Portland Economy Suffers at the Hands of Violent Protesters

In an article this morning by Ian Lovett of the Wall Street Journal, the months of protests that often led to riots and violence in Downtown Portland are now hindering the recovery of the economy. Lovett points out, “The violence downtown has become a persistent roadblock in Portland’s attempts to reopen and revive its economy as vaccinations spread, Covid-19 cases fall, and business restrictions are loosened.” Many small businesses have been forced to close their doors for months, while others have had to close them permanently due to the riots that began last June. 

Local officials in Portland had voiced their support of the “racial justice” protests when they began, and for months as they continued. Many of these protests turned violent and business owners were forced to board up their windows, residents were no longer feeling safe in their neighborhoods, and people were getting physically harmed. The Mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler made this statement last week, “The community is sick and tired of people engaging in acts of criminal destruction and violence. The rioters were harming the cause of racial justice, and also standing on the air hose of the economic recovery for a lot of our small businesses.” Those who were initially in support of these protests are recognizing the amount of damage both economically and socially these rioters have done and continue to do. Lovett reminds us that there had to be a fence put up around the courthouse in Portland to keep the rioters at bay, the fence was taken down last month in hopes the community could begin to return to the state it was in pre-protests and pre-Covid. However, the fence had to be put back up because “…within days, bands of rioters were back in Downtown Portland. They blocked streets, broke windows threw a can of beer at police, and once again vandalized the courthouse”. The reminder here is that law enforcement officers must be well-trained and prepared to take action when a peaceful protest becomes violent to prevent a riot. When law enforcement officers are no longer ‘allowed’ to step in to protect the community and its residents, lawlessness becomes an acceptable norm, as we are seeing in Portland.