into Portland, authorities said a flight attendant had to stop Emerson from attempting to grab another emergency exit handle after other attendants had already placed Emerson in wrist restraints and seated him in the rear of the aircraft.
Alaska Airlines released a follow-up statement on Monday night identifying Emerson, saying he tried to shut the engines down by engaging the Engine Fire Handle, also known as the fire suppression system.
&#8220;The fire suppression system consists of a T-handle for each engine,&#8221; the statement read in part. &#8220;If the T-handle is fully deployed, a valve in the wing closes to shut off fuel to the engine. In this case, the quick reaction of our crew to reset the T-handles ensured engine power was not lost.&#8221;
Audio recorded by LiveATC.net revealed that Seattle-area air traffic controllers were alerted about the attempt to turn off the plane&#8217;s engines.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit, and he doesn&#8217;t sound like he&#8217;s causing any issues in the back right now,&#8221; the pilot told Seattle-area air traffic controllers in audio recorded by LiveATC.net. &#8220;I think he&#8217;s subdued. Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and are parked.&#8221;
Upon arrival, the Port of Portland Police Department arrested Emerson for trying to seize control of the flight filled with 80 passengers on board, including lap infants, two pilots, and two flight attendants in the passenger cabin, according to local media.
Emerson was charged with 83 felony counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment, and one count of endangering an aircraft, according to Multnomah County Sheriff&#8217;s Office booking records.
Emerson remains in custody in Multnomah County on a federal hold pending his first appearance in federal court on a later date.
According to court documents <a href="https://abc7ny.com/pilot-joseph-emerson-alaska-airlines-pleasant-hill-david/13960619/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by ABC, Emerson told police he has been struggling with depression for six months and hadn&#8217;t slept in almost two days. He said he told the flight attendants to restrain him and said to authorities he was having a &#8220;nervous breakdown.&#8221;
Emerson also claimed to have used psychedelic mushrooms and wanted to wake up from what he thought was a dream.
Aubrey Gavello, a passenger on the plane, told ABC that a flight attendant alerted the other passengers that Emerson had suffered a mental breakdown.
&#8220;After we did land and the gentleman was escorted off, the flight attendant got back on the speaker and said, plain and simple, &#8216;He had a mental breakdown,'&#8221; Gavello said. &#8220;We needed to get him off the plane immediately.&#8221;
Alaska Airlines said in a statement <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12666655/pilot-joseph-david-emerson-trial-attempted-murder.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by the Daily Mail that the crew responded without hesitation to the &#8220;difficult and highly unusual situation.&#8221;
&#8220;All passengers on board were able to complete their journey with a new crew and aircraft,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;We are grateful for the patience of our guests throughout this event and are reaching out to each of them individually to discuss their experience and check-in on their well-being.&#8221;
According to the airline, Emerson joined Alaska Air Group as a Horizon First Officer in August 2001. He left the company in June 2002 to join Virgin America as a pilot. After Alaska acquired Virgin America in 2016, Emerson became an Alaska Airlines First Officer.
He later became an Alaska Airlines Captain in 2019.
&#8220;Throughout his career, Emerson completed his mandated FAA medical certifications in accordance with regulatory requirements, and at no point were his certifications denied, suspended or revoked,&#8221; the statement said.

US-AIRPLANE-ACCIDENT

Off-Duty Pilot Accused Of Attempting To Shut Down Plane Engines Mid-Flight Hit With Federal Charge

Off-Duty Pilot Accused Of Attempting To Shut Off Plane Engines Mid-Flight Hit With Federal Charge

Airlines

Crime

Mental Illness

Plane Crash

San Francisco

Seattle

An off-duty Alaskan Airlines pilot riding as a passenger in the cockpit of a fully occupied flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco was reportedly arrested on Sunday after allegedly attempting to shut down the plane&#8217;s engines in midair.
Horizon Air flight 2059 departed Seattle Paine Field International Airport to the Bay Area of California on October 22 when the pilots were forced to divert the aircraft to Portland International Airport in Oregon because of &#8220;a credible security threat related to an authorized occupant in the flight deck jump seat,&#8221; Airline officials said in a news release <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/23/alaska-airlines-pilot-diverts-flight-after-security-threat-in-cockpit.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by CNBC.
&#8220;The jump seat occupant unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines,&#8221; the airline said in a portion of the news release <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-charged-attempted-murder-trying-shut-alaska-airlines-engines-fligh-rcna121681" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> by NBC. &#8220;The Horizon Captain and First Officer quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.&#8221;
Pilots commonly hitch a free ride when traveling personally or professionally to another airport in a jump seat located in the cockpit just behind the captain and first officer flying the jet.
Airline officials reportedly said the crew followed Federal Aviation Administration procedures and guidance from air traffic control for the flight to safely divert to Portland International Airport and is being investigated by law enforcement authorities.
Audio <a href="https://archive.liveatc.net/kpdx/KPDX-ZSE-Oct-23-2023-0100Z.mp3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recorded</a> by LiveATC.net revealed that Seattle-area air traffic controllers were alerted about the attempt to turn off the plane&#8217;s engines.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit, and he doesn&#8217;t sound like he&#8217;s causing any issues in the back right now,&#8221; the pilot told Seattle-area air traffic controllers in audio recorded by LiveATC.net. &#8220;I think he&#8217;s subdued. Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and are parked.&#8221;
Upon arrival, the Port of Portland Police Department arrested Joseph Emerson, an off-duty pilot accused of trying to seize control of the Alaska Airlines flight filled with 80 passengers on board, including lap infants, two pilots, and two flight attendants in the passenger cabin, according to <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/alaska-air-off-duty-pilot-tries-to-shut-off-engines-on-flight-from-everett/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">local media</a>.
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Emerson, 44, was charged with 83 felony counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment, and one count of endangering an aircraft, according to Multnomah County Sheriff&#8217;s Office <a href="https://www.mcso.us/PAID/Home/Booking/1573087" target="_blank" rel="noopener">booking records</a>.
It was not immediately clear why Emerson attempted to disrupt the flight. However, Alaska Airlines officials said the crew secured the aircraft without incident.
&#8220;We are grateful for the professional handling of the situation by the Horizon flight crew and appreciate our guests&#8217; calm and patience throughout this event,&#8221; Alaska Airlines said.

