During a press conference on Sunday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler urged individuals of all political persuasions to join in renouncing violence, after an escalation of protest-related violence caused one fatality. Officials are pointing to social media posts vowing revenge for a fatal shooting amid weekend street clashes between supporters of President Donald Trump and counter-demonstrators.
“For those of you saying on Twitter this morning that you plan to come to Portland to seek retribution, I’m calling on you to stay away,” said Wheeler. He also lashed out at President Trump for political rhetoric that he said “encouraged division and stoked violence,” and criticized Trump’s Twitter posts, which criticized Wheeler and urged him to request help from the federal government to restore order. “It’s an aggressive stance. It’s not collaborative,” Wheeler said of Trump’s tweets. “I’d appreciate it if the president would support us or stay the hell out of the way.”
Wheeler and Police Chief Chuck Lovell said investigators were still working to establish the sequence of events leading to the fatal shooting late Saturday in downtown Portland.
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