Portland Police Union boss says elected officials are condoning ‘destruction and chaos’

Daryl Turner, the Portland police union boss, held a press conference on Sunday in the besieged Oregon city. The conference was held outside of the union’s offices just a day after the building was broken into by rioters who set fire to it.

Portland has been facing rioters and looters for almost two months now and agents have been deployed by the Department of Homeland Security to protect the city’s government buildings. Some Oregon officials have objected to the move.

"This is no longer about George Floyd. This is no longer about racial equity or social justice. This is no longer about reform or the evolution of policing. This is about violence, rioting, destruction, chaos, anarchy, buildings on fire, dumpsters on fire, broken glass, and damaged businesses," Turner noted.

"It is time to stand up. It is time to tell your elected officials that the city is under siege because of their inaction. Our elected officials have condoned the destruction and chaos of our city. They have invited privilege and entitlement to burn and destroy our buildings, businesses, and livelihoods," he added.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler last week claimed that the presence of the federal government is responsible for giving rise to more violence.

"My biggest immediate concern is the violence federal officers brought to our streets in recent days, and the life-threatening tactics his agents use. We do not need or want their help," said Wheeler in a tweet following a conversation with Chad Wolf, the DHS Acting Secretary.

"The best thing they can do is stay inside their building, or leave Portland altogether," Wheeler said. "Our goal is to end these violent demonstrations quickly and safely. And in the meantime, I asked him to clean up the graffiti on local federal facilities."

Approximately $23 million in damage to public property has come as a result of the riots. Wolf noted that he had turned down the Mayor’s request during a Fox News interview on Friday.

"Earlier this week I called not only the mayor but the governor. I offered DHS support to help them locally address the situation that’s going on in Portland and their only response was, 'Please pack up and go home,'" Wolf noted. "That is just not going to happen on my watch."

"Whatever the local leadership here is telling us, we’re going to do our job, we are going to do it professionally, but we are not going to have these violent anarchists who show up about the same time every night for a series of hours and having that federal destruction to property," Wolf said.