Los Angeles Exteriors And Landmarks – 2021

Off-Duty Pilot Accused Of Attempting To Shut Down Plane Engines Mid-Flight Charged With 83 Counts Of Attempted Murder: Reports

A former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/portland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland</a> city commissioner who pushed to defund the police <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2023/09/21/jo-ann-hardesty-portlant-politics-oregon-lawsuit-hit-and-run-police-racism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will get</a> a $680,000 payout from the police over claims that cops leaked information falsely implicating her in a hit-and-run.
Jo Ann Hardesty was briefly falsely <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2021/03/16/portland-police-association-president-resigns-amid-leak-investigation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">implicated</a> in a March 3, 2021, hit-and-run after a 911 caller mistakenly identified her as the driver of the vehicle that hit her.
Two Portland Police Bureau police officers allegedly <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2021/03/16/portland-police-association-president-resigns-amid-leak-investigation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leaked</a> the false implication of Hardesty to media outlets and others, but she was quickly cleared in the minor collision.
Hardesty, the first black woman to serve as a Portland city commissioner, then sued the city and the police in late 2021, claiming the alleged police leaks were racially and politically motivated.
Her lawsuit, which sought $5 million, was set to go to trial this month before the parties reached the massive $680,000 settlement. The payout <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2023/09/21/jo-ann-hardesty-portlant-politics-oregon-lawsuit-hit-and-run-police-racism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will come</a> from Portland&#8217;s police union and the two officers allegedly involved in the leak.
Hardesty said she hopes the settlement will prevent something like this from happening again.
“This settlement holds the Portland Police Association and the individuals accountable for their wrongful conduct and the unnecessary harm they caused,” Hardesty <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2023/09/21/jo-ann-hardesty-portlant-politics-oregon-lawsuit-hit-and-run-police-racism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“While this settlement does not make me whole, I’m hopeful that shining a light on this unfortunate situation will prevent others from having this burden brought upon them,” she said.
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The city previously <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/08/jo-ann-hardesty-settles-leak-lawsuit-against-portland-for-5000-and-written-apology.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">settled</a> its part of Hardesty&#8217;s lawsuit in August for $5,000 and a written apology from Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.
At the time, the police leak also prompted Wheeler to launch an investigation into the leak&#8217;s origin.
Less than two weeks after the hit-and-run incident, the president of the Portland Police Association, Brian Hunzeker, resigned, the union <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/03/portland-police-union-president-resigns-over-serious-mistake-related-to-hit-run-report-that-named-commissioner-jo-ann-hardesty-in-error.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">citing</a> his &#8220;serious, isolated mistake related to the Police Bureau’s investigation into the alleged hit-and-run by Commissioner Hardesty.&#8221;
Hardesty&#8217;s lawsuit had accused Hunzeker and another officer of being involved in the leak.
In 2020, Hardesty was on the front lines of the push to defund Portland&#8217;s police department during the riots following the murder of George Floyd. In Portland, the daily, often violent protests drew hundreds and stretched into October.
During the summer of 2020, Hardesty <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2020/10/20/portland-police-budget-jo-ann-hardesty-chloe-eudlay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spearheaded</a> $15 million in cuts to the police budget. That fall, she pushed for the police department to lose million of dollars more.
Since then, Portland beefed up its police budget again after homicides ticked up and amid a police staffing shortage.
“I think people acknowledge that we’re at an inflection point in our city,” the mayor <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2023/05/17/portland-oregon-city-council-passes-7-billion-dollar-budget-city-fees-debate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> earlier this year as the city considered a budget with funding for dozens more cops. “Studies show people are choosing not to stay here. I see this as a critical moment in the city’s history that we should respond to.”
In July, 2020, Hardesty apologized for claiming that police &#8220;saboteurs&#8221; were infiltrating the protests and even starting fires.
Hardesty had said in an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=278967990045742&amp;ref=external" target="_blank" rel="noopener">online briefing</a> that, “I want people to know that I do not believe there’s any protesters in Portland that are setting fires, that are creating crisis. I absolutely believe it’s police action, and they’re sending saboteurs and provocateurs into peaceful crowds so they justify their inhumane treatment of people who are standing up for their rights.”
Hardesty, a firm progressive, ultimately <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/11/rene-gonzalez-with-law-and-order-focus-ousts-portland-commissioner-jo-ann-hardesty-in-contentious-city-council-race.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost her</a> reelection bid to another Democrat who ran as a law and order centrist.

