A woman who confronted Portland, Ore., Mayor Ted Wheeler finally got the apology we've all been waiting for. The mayor finally apologized for the "Summer of Love" riots of 2020. Susan Griffin told Wheeler how the riots destroyed her life and her sense of security and worsened her PTSD, and he apologized. But there's a catch.
In the past, Wheeler has apologized to rioters for police behavior and to squatters for dismantling their "autonomous zone," but this time he apologized for how the riots and mayhem affected the people who live in downtown Portland. That area was ground zero for the intensified Antifa, BLM, and anarchist violence starting in 2016 and getting out of control in 2020. The proximity of this planned violence to presidential elections is no coincidence, by the way.
Downtown Portland's core area still has not recovered from the mismanagement of the riots that used the George Floyd death in Minneapolis to cause violence, arson, and disruption, prompted looting and vandalism, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the federal courthouse, government buildings, and businesses.
Had rioters been arrested and prosecuted early they may have gone home, but the left's fellow traveler, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, largely let them go un-prosecuted. The Portland Tribune reported that 91% of rioters never faced charges.
Mayor Ted Wheeler didn't apologize for that, either.
He did apologize, however, to a frail, disabled woman who says she's a registered Democrat and told Wheeler how the riots had destroyed her life, her sense of security, and her neighborhood. She wrote about her experience on Twitter/X on Wednesday.
I'm a registered Democrat living in downtown Portland, Oregon.
— Rumble Dumbs (@SusanGriffin530) February 7, 2024
Four years ago, my life was full. I was happy, free, and content, I could leave my home and not be in fear, I was nothing like I am today.
Oregon Democrats have groomed me.
I was just a little old lady trying to get… https://t.co/EsfjXQR3ul
The downtown resident wrote the words echoed in the minds of most Oregonians and people around the country:
I'm a registered Democrat living in downtown Portland, Oregon. Four years ago, my life was full. I was happy, free, and content, I could leave my home and not be in fear, I was nothing like I am today. Oregon Democrats have groomed me. I was just a little old lady trying to get through the covid "crisis." Like everyone else in the world, I was locked up in my apartment under the mandated lockdown. and then one night I was awoken by an explosion. BOOM!! Lights filled my room. And then another, and another, and another... For over ONE-HUNDRED FIFTY CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS, like clockwork starting at 10 pm, sometimes lasting until 6 am I contended with the violent riots. Thousands of Screaming people Ranting and chanting Hovering helicopters for HOURS above my building Sirens Bullhorns and megaphones LRAD flash grenades mortars fire works violence, rage, anger, arsons my neighbors and I were assaulted... shattered windows graffiti shall I continue, or do you kinda get my drift? The last 4 years of my life have been worse than the first 4 years after my only child died. I've emailed every commissioner we had, called Wheeler's office literally 100s of times, and emailed Senator Wyden his representative, Grace Stratton lied to me for four months, until after the 2020 election when she essentially gave me the finger and told me there was "nothing more that she could do..." I begged these people for help. I testified in front of City Hall in June, all to an avail. Today I go outside in my neighborhood and see the fallout from not only the riots but M-110, the homeless catastrophe, and drug addiction and mental illness. I lost count after seeing 14 overdoses, I've witnessed 3 of those victims die. I've been assaulted SEVEN times in 3-1/2 years within 3 blocks of my apartment. Believe me, I'd much rather be the woman I was four years ago. Portland being pissed off when George Floyd died didn't give anyone the right to riot for OVER 150 nights because "all cops are bastards" either. So why don't you go talk to them about that and get back to me. Who in their right mind thought it was a grand idea to "let them riot" (150+ nights) in the infancy of covid, during a lockdown for a pandemic that had killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide? Am I angry? You're damn right I am, and Twitter is my outlet. Listen to my testimony at City Hall last June, then judge me.
Last June, Griffin testified before the City Council and got her hoped-for apology, but she says little has changed since then.
See her testimony below and note that Wheeler used the opportunity to tell her how the riots had affected his life too. He was stalked, forced to move, had rocks and bombs thrown at his house and car, and traumatized too.
But he didn't stop the riots nor seek help in doing so. In fact, after issuing tough words, he backtracked and joined the rioters. He even criticized President Trump for sending federal officers to protect federal buildings.
Downtown Portland still looks abandoned, boarded up, and bereft. I was just there and saw it for myself.
Wheeler is not seeking re-election under Portland's new ranked choice voting system and expansion of the council and professional city manager form of government. Portland will now become even more ungovernable.
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