Have Portland’s Professional Protesters™ been smoked out? Since May 29th, Portland has been the back drop of more than 100 nights of antifa, anarchist and Black Lives Matter, Inc™ terroristic riots. They set fires, looted, and intimidated people by threatening to burn them alive in their homes.
But after the millions of dollars of destruction, criminality and thuggery it stopped last week. Poof!
Why?
I certainly don’t want to tempt these thugs, but it can’t go without saying that Portland’s 100 plus days of riots appeared to end after Wednesday, September 9th.
That was the last time the Portland Police Bureau warned about protests.
SW Jefferson to SW Salmon from SW 1st to SW Broadway is closed to pedestrians but open for vehicular traffic. All people must leave the area to the west now. Champman and Lownsdale Squares are now closed.
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) September 9, 2020
The usual live-streamers decamped to other riots and fires.
By September 10th, the overworked cops from Portland Police Bureau were offered out to assist other agencies. Suddenly, instead of being required to work the riots lines, they were free.
I have offered @ClackCoSheriff and @ORStatePolice PPB officers to assist with emergencies related to fires. PPB recognizes the need for us all to come together as a state to assist one another in this time of need.
— Chief Chuck Lovell (@ChiefCLovell) September 10, 2020
Why?
On September 7th to the morning of the 8th, the Pacific Northwest experienced a major “wind event.” Winds gusted through Oregon and Washington at more than 60 miles per hour. Fires that had been allowed to crackle along, such as the Beachie fire, flared up. Power lines were downed. The fires kicked up.
And then came the reports. Clackamas County Sheriff’s officials reported that people had seen antifa protester types reportedly stashing gas cans, looting, and looking ridiculously out of place. They were taking pictures and giving locals grief for trying to keep them out of closed neighborhoods. Locals wondered if there was a connection between the fires and the sightings of these folks.
BLM was seen there. The original BLM, the Bureau of Land Management, not the group that borrowed the acronym.
Preventable wildfires threaten lives, property, & precious resources every year. During the #COVID19 pandemic, firefighters are needed more than ever to keep Americans safe, so please, do your part to prevent human-caused wildfires. #WildfirePrevention pic.twitter.com/POm4nfr3W1
— Bureau of Land Management Fire and Aviation (@BLMFire) September 14, 2020
And just as suddenly, such sightings and reports were dismissed as rumors and lies. Myriad law enforcement agencies begged people to stop sharing such stories, as I reported on PJMedia.
I reached out to the Portland Police Bureau for a comment on the lag in riots, but didn’t receive a reply before publication.
Riot-weary Oregonians aren’t necessarily mollified by the concerted effort to shut down these reports. Until last Wednesday night, they’d seen the antifa rioters and arsonists in action on the news every night in Portland. And now some of them swore they saw those people in Estacada, Sandy, Molalla and other parts of the burning Clackamas County.
Indeed, documents from the Department of Homeland Security show that whatever antifa rioters are doing, they’re doing in concert, organizing with other like-minded people.
are organized and show up night after night, and share common TTPs (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures)..”
"Threat actors who are motivated by Anarchists or ANTIFA (or a combination of both) ideologies to carry out acts of violence against State, Local and Federal authorities..”
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) September 14, 2020
The internal document leaked yesterday from the Department of Homeland Security reads:
According to this @DHSgov internal email, obtained @CBSNews, former Acting Under Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis Brian Murphy wrote colleagues on July 25th that the Portland violence was not “opportunistic” but “organized” citing “Anarchists or Antifa”
“We can’t say any longer that this violent situation is opportunistic. Additionally, we have overwhelmingly(sic) intelligence regarding the ideologies driving individuals toward violence + why the violence has continued.
A core set of Threat actors are organized and show up night after night, and share common TTPs (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures).. Threat actors who are motivated by Anarchists or ANTIFA (or a combination of both) ideologies to carry out acts of violence against State, Local and Federal authorities..”
They’re organized, share the same tactics and talk to each other. Why are they so quiet right now?
Oregonians might well wonder that these “threat actors” are doing their arsons in the tinder dry woodlands of the state instead of nearby downtown Portland.
The riots have stopped. Did they go to San Francisco or Lancaster, Pennsylvania to raise hell? Did they stop because of the smokey skies and air quality numbers that are off the charts? It seems unlikely that a group that spawned a murderer, multiple arsonists and police assaulters would be dissuaded by smoky quality air. Is it because the media are busy covering the wildfires and there’s nothing in rioting for the terrorists? Or is it because of something else?
The riots are over for now. Why?