Unrest In Portland Continues

Portland Police Will Pay Nearly $700,000 To Former Official Who Pushed To Defund Them

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Defund The Police

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Nike announced the permanent closure of its factory store in northeast Portland, Oregon, on Friday due to ongoing &#8220;theft and safety issues&#8221; after nearly 40 years of business on the city&#8217;s northeast side, according to a non-profit that supports economic and business development in the neighborhood.
The Soul District Business Association (SBDA) reported the footwear and apparel store&#8217;s decision during a phone call with <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2023/09/nike-to-permanently-close-ne-portland-factory-store-business-district-says.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">local media</a>, calling the decision a &#8220;major economic blow.&#8221;
&#8220;This news has landed like a lead balloon in our district,&#8221; John Washington, the SDBA&#8217;s executive director, said in a news release. &#8220;We had all been holding our breath since last November when the store quietly shuttered its doors due to internal and external theft and safety issues.&#8221;
&#8220;But, like so many of us riding out the fallout of the pandemic and protests, we held out hope that Nike, city officials and community leaders would recalibrate and realign order. But it looks like it&#8217;s game over,&#8221; Washington added.
The Nike Community Store reportedly opened in June 1984 after Portland civil rights activists worked to bring the shoe brand&#8217;s first-ever factory store on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, formerly Union Avenue. <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2023/09/nike-to-permanently-close-ne-portland-factory-store-business-district-says.html">According</a> to local media, the area was once the center of the city&#8217;s black population.
The economic driver for the section of the Pacific Northwest city became &#8220;one of the first area businesses to stand up and declare Northeast Portland as a viable community to do business in,&#8221; Ron Herndon, who led the Black United Front, <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2023/09/08/northeast-portland-business-association-says-nike-factory-store-is-closed-for-good/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> said in a 2004 Nike press release.
But after Portland defunded its police department in 2020, local business owners affected by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/portland-businessman-targets-elected-officials-with-national-legal-initiative-over-covid-lawlessness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crime and property destruction</a> struggled to maintain safety and security. Nike officials reportedly closed the store down more than six months ago before finalizing plans to close and vacate permanently.
Earlier this year, Nike requested that city officials provide off-duty police officers for security purposes at the company&#8217;s store in northeast Portland, but Mayor Ted Wheeler reportedly declined, citing a staffing shortage from the Portland Police Bureau.
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Wheeler told local media he was &#8220;very disappointed&#8221; in a statement on Friday about the closure, saying his office and city officials &#8220;worked tirelessly and in good faith with Nike for almost a year to offer creative solutions to their safety challenges.&#8221;
Nike officials <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/nike-abandons-portland-store-re-opening-amid-theft-safety-issues" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News Digital it cares &#8220;deeply about Portland&#8217;s North and Northeast community,&#8221; adding it has provided brand &#8220;access and connection&#8221; to the district for roughly four decades &#8220;while serving as a catalyst for change through volunteerism, investments and partnerships with non-profit organizations that benefit the community.&#8221;
&#8220;Nike&#8217;s commitment to supporting and uplifting Portland&#8217;s North and Northeast community is unwavering. We are reimagining Nike&#8217;s retail space, permanently closing our current location at 2650 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and considering future locations as part of this community&#8217;s long term revitalization plan,&#8221; the company said.
&#8220;True to our roots, we will seek the input of local community organizations and leaders to determine the best new location. As we plan ahead, we are keeping the best interest of our employees at heart, providing them options to continue to be part of the Nike family,&#8221; it added.

Tiger Woods Announces Indefinite Break From Golf

Nike Permanently Closes Portland Factory Store Over ‘Theft And Safety Issues,’ Business Group Says

Nike Permanently Closes Portland Factory Store Over 'Theft And Safety Issues,' Business Group Says

Business

Nike

Ted Wheeler

The Portland City Council passed a ban on using <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/drugs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hard drugs</a> on public property in a sign of how fed up the city is with rampant open-air drug use polluting its streets.
Oregon&#8217;s state legislature would have to approve Portland&#8217;s ban, however, meaning the state would have to reverse a recent decision to decriminalize hard drug use.
The City Council voted unanimously 5-0 on Wednesday to ban the use of hard drugs like fentanyl, heroin, and meth on public property.
The emergency ordinance also attaches criminal penalties to drug use on public property, namely up to six months in jail or a $500 fine.
“These are necessary, common-sense steps to disrupt debilitating drug use on the streets of Portland that does deep damage to our city’s livability, overwhelms our emergency response system and destroys lives,” Commissioner Rene Gonzalez said.
For the ban to go into effect, Oregon state lawmakers would have to pass a law allowing cities to crack down on public drug use.
In 2020, Oregon voters approved by 58% a ballot measure that decriminalized public drug use, a decision most voters now say they regret, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/majority-of-voters-in-oregon-regret-decriminalizing-drugs-survey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to one survey.
Measure 110, which took effect in early 2021, decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs including the increasingly popular fentanyl, heroin, and meth. The law made possession punishable only by a maximum fine of $100.
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Two years later, more than 6 in 10 voters said they think decriminalization has made drug addiction, homelessness, and crime worse in Oregon, according to a <a href="https://www.dhmresearch.com/oregon-voters-support-bringing-back-criminal-penalties-for-drug-possession/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> from DMH Research. A combined 63% said they &#8220;strongly&#8221; supported or would be &#8220;somewhat&#8221; interested in once again criminalizing hard drugs.
Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, emphasized the urgency of Portland&#8217;s drug addiction crisis at Wednesday&#8217;s council meeting.
“The bottom line is this: Week by week the situation is getting worse,” the mayor said. “We have to focus with urgency to save lives and livelihoods.”
Fatal overdoses have skyrocketed in the Portland area in recent years.
Last year, fentanyl deaths alone hit a record 209 deaths in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, the Oregonian <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/09/portland-leaders-approve-public-drug-use-ban-state-law-must-first-change-to-enact.html?outputType=amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Between 2018 and last year, fatal overdoses from opioids increased fivefold.
So far this year, Portland police are investigating more than 100 suspected drug overdose deaths, according to the mayor.
Almost every resident who spoke at the City Council meeting voiced their support for the city&#8217;s ban on public use of hard drugs, the Oregonian reported.
Meanwhile, beer and marijuana remain illegal to consume on public property in Portland, such as on sidewalks or in city parks.
The City Council also unanimously approved a resolution that involves requesting changes to state law to align the rules on public consumption of drugs “with existing regulations governing alcohol and cannabis.”
Meanwhile, harrowing scenes of open-air drug use and homelessness continued to come out of Portland, tarnishing the once-thriving city&#8217;s image and rebranding it as decrepit and unsafe.
Other California cities have struggled with homelessness, drug use, and rising crime as well. In San Francisco, businesses have abandoned the downtown area as open-air drug use has become more prevalent in the area.

