When it was happening to Gregg Schumacher 20 years ago, few suspected that years later we'd look back and think Schumacher Furs & Outerwear was the proverbial canary in the coal mine foreshadowing downtown Portland, Oregon's eventual economic demise.
The city had a choice in 2005.
Portland leaders could have stopped the illegal protest activity outside the longtime Portland business in accordance with the First Amendment and police policy, but didn't. By 2020, Antifa violence destroyed buildings and public trust in city leadership. Businesses left in droves.
Portland Police could have investigated and rolled up the firebombers and protesters swarming the business and harassing customers — one of whom had a heart attack after being surrounded by the mob — but didn't.
Elected city leaders failed to live up to their number one priority in their oath of office: secure the peace.
They didn't do it.
They had an obligation to secure the rights of all Portlanders.
They didn't do it.
Portland could have investigated the terrorist group, Animal Liberation Front, which claimed a prime spot outside Schumacher's business. It and its comrades terrorized customers, the owners, the Schumachers, and even the mayor of the city was so cowed by the prospect of screeching at council meetings that he capitulated to the mob.
Mayor Tom Potter, the former police chief adored by the politically correct liberati of Portland, folded like a cheap suit — and an empty one at that.
He let the clearly illegal mob activity go on — not for a day, not for a week, not for a month. The City of Portland let this illegal protest activity — the mobbing of this business go on for two years.
Two. Years.
His police officers handed out their cards to the "protesters" outside Schumacher's store to give him a call if he gave them any grief. Schumacher called the cops so many times that they refused to take his 911 calls anymore, according to the business owner.
Councilmember Randy Leonard, a former firefighter union leader, told Schumacher to leave the city and go somewhere else. Leonard was feeling his oats. He shut down an X-rated bookstore that he didn't like and a Greek restaurant that didn't pass Leonard's fire inspections. He told Schumacher to go to a mall in another county. The mall didn't want his store. Schumacher, moreover, didn't want to leave the city where his family had owned and operated a business for 150 years.
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Schumacher went to the media; people like me, a local radio talk host at the time. He went to the business community. He addressed the city council. He sought justice by filing a lawsuit against the city's obvious discrimination against his business and lost in Multnomah County before a politically connected judge — aren't they all in this small city?
Instead of understanding their role, the former police chief-turned mayor, Tom Potter, thought he knew better than the Oregon statutes, federal law, police ethics, and the oath of office he took.
The city mothers and fathers could have chosen good governance over ideology, but didn't. Protest activity could have coexisted with a good business climate. Something tolerable. But they didn't do that.
This stance in support of not just impropriety but viewpoint discrimination and other civil rights violations became the cornerstone of the way Portland would prefer protesters over businesses they didn't like for the next 20-plus years.
Schumacher hired private security to keep him, his wife, and their business safe when police wouldn't help.
Schumacher closed his business after he was denied insurance because of the risk posed by the mob. Schumacher moved away from his hometown and his home state.
That's right, they drove him out.
He was shunned.
He lost millions.
Schumacher fought on.
And now, 20 years later, he's back. Not with a brick-and-mortar store. Oh, hell no. Schumacher is back selling furs — online. Now that hot pink fake "fur" has had its day, real fur is back in style. He's selling mostly fur blankets, throws, pillows, and, yes, coats and jackets. And they're gorgeous.
And he has a word for the "corrupt" Portland city officials who stood with illegal protesters, mobsters, and domestic terrorists instead of his family's 150-year-long legal company.
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Two words, actually.
I win.
And to Portland business owners who have fought like hell for Portland leaders to get rid of Antifa vandals, he would have been well within his rights to say, I told you so.
I am cheering him on.
Gregg Schumacher was on The Adult in the Room Podcast this week.
In our interview (below), you'll see those protesters ... and those furs.
Oh, and one more thing: at the time that the Animal Liberation Front was screeching outside the Schumacher's door? The FBI was investigating both the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front organizations. Based, you will not be surprised to learn, in Oregon.
It sure seems like the former police chief-turned-mayor should have known about this since it was part of a Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation.
I'll be interviewing the lead FBI investigator on Operation Backfire in the coming weeks on the podcast. He's already scheduled.
Watch my interview with Schumacher below.
Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it's spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there's nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.
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