PORTLAND, Ore. — For the first time since Saturday, Chief Danielle Outlaw addressed how the police bureau responded to the violent assaults that occurred when clashing left- and right-wing groups gathered in downtown Portland.
Outlaw said officers responded appropriately and any suggestion that they were “cowards” is foolish.
“There’s a perception that they ran away from confrontation and that couldn’t be the furthest from the truth,” she said.
Several violent clashes, including the assault of a conservative writer, have garnered national coverage that has mostly been critical of Mayor Ted Wheeler, with some saying the mayor has handcuffed how police respond to violent demonstrations.
RELATED: 3 people arrested as dueling demonstrations turn into ‘civil disturbance’ in downtown Portland
“The Mayor never gave us direction to stand down on Saturday,” Outlaw said. She re-iterated that point several times during Wednesday’s news conference.
Outlaw said while it’s unfortunate there were injuries, there could have been more assaults if it weren’t for the response of police.
“The chance for additional injuries was really leveraged and mitigated. Officers spent a lot of time separating parties,” she said.
KGW obtained audio of the news conference from KXL radio but did not have a reporter in attendance to ask our own questions. Portland police only announced the news conference through a single tweet 24 minutes before it started. A KGW reporter was later able to speak to an assistant chief but a police spokeswoman said Outlaw was too busy to speak to several members of the media who missed her original remarks.
Portland police were also criticized for posting a tweet Saturday that said some milkshakes being thrown at officers contained quick-drying cement, a claim many have said is not true and the bureau said was based on reports, although not confirmed. Outlaw said focus on the tweet is like being distracted by a “shiny object” and that there was no intent to mislead behind the alert.
“We put that information out in good faith. There were no ill intentions behind it whatsoever and it was in an effort to keep everyone safe,” she said.
Saturday was the first time this summer left- and right-wing groups brawled in the streets of downtown Portland. Far-right groups and left-wing anti-fascists, often wearing masks, have been involved in several violent clashes in Portland since Donald Trump was elected president. Outlaw said the demonstrations have turned into “entities” seeking a fight.
“I don’t what they were protesting because they came to fight,” she said.
“We solely, wholeheartedly support individuals’ First Amendment rights to free speech. But we can’t continue to allow people to use the guise of free speech to commit crime,” Outlaw said.
Outlaw said there aren’t enough “legislative tools” to help the city and police prevent these planned clashes from occurring. She said a protest ordinance that was voted down by Portland City Council last November may have prevented what happened Saturday. She also voiced support for legislation that would ban people from wearing masks while committing a crime.
“We need strategic resources to get ahead of this before it starts, so it’s not even allowed to happen in the first place,” she said.
The ACLU of Oregon released the following statement on the idea of banning masks:
"There’s no easy answer, but there are a lot of concerns. There are many legitimate reasons people wear “masks”, including political and religious reasons. And people may rightly fear retaliation for their First Amendment activities from their employer, landlord, etc. We have doubts that this type of policy could be enforced in a constitutional manner.”
Outlaw said it will take a community-driven call to action for change to happen, and is hoping Saturday’s assaults could be a turning a point.
“The entire city and the community, we have to sit down at the table and figure out a better way to address this to make sure it doesn’t even happen in the first place,” she said.
Three people were arrested on Saturday. Police are asking for the public's help with identifying more assault suspects. Anyone who has information about the suspects or assaults is asked to call police.