Community Activist Offers Drug Addicts Safe Haven In Mobile Consumption Room

Portland City Council Passes Ban On Hard Drug Use On Public Property, But State Must Approve

Drugs

Homeless

Homelessness

Rachael Abraham’s life was never easy. At 10-years-old, her mother signed away her rights to children, placing Rachael and her younger siblings in the foster care system.
Then, while Rachael was in high school, her white foster parents abandoned her and drove to California without leaving a forwarding address, the Washington Examiner <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/a-murder-in-portland">reported</a> last December. For years, Rachael moved from friend’s house to friend’s house, until she met Shay Whitaker while working at a Subway restaurant at 19-years-old. Rachael moved in with Shay and her mother, and life started looking up.
<div id="attachment_606385" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-606385" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-606385" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Rachael-Abrams-download-864x576.webp" alt="Rachael Abraham and Shay Whitaker. (Shay Whitaker, Washington Examiner)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Rachael-Abrams-download-864x576.webp 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Rachael-Abrams-download-300x200.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Rachael-Abrams-download-768x512.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Rachael-Abrams-download-1200x800.webp 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/Rachael-Abrams-download.webp 1290w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Rachael Abraham and Shay Whitaker. (Shay Whitaker, Washington Examiner)</div>
Rachael met Mario Abraham, married, and had three children. Before their marriage, however, Rachael’s little sister Marissa was sent back to Eugene, Oregon, on a bus by the same foster parents who abandoned Rachael years earlier. Rachael cared for her 16-year-old sister, who eventually met a man named Cevelino Capuia. In 2006, Capuia kidnapped a man and shot him. When he was arrested, he confessed to the crime and named his accomplice, Shawn Ryan Womack. On the day Capuia was arrested, Womack took Rachael’s little sister to the Oregon coast and shot her in the head.
“It is very sad that they took my sister away because all we knew and had was each other,” Rachael told a local newspaper at the time.
Rachael, who was of Somali descent, converted from Catholicism to Islam before she and Mario divorced. She then dated another man, who was a Muslim Somali, and had another daughter. After that relationship ended, Rachael began dating Mohamed Osman Adan, or Mo, to those who knew him. Together they had three more kids, meaning that by the age of 36, Rachael was mother to 7 children.
Soon, however, Mo showed that he had a darker side. He repeatedly beat her and threatened her. Fed up with the treatment, Rachael made the frightening decision to leave him, but this only escalated his torture.
Mo knew where Rachael was living, and would break into her home after midnight and punch, choke, and threaten Rachael, telling her he would kill her. During one of these break-ins, he held a gun to her head. Rachael called the police and was told to request a no-contact order.
“When I told him I was leaving him, he told me that he would kill me,” she wrote on that request.
Mo was told to stay at least 150 feet away from Rachael and our children, but he never adhered to the order. On the evening of June 23, 2022, Mo showed up at Rachael’s home and was let in by her 4-year-old – Mo’s daughter. He was on drugs and broke Rachael’s phone, then blocked her from escaping. For hours, he beat her and choked her five times, telling her he was “going to put you to sleep now,” as he knelt on her throat.
When Mo finished, he went upstairs to retrieve his phone, but Rachael got to it first and ran out the front door, calling the police. With a visible black eye, Rachael told police she believed Mo was going to kill her.
Mo was charged with five counts of felony strangulation but was released from jail with the requirement to wear a GPS ankle monitor. Again, he ignored his orders and went to Rachael’s home on July 27, 2022, where he cut off the ankle monitor. He later claimed someone broke into his apartment and cut it off while he was asleep. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest, but he was soon back out on the streets.
This time he returned to Rachael’s home on August 11, 2022, and broke in. He slammed Rachael to the ground and sat on her chest while covering her mouth. Barely able to breathe, she screamed and woke up her children. Mo began whipping Rachael in the face with prayer beads before he locked her outside. He was again arrested and charged with contempt of court for once again violating the no contact order.
Mo’s final attack came on the morning of August 27. He returned to Rachael’s home and began beating and yelling at her. She managed to call 911 and could be heard saying “I am not doing black magic!” before the line cut out. The operator called back, but no one answered. Meanwhile, Mo was dragging Rachael to her children’s bedroom, pushed her face into a window screen, and stabbed her with a kitchen knife. He kept stabbing, even after she died, and then placed her in a bed.
Then, he called his mother and told her what he had done, took a shower, and called 911 at 10:41 a.m. He told the operator that Rachael was dead and was told to perform CPR, but he refused. He claimed he acted in defense of his children and had taken the knife from Rachael.
Police arrived and found Rachael’s youngest children – ages 7, 4, and 2 – had been in the house during the killing. They quickly took the children outside before investigating the home. They found holes in the walls and broken door locks upstairs, as well as a large red stain in one of the children’s bedrooms where Rachael had died. In the bed, her body was covered by a sheet. Her face had been slashed vertically, her nose wounded deeply, and her upper lip sliced in half, the Examiner reported. She had been beaten and stabbed before and after she had been strangled to death.
The blade of the kitchen knife was found on the floor, its handle missing.
Rachael’s death was made possible by progressive laws in Oregon that allowed Mo to be released from jail even with his clear history of abuse, ignoring court orders, and Rachael’s numerous statements that she knew he would kill her.
Many people could have made decisions that would have meant Rachael was still alive, still able to hug her and raise her children. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt argued that his office had tried to keep Mo in prison by pursuing what he called a “high bail amount in this case,” which was only $60,000 – or $6,000 since a 10% surety was all that was required to get him out of prison. That never mattered anyway, as Mo was repeatedly released when no bail was actually set until August when Judge Angela Lucero set his bail at just $20,000, which only required a $2,000 payment to set him free.
That bail was paid by Amanda Trujillo of Portland Freedom Fund, a progressive organization that repeatedly posted bail for violent offenders who went on to violate their release conditions or skip their court hearings. As the Examiner noted, 39 of the 67 people the fund bailed out failed to adhere to court orders or appear in court. That means 58% of the fund’s recipients violated court orders – compared to the statewide average of 7%.
Trujillo tried multiple times to place the blame for Rachael’s murder on someone else. She said he had been referred by the African Youth and Community Organization (AYCO), which helps members of the Somali community navigate America’s complicated legal system. An advocate at AYCO, Mohamed Yahia, had been asked by Mo to help him fight a DWI charge in Minnesota. Yahia helped Mo fill out a motion for default judgment. Later, Yahia helped get Mo a job delivering donated air conditioners. In July 2022, Mo asked Yahia to write him a letter of support saying he had volunteered for the AYCO. Yahia wrote a simple letter stating as much, believing the letter was going to Mo’s parole officer for the DWI. The letter also contained a line saying Mo’s temperament had “seen improvement.”
This, Trujillo said, was the endorsement Portland Freedom Fund used to decide to bail out Mo, apparently without doing any independent research, or assuming that $20,000 bail for strangulation charges meant they weren’t that serious.
There was also Judge Benjamin B. Johnston, who let Mo out of jail and simply ordered him to “wear GPS [and have] no contact w/ Rachael Angel Abraham or children.” This came after Mo had already proved he would ignore court orders to stay away from Rachael.
The Portland Freedom Fund has since dropped off the radar, shutting down its social media accounts. It has been called out for its role in Rachael’s murder, and could not withstand the onslaught of online comments.

