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In the hours after the Nov. 19 acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on murder charges in Wisconsin, Portland saw its first significant political property destruction in several months, as around 150 people pelted the Multnomah County Justice Center with eggs and shattered the windows of a nearby design office. Sheriff’s deputies declared a riot—the only one in the nation following the Rittenhouse verdict. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Mr. Pamook, via wweek.com: “Shouldn’t these wankers travel to Kenosha and do this?”
Brian, via Twitter: “How did the author know they were ‘leftists,’ merely because they allegedly protested the verdict? Only ‘leftists’ thought he might be guilty? Propagating division is what keeps us divided.”
Scrappymutt, via wweek.com: “Just want to point out there were like 100 kids throwing eggs at a building at this ‘riot’ and there are like 200 comments on this article. People want this story to be true so bad they barely even notice that it’s not. My 7-year-old plays soccer, and his games are probably more violent than this ‘riot,’ not to mention better attended.”
SafeSpacer, in response: “I really hope I am not alone in saying we don’t want to go back to the ‘nothing to see here’ press coverage of this sort of activity. Sustained, tolerated rioting, vandalizing, arson and looting throughout 2020 really did do a lot of damage reputationally to the city which may be irreversible. A little bit of puritanical outrage is warranted at this point. If you’re still unconvinced, ask yourself: Do you think a planned Patriot Prayer rally at the waterfront with a few dozen attendees should be covered by the press?”
Mike Miller, via Facebook: “Why do the people of Portland hate windows so much? They let you see into and out of things. They’re quite handy.”
SteadyStan, via wweek.com: “We are a city of 652,000 people, and we continue to allow 100 to 200 people to trash and vandalize businesses, destroy public property, harass innocent bystanders. In other words, 0.03% of the population is destroying this city’s core and precious reputation. And, by the way: It’s not just downtown, as we’re continually told. Look around and you’ll see ‘ACAB’ or some form of really nasty anti-police trash graffiti virtually everywhere in town; you don’t have to look far.
“Everyone around the world…yes, world…is watching this city get trashed by terrorists over and over again, asking, ‘Are they really that stupid?’ Yes, we are.”
Marla Watson, via Facebook: “We were five blocks away on Broadway and Salmon and had no idea anything was going on. Downtown was nice, just like it always was. I think the media creates much ado about nothing.”
CORRECTION
A story on Prosper Portland’s contract to demolish the U.S. Post Office site (“Lost in the Mail,” WW, Nov. 17, 2021) incorrectly stated that the economic development agency initially awarded the contract to a white-owned firm. In fact, it was a Native Alaskan owned firm not certified as a minority contractor. Prosper preferred but did not require certification. WW regrets the error.
LETTERS to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296. Email: mzusman@wweek.com.