DHS: Portland mayor must 'prioritize public safety' or feds will have 'no choice but to protect' Americans

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Demonstrators march by Portland mayor's home, demand resignation

Demonstrators set fire outside mayor's condo building; Matt Finn reports.

EXCLUSIVE -- Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has sent a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, urging the Democrat to request federal assistance for his city after months of riots.

“I urge you to prioritize public safety and to request federal assistance to restore law and order in Portland,” Wolf wrote in the letter dated Aug. 31. “We are standing by to support Portland. At the same time, President Trump has made it abundantly clear that there will come a point when state and local officials fail to protect its citizens from violence, the federal government will have no choice but to protect our American citizens.”

Portland has seen over three months of nightly violent protests, including three recent killings, as pro-Trump groups and left-leaning protesters have fought in the streets.

According to DHS, as of July 31, local law enforcement has made 255 arrests and declared 23 riots and unlawful assemblies.

“Despite this,” Wolf told Wheeler, “you have stood by passively, arguing that the nightly violence 'will ultimately burn itself out.' The evidence demonstrates otherwise.”

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Wolf’s letter seemed to serve as a direct response to Wheeler’s letter to President Trump dated Aug. 28 in which the mayor rejected any federal assistance.

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“Dear President Trump: Yet again, you said you offered to aid Portland by sending in federal law enforcement to our city. On behalf of the City of Portland: No thanks,” Wheeler wrote.

He went on to argue that Portland didn’t need the president’s “politics of division and demagoguery.”

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, left, wrote a stern letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler. (AP, File)

“Portlanders are onto you,” Wheeler wrote. “We have already seen your reckless disregard for human life in your bumbling response to the COVID pandemic. And we know you’ve reached the conclusion that images of violence or vandalism are your only ticket to reelection.”

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Wolf’s letter urged Wheeler to reconsider. “The chaos, destruction, and suffering in Portland are evils you can stop—and must stop. Consider what happened recently in Wisconsin—where the State of Wisconsin requested and received federal law enforcement assistance and the violence and looting there ended.”

He continued, “Accordingly, I urge you to prioritize public safety and to request federal assistance to restore law and order in Portland. We are standing by to support Portland. At the same time, President Trump has made it abundantly clear that there will come a point when state and local officials fail to protect its citizens from violence, the federal government will have no choice but to protect our American citizens.”