Highway and neon sign at night, Portland, Oregon, USA

Crime Files: Portland Progressives Helped Get A Wife Beater Out Of Prison. He Killed Her.

Bail Reform

Leftists

Murder

True Crime

Women

An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oregon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oregon</a> county home to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/portland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland</a> lost over $1 billion in income as the area saw a large exodus of people amid complaints about rampant homelessness and crime.
From 2020 &#8211; 2021, a net total of 14,257 tax filers and their dependents left Multnomah County, according to IRS data <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/data/2023/07/multnomah-county-lost-record-1-billion-in-income-in-2021-as-residents-moved-away.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analyzed</a> by The Oregonian/Oregon Live. Most of the residents who left during the year after the pandemic started tended to have higher income, according to Oregon Live.
“The real question is to what extent the pandemic era changes were temporary, or if they are permanent,” state economist Josh Lehner said. “Unfortunately, that can’t be answered until we get the 2023 and 2024 data.”
Over one fifth of people who left Multnomah went to the suburbs of Portland in nearby Clackamas County, according to the data. Other people went to Texas, South Carolina, or Washington.
Many residents in Portland have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/my-lawn-is-now-becoming-a-public-bathroom-portland-residents-fed-up-with-citys-homeless-population" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised concerns</a> over crime and skyrocketing homelessness, which <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/oregon-county-lost-1-billion-2020-residents-fled-crime-homelessness-its-like-portland-died" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> 50% from 2019 to 2022. Overall population in the city has fallen steadily over the last several years, leading Portland to have the distinction of being one of the most rapidly declining cities in America.
“I want to cry,” Christina Hartnett, a local resident, told KGW8 last year. “I just want my house back. My lawn is now becoming a public bathroom.”
“When you have grown men meth raging in your driveway, the last thing I feel safe doing is going out and saying, ‘Hey, can you please move so I can go to work?&#8217;” she added.
In May, longtime resident Larry May said that tourists no longer came to Portland. “It’s like Portland died,” he <a href="https://www.kptv.com/2023/05/23/portland-is-one-fastest-shrinking-us-cities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox 12. “The tourists haven’t come back like they used to be.”
May also said that crime was rising due to funding cuts for police. “I hope they get it back up again because the crime is really bad, shootings,” he said. “It’s not the Portland I knew.”
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In 2020, amid violent protests against police, Portland’s city council <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/portland-doctor-bloodied-by-metal-bottle-in-unprovoked-attack-slams-city-for-defunding-the-police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> to slash the police department’s budget by $15 million. The city has gradually attempted to reinstate funding, but with little results.
Afterward, Portland’s police department started hemorrhaging officers. The city has hired more police since September when the city was short 100 cops, but the police department is still down about 80 officers.

Protestors Gather At Portland, OR Park Where Police Shot And Killed Man

Oregon County Home To Portland Loses Over $1 Billion As Thousands Leave During Pandemic

