Masked protesters by an occupied home speak with a neighborhood resident opposed to their encampment and demonstration in Portland, Ore., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Makeshift barricades erected by protesters are still up in Oregon’s largest city a day after Portland police arrested about a dozen people in a clash over gentrification and the eviction of a family from a home. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:03 AM PT – Thursday, December 10, 2020
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) has vowed to make his city safer by putting an end to a newly established autonomous zone.
In a series of tweets Tuesday, the Democrat said he authorized police to use “all lawful means” to end the occupation on North Mississippi Avenue, which has been comprised by mostly radical-left Antifa members.
There was a lengthy, thorough judicial proceeding resulting in a lawful judge’s order to evict people illegally occupying a home. Multnomah County chose the time, place and manner of the eviction and Portland Police provided support.
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) December 9, 2020
The announcement came after the group set up barricades and road spikes in front of a building known locally as the “red house.” This came in an alleged effort to protect the Kinney’s, a black and indigenous family, from eviction.
According to reports, the house was foreclosed back in 2018 and the Kinney’s have been living there illegally ever since. Things escalated in the area when Antifa members clashed with police who arrived to serve the Kinney’s yet another eviction notice.
Footage shows the crowd hurling rocks at the officers, spraying them with fire extinguishers and damaging their vehicles. Before retreating, officers said they made at least seven arrests.
Mayor Wheeler responded to the unrest by stating, “there are many ways to protest and work toward needed reform.” He added, “illegally occupying private property, openly carrying weapons, threatening and intimidating people are not among them.”
Seattle protesters created the infamous Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, also known as CHAZ, earlier this year following the May death of George Floyd. By using fences and cars to mark its borders, CHAZ consumed six blocks of the city. It was wiped out by police when local officials finally decided to act.
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