How to ruin the First Amendment for everyone
High-ranking Portland police officials told state lawmakers they’ve tried to de-escalate violence at nightly downtown protests but a small group of anarchists intentionally try to injure officers and require them to use tear gas and other munitions that affect entire crowds.
Portland Police Deputy Chief Chris Davis testified Friday that officers who face off with violence-prone demonstrators know “who a lot of them are,†but the risks are usually too high to forge into the crowd and immediately arrest people they see engaged in criminal activity.
These are the people we need to get off the streets. I don’t know what the sentence is for the charges they’d face, but already I’d say double it.Â