A Portland doctor who was bloodied and struck unconscious by a metal bottle in an unprovoked attack on Friday is holding the city responsible, calling out the city&#8217;s leftist leaders for &#8220;defunding the police.&#8221;
Mary Costantino, an interventional radiologist, left a bar downtown around 10:30 pm with a friend when an attacker walked towards the two and chucked an aluminum bottle at her, striking her face and knocking her unconscious.
She was left with a black eye and a bloodied face, including a cut on her nose and a busted lip, according to photos taken shortly after the attack, which show the doctor looking dazed as she sits on the sidewalk next to a pool of blood.
The attack was captured on surveillance footage, which <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/08/03/portland-doctor-mary-costantino-struck-in-face-during-unprovoked-attack/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shows</a> a hooded white man with a backpack and the aluminum water bottle crossing the street to chuck the bottle at Costantino, who crumples to the ground when she is hit. Her male companion stumbles when the bottle is thrown and starts to walk toward the attacker, who runs away.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
PORTLAND, Oregon – Police are asking for the public’s help after an unknown suspect knocked a woman unconscious with a metal bottle in NW Portland.
Video shows Dr. Mary Costantino walking near a MAX train station when she was hit by a metal water bottle.
“I got hit and I fell… <a href="https://t.co/bRT43gX5NK">pic.twitter.com/bRT43gX5NK</a>
&mdash; Denn Dunham (@DennD68) <a href="https://twitter.com/DennD68/status/1687093203449630722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Costantino said her friend saved her from being attacked again.
&#8220;He said that the perpetrator … was still coming towards me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And he turned around and really aggressively yelled at him and the guy ran away.&#8221;
Costantino <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-woman-knocked-attacker-blames-city-slow-police-response-ourselves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> she believed she was going to die as she bled on the sidewalk.
“I thought we were still being sort of attacked some way and so I managed to call 911. I was very calm, but I was also very sure I was going to die,” she told Fox News. “In my head, I was like ‘I’m gonna try and just verbalize a report of what was happening so there’s some record of how I died.&#8217;”
The attack happened in downtown Portland near Southwest 17th Avenue and Southwest Yamhill Street.
Costantino said she had to wait more than 20 minutes for police to arrive, but she emphasized that the police were not to blame for the delay.
&#8220;I do not hold the police accountable for this at all — I hold our city accountable for defunding the police,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t have enough police force to protect our citizens, and we did this to ourselves.&#8221;
&#8220;If we don&#8217;t have police officers to come to the side of somebody who is under attack, then we&#8217;re all on our own,&#8221; Costantino said.
She said that she has &#8220;100%&#8221; changed how she votes after seeing Portland become less and less safe.
In 2020 amid violent protests against police, Portland&#8217;s city council <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-police-budget-15-million-defund-cannabis-council-vote/#:~:text=UPDATE%20(2%3A16%20p.m.%20PT,advocates%20had%20been%20pushing%20for." target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> to slash the police department&#8217;s budget by $15 million. The city has gradually attempted to <a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2023/05/04/portland-mayors-proposed-budget-includes-more-cops/">reinstate</a> funding but with little results.
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Afterward, Portland&#8217;s police department <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/04/overworked-overwhelmed-and-burned-out-why-portland-cops-say-theyre-leaving-in-droves.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">started</a> hemorrhaging officers. The city has hired more police since September when the city <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/portlanders-taking-precautions-avoid-attacked-response-rising-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was short</a> 100 cops, but the police department is <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-woman-knocked-attacker-blames-city-slow-police-response-ourselves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still down</a> about 80 officers.
The Portland Police Bureau <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-woman-knocked-attacker-blames-city-slow-police-response-ourselves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> the violent incident, with a spokesman saying the attack appears to be &#8220;unprovoked and brutal&#8221; according to the security camera footage.
The spokesman said officers were dispatched at 10:55 pm, about 20 minutes after Costantino says the attack happened, and they arrived on the scene eight minutes later, but by then, Costantino had already given up and started going home.
&#8220;Our goal is always to help as much as we can, as quickly as we can. But with our staffing being at historic lows, this has become a challenge for us,&#8221; Lieutenant Nathan Sheppard <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-woman-knocked-attacker-blames-city-slow-police-response-ourselves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News.
&#8220;Our officers joined the Police Bureau to help people, and when they are unable, it takes a toll,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We’re continuing to hire, so there’s definitely hope, and things WILL get better.&#8221;
Sheppard also said that at the time of Costantino&#8217;s call, there were zero officers free to respond. Police were actively working on 26 other calls across Portland, and 52 calls were holding, he said.

Portland Doctor Bloodied By Metal Bottle In Unprovoked Attack Slams City For ‘Defunding The Police’

Portland Doctor Bloodied By Metal Bottle In Unprovoked Attack Slams City For 'Defunding The Police'

