Holly MatkinPortland, OR – An antifa mob targeted Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan’s home on Thursday night, after he voted against a proposal to further defund the city’s police force.
The rioters later started the front doors of City Hall on fire.
The crowd marched from Arbor Lodge Park in North Portland to Ryan’s home on North Holman Street at approximately 8:45 p.m., the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) Unified Command said in a press release.
“While there, individuals broke a window, threw burning flares and paint filled balloons at the home, and broke potted plants,” the MCSO said.
Video footage showed the mob as they chanted and cheered outside the city commissioner’s house while aiming flashing lights at his windows.
The sound of something shattering could also be heard in the video.
The Unified Command responded to the area and declared and unlawful assembly, according to the MCSO.
A mob of antifa have descended on the home of Portland city council member Dan Ryan for voting against @JoAnnPDX’s amendment to defund police. They’re attacking his home now (turn on audio). #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/YJoJhX3XIS
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) November 6, 2020
Officers ultimately had to physically disperse the crowd.
“The Portland Police Bureau and Portland Fire & Rescue are actively investigating this alarming criminal activity that put an entire neighborhood at risk,” the MCSO said. “This is the fourth night in the past week Commissioner Ryan has had agitators cause both vandalism and disruption to his home and neighborhood.”
Law enforcement have arrived after antifa tried mobbing the home of Portland city council member @Commissionerry1 after he was the swing vote against a proposal to defund police. They have showed up to his home before to intimidate him on the vote. pic.twitter.com/gQxoV8j88e
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) November 6, 2020
At approximately 10 p.m., rioters managed to ignite the doors of Portland City Hall on fire, according to the MCSO.
Portland Fire and Rescue responded to the scene and extinguished the blaze.
A fire investigator is now working on the case.
“It’s believed a burning object was placed or thrown at the door, which caused the fire,” the MCSO said. “Whoever started the fire remains outstanding.”
The event is being promoted as not welcoming to live streamers, which is an indication that there may be some who intend to engage in criminal activity. We ask businesses and residents in the area to secure items that could be taken and used as barricades or material for burning.
— Multnomah Co Sheriff (@MultCoSO) November 6, 2020
Oregon Governor Kate Brown extended an executive order creating the Unified Command for the second time on Friday, KPTV reported.
Under the order, the Oregon State Police (OSP) and the MCSO have been placed in joint command of public safety in the City of Portland.
The latest extension of the directive is set to expire at 5 p.m. on Sunday, KPTV reported.
Ryan was considered to be the swing vote on the budget proposal being pushed by Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty to slash another $18 million from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
He joined Commissioner Amanda Fritz and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler in voting against the amendment on Thursday, causing it to fail by a vote of 3-2.
Hardesty, whose push to defund the PPB by $15 million earlier this summer was approved by the commission, openly accosted Ryan, Fritz, and Wheeler for refusing to comply with her latest demand to further defund the police department, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
“The people have spoken,” she ranted. “And I’m pretty sure they’re just as disappointed as I am with the lack of courage in this historic moment where, just for a second, Black lives mattered in Portland.”
Protesters had already marched to Ryan’s home on three occasions prior to Thursday’s vote, the MCSO said.
“Dan Ryan don’t be a villain! Defund PPB by $18 million!” they chanted during one gathering outside his residence, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Ryan had championed additional defunding measures during his campaign earlier this year, but said on Thursday that Hardesty’s plan wasn’t the way to go about it.
“Cutting an additional $18 million at a time when we have no viable alternative to fill the service gap left behind is not my idea of police reform,” he said, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
The successful $15 million PPB budget cut that went through earlier this year brought an abrupt end to the department’s specialty units and axed eight positions from the SWAT unit, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
Hardesty’s latest proposal would have pulled over $760,000 in funding from the PPB’s SWAT team and Rapid Response Team, the latter of which is responsible for handling crowd control.
She further called on her fellow commissioners to permanently impose the $4.6 million police budget cut that was previously approved as a “one-time” deal, and urged them to eliminate 42 vacant sworn positions altogether.
A record number of officers retired from the force in August, and another group is expected to follow suit in January.
The city also plans to cut 84 PPB officer positions on July 1 of next year, The Oregonian reported.
