The Apple Store in downtown Portland re-opened this week after falling victim to “peaceful” protesters last spring. The see-through glass box sitting on a downtown street corner was shattered and looters “protesting” George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis swept the shelves of untold thousands of dollars in Apple merchandise and trashed the place. The Louis Vuitton store across the street was next wiped clean by looters – for “justice,” you understand.
The looting and destruction were just the beginning of 120 days of violent nighttime violence in the City of Roses.
Apple store in Portland being looted during protest pic.twitter.com/GqmGCOqRkt
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) May 30, 2020
After the store got trashed, Apple put up black sheets of plywood on the jersey barrier moored fences to protect it. But soon, graffiti artists and muralists festooned the fence line with black power pictures and homages to George Floyd and the visages of other black people “murdered” by police.
Apple’s downtown Portland store reopens Monday after nearly nine months https://t.co/KEqlvjDxVm pic.twitter.com/Q9gzOrww30
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) February 21, 2021
The head of Don’t Shoot PDX, who has publicly proclaimed that there is no such thing as peaceful protest, took a victory photo in front of the commandeered panels.
The murals stayed up unmolested until January, when the store donated them to the group Don’t Shoot PDX, an offshoot of Black Lives Matter in Portland. Both Portland groups are run by the same family.
The store still sits behind a high fence, an homage to wokeness, communicating an unspoken plea, “Please don’t hurt us!”
I happened to go by the Apple Store the day before it reopened, while on a self-guided and self-coined Portland Dystopian Tour and noticed the black mesh fencing and plastic jersey barriers surrounding the store.
Don't miss the #Portland #Dystopia Tour on the latest @AdultInThe Room Podcast with @VictoriaTaft
Here's the #Apple store that was looted and partially destroyed in the name of social justice. https://t.co/ABxIgnzHAN pic.twitter.com/a1F9aiWpyR— Adult in the Room Podcast (@adultinthe) February 25, 2021
By the next day, the store had removed the jersey barriers and replaced the black mesh with an opaque one.
But the fence triggered Michael Steeber, a reporter for 9to5Mac, who said the fence “implies that the community is a threat.”
I can’t imagine where he would get that idea.
#Portland: Protesters have looted several stores in Portland, including an Apple Store and a Louis Vuitton store. The Wells Fargo bank has also been damaged.
pic.twitter.com/R0VgdHum4y— I.E.N. (@BreakingIEN) May 30, 2020
But he says the fence is “an extremely grim look IMO, and arguably worse optics than staying closed longer.”
This is an extremely grim look IMO, and arguably worse optics than staying closed altogether for a little while longer. It implies that the community is a threat. https://t.co/kt4nmRVieB
— Michael Steeber (@MichaelSteeber) February 23, 2021
Apparently, the reporter must have bought all those fake press accounts that rioters were “peaceful,” noting the fencing is “garnering a lot of negative attention, and rightfully so.”
I know I brought it up yesterday, but this is an extremely bad look for Apple and I hope they take down the fence sooner than later. It's garnering a lot of negative attention, and rightfully so. https://t.co/mbUvo04x5D
— Michael Steeber (@MichaelSteeber) February 25, 2021
The Oregonian newspaper’s Shane Kavanaugh reported that someone said it “looks like you have to enter a prison to get a MacBook.”
Quite right.
Sure. Seems 'open.' pic.twitter.com/mNiP8VgyZl
— Victoria Taft – Parler, Minds, Facebook, 5VTShow (@VictoriaTaft) February 27, 2021
This customer who visited the day the store re-opened said much of the store was sealed off, telegraphing that repairs were still being made because the damage, he thinks, was much worse than the store let on.
Picking up a HonePod Mini on first day of the Portland Apple Store re-opening. Most the store is still damaged and closed off. Large interior sections sealed off. Broken glass panels. Looks mostly unrepaired. pic.twitter.com/6GPN3MjDDu
— Colin Cornaby (@colincornaby) February 22, 2021
Across the street, the Louis Vuitton store is reopened, though it is still boarded up after getting stripped of several multiple thousand dollar bags and other high-end merchandise in the same riot. The plywood is covered with murals – indulgences paid to BLM. See the murals in the video below.
Paid indulgences to rioters.
Join me on my #PortlandDystopianTour in my @AdultinThe Room Podcast. #EauDePortlandia#AdultintheRoomPodcast#Portland #PortlandRiots#LouisVuitton#AppleStore https://t.co/mOYEq43tm8 pic.twitter.com/3093goDjLq
— Victoria Taft – Parler, Minds, Facebook, 5VTShow (@VictoriaTaft) February 27, 2021
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The core area of downtown – city hall, government buildings, including the state and the notoriously attacked federal courthouses – are still boarded up. The second-story windows at city hall are covered with Black Lives Matter signs.
Across the street, statues have been wrecked and removed, and nearby high rises are closed. A 7-Eleven is boarded up and outfitted with Black Lives Matter signs, as well.
The greater question now is, what have Apple and the other stores have opened themselves up to?
A Portland Business Alliance study found that foot traffic downtown has dropped by 80% since 2019.
People don’t go where they don’t feel safe.
Things are looking up a bit, though. The core is slightly cleaner than the last time I saw it. Graffiti has been scrubbed off the granite walls of high rises in the core, though you can still see the vandalism. The government seems clearly afraid of the rabble and most of those buildings remain locked and blocked.
On the day I visited, there was a Black Lives Matter protest remembering the “murder” of a “27-year-old father of three,” who just happened to have just pulled off a double gangland shooting and refused to drop his weapon when cops arrived.
One local economist calls the downtown core Pompeii or Detroit. For the record, those are not good things.
While on the Dystopian Portland Tour we ran into an apparently well-connected individual who was setting up a business along the Willamette River on private property. Excited, we stopped to ask him what he was up to. He gladly waxed excited over his idea (which shall remain nameless because he might get the Andy Ngo or Mike Strickland treatment). But he immediately offered that “there’s no money in Portland,” and that the city’s business climate and vibrancy wouldn’t come back “for at least ten years.”
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Mayor Ted Wheeler, hounded out of his home and restaurants by antifa and BLM activists, declared the Apple opening a huge step forward.
Great to have Apple open for business again. The murals covering the downtown store were donated to Don’t Shoot PDX. Portland looks forward to more businesses reopening soon. https://t.co/J74ZcQ8Iww
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) February 24, 2021
Nine months ago when it was sacked, the Apple Store had just reopened after shutting down for COVID-19. Weeks later, rioters and looters decimated it.
The first weekend the Apple Store was fully back open, there was a planned protest mere blocks away.
Let’s hope the fences hold.
Victoria Taft is the host of “The Adult in the Room Podcast With Victoria Taft” where you can hear her series on “Antifa Versus Mike Strickland.” Find it here.Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, MeWe, Minds @VictoriaTaft
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