The following excerpt is taken from the new book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Cultural-Revolution-Conquered-Everything/dp/0063227533/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America’s Cultural Revolution: How The Radical Left Conquered Everything</a>,” by Christopher F. Rufo, (July 2023, Broadside Books, HarperCollins)
There are few places on earth where political radicals and their children ritualistically burn the American flag and chant “Death to America” — Tehran, Baghdad, Beirut, Kabul, Ramallah, and Portland, Oregon.
The city of Portland, a grim and cloud-covered metro on the south bank of the Columbia River, has developed a reputation for the colorful sloganeering of its political protestors. Anarchists, communists, eco-fascists, and a variety of other agitators regularly denounce the police, politicians of both parties, and the American state itself; flag-burning has become part of the regular syntax of the protest movement.
During the summer riots in 2020, teenagers associated with the Youth Liberation Front escalated the rhetoric with chants of “Death to America” and months of violence to avenge the death of George Floyd. Children as young as three or four years old marched with the crowd to the federal courthouse, raising the Black Power fist and chanting “F*** the Police! F*** the Police!”
The irony isn’t difficult to identify: Portland is famously the “whitest city in America,” and yet it has become the headquarters of race radicalism in the United States. The city has elevated white guilt into a civic religion. Its citizens have developed an elaborate set of rituals, devotions, and self-criticisms to fight the chimeras of “systemic racism” and “white supremacy.” The ultimate expression of this orthodoxy is violence: street militias, calling themselves “anti-racists” and “anti-fascists,” are quick to smash the windows of their enemies and burn down the property of anyone who transgresses the new moral law. 
It might be easy to dismiss this as the work of a few harmless radicals who are “keeping Portland weird” and, for the most part, represent a minority coalition of the malcontent and the mentally deranged — a quick glimpse through the Antifa mugshots released by the Portland Police Department will confirm this impression. But in recent years, the underlying ideology of Portland’s radicals has become institutionalized. The city government has adopted a series of Five-Year Plans for “equity and inclusion,” shopkeepers have posted political slogans in their windows as a form of protection, and local schools have designed a program of political education for their students that resembles propaganda.
The schools of Portland have self-consciously adopted Paulo Freire’s “pedagogy of the oppressed” as their theoretical orientation, activated it through a curriculum saturated in critical theory, and enforced it through the appointment of de facto political officers within individual schools under the cover of “equity and social justice.” The internal documents from three local districts — Tigard-Tualatin School District, Beaverton School District, and Portland Public Schools — reveal this revolutionary shift. Administrators and teachers have combined theory, praxis, and power in service of Left-wing political activism.
The results are predictable. By perpetuating the narrative that America is fundamentally evil, steeping children in the doctrine of critical pedagogy and lionizing the rioters in the streets, the schools have consciously pushed students in the direction of revolution. In the language of the Left, the political education program in Portland-area school districts could be described as a “school-to-radicalism pipeline” — or, more provocatively, as a training ground for child soldiers.
This is not hyperbole: some of the most violent anarchist groups in Portland are run by teenagers. Dozens of minors were arrested during the long stretch of the George Floyd riots. They have attached their political cause to climate change, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, and Black Lives Matter — whatever provides the pretext for violent “direct action.”
The movement is unmistakable: out of the schools and into the streets. And contrary to those who believed that the end of the Trump presidency would usher in a “return to normalcy,” the social and political revolution in Portland has not stopped with the ascendance of President Biden — it has only accelerated. On the day of Biden’s inauguration, teenage radicals marched through the streets of Southeast Portland, smashing the office windows of the state Democratic Party, and unfurling large banners with their hand-painted demands: “We don’t want Biden, we want revenge”; “We are ungovernable”; “A new world from the ashes.”
The children of Portland, intoxicated by revolution and enabled by their elders, have escaped the chain.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/fvabbab" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s interview with Christopher Rufo</a></h4>
Tigard, Oregon, is a placid suburban city southwest of Portland. The city’s historic main street is a pastiche of coffeehouses, boutiques, repair shops, and small-town restaurants. Historically, the city’s political squabbles have been focused on zoning and land use issues, with developers fighting the city, preservationists fighting developers, and neighbors fighting one another — in other words, the typical political patterns of an affluent, predominantly white American suburb.
Nevertheless, the educators at the Tigard-Tualatin School District have gone all in on radical pedagogy and the social justice trinity of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
In 2020, at the height of the George Floyd riots, Tigard-Tualatin superintendent Sue Rieke-Smith and board chair Maureen Wolf signed a proclamation “condemning racism and committing to being an anti-racist school district.” The preamble to the document recited the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, which has become a penitential rite in social justice circles, then confessed that the district’s “students of color, and Black students in particular, still regularly experience racism in [their] schools.” To rectify this situation, the superintendent pledged to become “actively anti-racist,” “dismantle systemic racism,” implement a “collective equity framework,” establish “pillars for equity,” deploy “Equity Teams” within schools, create racially segregated “Student Affinity Groups,” and use “an equity lens for all future curriculum adoptions.”
The following month, the district announced the creation of a new Department of Equity and Inclusion and installed left-wing activist and critical pedagogist Zinnia Un as its director. Un quickly created a blueprint for overhauling the curriculum at Tigard-Tualatin schools. The document explicitly called for adopting Freire’s “pedagogy of the oppressed.” Following Freire’s categorizations, Un argued that the Tigard-Tualatin School District must move from a state of “reading the world” to the phase of “denunciation” against the revolution’s enemies and, eventually, to the state of “annunciation” of the liberated masses, who will begin “rewriting the world.” For Un, the first-order targets of denunciation were not capitalism and colonialism, as they were for Freire, but the new set of targets for the modern West: “whiteness,” “color blindness,” “individualism,” and “meritocracy.” These are the values of capitalist society, to be sure, but more deeply, they are the values of white society, which, to the second generation critical pedagogists, is the primary axis of oppression.
What is the solution to pathological whiteness? According to Un and the Tigard-Tualatin School District, the answer lies with a new form of “white identity development.” In a series of “antiracist resources” provided to teachers, the Department of Equity and Inclusion circulated a handout of strategies for “white identity development,” which were designed to “facilitate growth for white folks to become allies, and eventually accomplices, for anti-racist work.” The process, which is couched in the language of personal development, begins with the assumption that all whites are born “racist,” even if they “don’t purposely or consciously act in a racist way.” In order to move beyond this state, white students must do the work of reformulating their identities according to the dictates of “anti-racist” ideology. The first step is “contact,” in which white students are confronted with “active racism or real-world experiences that highlight their whiteness.” The goal is to provoke an emotional rupture that brings the subject to the next step, “disintegration,” in which he or she feels intense “white guilt” and “white shame,” eventually admitting: “I feel bad for being white.” Once the emotional hooks have been established, the training outlines a process of moving white students from a state of “reintegration” to “pseudo-independence” to “immersion” to “autonomy,” in which whites can finally serve as “allies” for the oppressed.
This is an explicitly political project: at the early stages, the district encourages students to participate in activities such as “attending a training, joining an allies group, participating in a protest.” Later, white students are told to analyze their “covert white supremacy,” host “difficult conversations with white friends and family about racism,” and use their “privilege to support anti-racist work.” At the final stage, the trainers plumb the depths of the students’ individual psychology to ensure that pathological “whiteness” has been banished from their psyches. Students must answer a series of questions to demonstrate their final commitment: “Does your solidarity make you lose sleep at night? Does your solidarity put you in danger? Does your solidarity cost you relationships? Does your solidarity make you suspicious of predominantly white institutions? Does your solidarity have room for Black rage?”
This is not a pedagogy of education; it is a pedagogy of revolution.
***
Christopher F. Rufo is a writer, filmmaker, and activist. He has directed four documentaries for PBS, including America Lost, which tells the story of three forgotten American cities. He is a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute and a contributing edi­tor of the public policy magazine City Journal. His reporting and activism have inspired a presidential order, a national grassroots movement, and legislation in twenty-two states. Christopher holds a BSFS from Georgetown University and an ALM from Harvard University. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and three sons.
Reprint by permission from HarperCollins and Broadside Books.
This chapter excerpt is taken from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Cultural-Revolution-Conquered-Everything/dp/0063227533/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America’s Cultural Revolution: How The Radical Left Conquered Everything</a>, by Christopher F. Rufo, (July 2023, Broadside Books, Harper Collins)

