President Donald Trump said that officials are mulling designating Antifa a terror group ahead of a planned rally in Portland that officials feared would devolve into violence.
According to signs being placed on at least one Starbucks in Portland, the store would be closing at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday because of the planned demonstrations.
The demonstrations were expected to include conservative groups Patriot Prayer, the Proud Boys, and the Three Percenters, with Antifa showing up to counter-demonstrate. Antifa, a far-left group, openly espouses violence against opponents and last month bashed journalist Andy Ngo and at least two other men in broad daylight.
Police have not made any arrests in those beatings.
Ngo said that the likely clashes “have the potential to be a powder keg.”
“The event looms in the shadow of recent mass shootings by the antifa & far-right ideologues. Police seem to be at a breaking point,” he wrote on Twitter on Friday.
“And there are people who want bloodshed.”
Wheeler has consistently condemned conservative groups but avoided mentioning Antifa by name. He struggled to say why police haven’t' made any arrests from the assaults Antifa committed last month when a host asked “What message does that send?”
“With all due respect I disagree,” Wheeler responded. “We don’t tolerate any act of violence—not that act of violence or any other. And the police are investigating and they are following up on leads.”
“They have photographs of some of the individuals that they believe were the perpetrators. I know that the intelligence unit continues to follow-up on those leads and I’m confident that there will be arrests in that particular case. This isn’t about anybody’s politics,” he said. “If they’re breaking the law, we’re going to enforce it. We’re going to hold people accountable.”
Police this week sent out a map of Portland showing various things going on in the city, noting the planned demonstrations but saying “the area of impact is a very small portion of Portland.”
“There are many events happening in other parts of the metro area that will not be impacted. Here are few. Enjoy!”
“Based on publicly available information, the Bureau is concerned events on August 17 may involve persons interested in participating in criminal activity,” it added.
“Force is not the preferred response for making arrests or keeping an area safe, but it is an option law enforcement personnel may utilize to prevent violence, protect themselves or others, or disperse a crowd, for example. Force options may include, but are not limited to: physical force, pepper spray, pepper balls, rubber ball distraction devices, or cs gas. It is imperative for those involved to listen to the admonishments from the sound trucks and law enforcement personnel or be subject to force.”
A 5k walk/run was moved from the west side of the river to the east side because of the planned demonstrations, the paper reported. Dan Bower, executive director of Portland Streetcar, Inc., said that the Portland Streetcar Scavenger Hunt was postponed.
A Rose City Antifa spokesman confirmed that Antifa was planning to show up at the planned demonstrations.
“We will not allow Portland to be a playground for far-right violence,” said a man who identified himself only by the first name David. “We will not shy away from defending the city or ourselves.”