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Authorities in Portland, Oregon, made the biggest fentanyl bust in the history of Multnomah County Sheriff&#8217;s Office last week, seizing tens of thousands of pills and powder.
Deputies seized gallon-sized plastic bags of 58,000 fentanyl pills and 16 pounds of fentanyl powder in Portland&#8217;s Goose Hollow neighborhood on Tuesday, the law enforcement agency <a href="https://flashalert.net/id/MCSO/165329" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a press release.
<div id="attachment_596839" style="width: 491px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-596839" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-596839" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/multnomah-OR-fentanyl-bust.jpg-300x169.webp" alt="(Multnomah County Sheriff's Office)" width="481" height="271" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/multnomah-OR-fentanyl-bust.jpg-300x169.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/multnomah-OR-fentanyl-bust.jpg-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/multnomah-OR-fentanyl-bust.jpg-768x432.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/07/multnomah-OR-fentanyl-bust.jpg.webp 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 481px) 100vw, 481px" />(Multnomah County Sheriff&#8217;s Office)</div>
They also seized scales, a manual-operated pill press, a commercial-grade pill press, $5,000 in cash, and a stolen handgun, the sheriff&#8217;s office said. The handgun had been reported stolen, according to its serial number.
The fentanyl pills and powder would have been worth between $320,000 and $400,000 on the streets of Portland, the sheriff&#8217;s office estimated.
The identity of an arrested suspect has not yet been released.
The bust was the result of a months-long investigation by the sheriff’s Special Investigations Unit, which focuses on disrupting large drug trafficking and criminal organizations.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for a wanted man&#8217;s car and apartment and watched him walk to a vehicle before taking him into custody &#8220;at the opportune time,&#8221; the sheriff&#8217;s office said.
The second biggest fentanyl bust the sheriff&#8217;s office made happened last year when deputies seized 92,000 fentanyl pills and other drugs during a traffic stop.
&#8220;One pill can kill,&#8221; the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office reminded in its press release.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is cheap to make and easily transported, is about 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Because it is often cut with other drugs, users may often be unaware that they are consuming the powerful substance, which can be deadly even in small doses.
As little as two milligrams of fentanyl weighing the same as a few grains of salt can cause a fatal overdose, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
In a public safety alert, the DEA <a href="https://www.dea.gov/alert/dea-laboratory-testing-reveals-6-out-10-fentanyl-laced-fake-prescription-pills-now-contain#:~:text=It%20is%20a%20highly%20addictive,considered%20a%20potentially%20deadly%20dose." target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that six out of ten fentanyl pills the agency tests contain a potentially lethal dose.
In 2022, more than two-thirds of the 107,081 drug overdose deaths involved synthetic opioids, mostly illegal fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In Portland, a fentanyl crisis is raging where multiple people can fatally overdose in a single weekend. Over the weekend of May 12, police <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/portland/2023/05/30/fentanyl-overdoses-rise-portland-oregon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> eight people died of suspected fentanyl powder overdoses.
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As of May 16, Multnomah County had recorded 504 total drug overdose deaths since June 2022, <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/portland/2023/05/30/fentanyl-overdoses-rise-portland-oregon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Tri-County Opioid Safety Coalition.
Portland, where many businesses operate, is <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2023/06/open-air-drug-use-is-at-an-all-time-high-in-downtown-portland-police-turn-to-citations-as-fentanyl-crisis-explodes.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Oregon%2DIdaho,%2C%E2%80%9D%20said%20Portland%20police%20Sgt." target="_blank" rel="noopener">notorious</a> for open-air drug dealing, public <a href="https://fox23maine.com/news/local/downtown-portland-businesses-say-homeless-have-been-using-storefronts-as-public-bathrooms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urination</a>, and petty crime. Foot traffic downtown plummeted during COVID and has remained down as businesses struggle from the riots and pandemic lockdowns.
Crime has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/portland-businessman-targets-elected-officials-with-national-legal-initiative-over-covid-lawlessness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spiked</a> in Portland since the pandemic.
Since COVID, shootings in Portland have <a href="https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2023/02/10/whats-the-matter-with-portland-shootings-theft-and-other-crime-test-citys-progressive-strain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tripled</a>, homicides have risen from 36 in 2019 to a record 97 in 2022, and car thefts have spiked to 11,000 last year, up from 6,500 in 2019.
The homeless population in Oregon at large, which comes hand in hand with the drug addiction crisis, has <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2023/04/oregons-recent-growth-in-homelessness-among-largest-in-nation.html">increased</a> by 23% in just two years, one of the largest increases in the country.

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Portland Sees Biggest Fentanyl Bust In Sheriff’s Office History

Portland Sees Biggest Fentanyl Bust In Sheriff's Office History

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