Former Democratic Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt is facing charges after being arrested in an April sex trafficking sting, the Portland Tribune reported.
Dave Hunt and seven other men were arrested after clicking on decoy advertisements, which Portland police posted on popular human trafficking websites, the Portland Tribune reported. The men were charged with commercial sexual solicitation after contacting undercover police officers to pay for sexual acts.
Hunt voted in favor of legislation that made commercial sexual solicitation illegal in 2011, according to the Portland Tribune. He sponsored a separate bill that was designed to combat sex trafficking in 2007.
Tag: Portland Police
Portland City Council: $1.4 Million for ‘Unarmed’ Patrols to Combat Gun Violence
Portland, Oregon’s City Council approved $1.4 million to go toward the hiring of “unarmed” park rangers for around-the-clock foot patrols, Breitbart reports.
KGW reports there will be “two dozen” such patrols. The money for the “unarmed” patrols is part of a larger $6 million plan, none of which will go to the Portland Police Bureau. “$4.1 million will be earmarked for community groups that work in the neighborhoods hardest-hit by gunfire.”
The Associated Press quoted Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s (D) opinion on the approved funding: “We agree that the immediate spike in gun violence is a public health threat that requires a public health response that invests in community-based organizations working to change the conditions and environments that foster violence.”
Read MoreOver 100 Portland Police Officers Have Quit Over the Last Year
After almost a year of nonstop violent riots by Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and other far-left domestic terrorist organizations in the city of Portland, over 100 of the city’s police officers have quit the force out of protest of the city’s failure to adequately handle the violence, according to Fox News.
The report first came from the newspaper The Oregonian, which said that since July of 2020, approximately 115 officers have left the department to take lower-paying jobs just to get out of the dangerous environment. The paper described it as “one of the biggest waves of departures in recent memory.”
Out of 31 exit interviews from officers who left during this time period, the general consensus was that the officers quit because they felt that they were receiving “zero support” from the community and local leadership. One officer said that “the city council are raging idiots, in addition to being stupid,” and that “the mayor and council ignore actual facts on crime and policing in favor of radical leftist and anarchist fantasy.”
As a result of the spike in riots, which began last summer after the accidental overdose death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, Portland also saw its homicide rate surge to its highest point in 26 years, with 55 deaths over the course of 2020. Numerous efforts by Mayor Ted Wheeler (D-Ore.) to try to curb gun violence in the city, through special police forces and various multi-million dollar studies, have all failed thus far. Wheeler and other local leaders were widely criticized for refusing to crack down on the riots, with their inaction attributed to the fact that they shared many of the same political stances as the far-left rioters.
Read MoreA Walk Through Downtown Portland
Portland has seen several months of demonstrations, fluctuating between protests and riots since the death of George Floyd. Downtown Portland has been scarred by the unrest with graffiti and wooden barricades protecting businesses evident across the area.
Read MorePolice Union HQ Targeted at Portland Protest, 25 Arrested
Protesters repeatedly set fire late Monday night to a police union headquarters building and were repelled by officers spraying tear gas, officials said. Twenty-five people were arrested amid clashes that stretched into Tuesday morning.
People in a group of about 300 people hurled rocks and bottles at officers and set three fires to the sides of the building and one to an awning, police said. All the fires were put out.
Read MorePortland Police Arrest Man Accused of Beating Motorist After Truck Accident, Kicking Him in the Head
Portland police arrested a man who’s accused of violently beating a motorist whose pick-up truck crashed near a Sunday demonstration.
Marquise Love, 25, has been charged with felonious assault, coercion and riot participation, and was transported to the Multnomah County Detention Center early Friday morning after he turned himself in, according to a Portland Police news release.
Read MorePortland Police, Protesters Clash for Second Consecutive Night
Police and protesters in Portland, Oregon, have clashed for the second night in a row and the city’s police chief says the ongoing violence is harming the city’s image.
The high-profile clashes outside a U.S. courthouse in Portland, Oregon, have largely stopped since Democratic Gov. Kate Brown reached a deal that called for the draw down of federal agents sent by the Trump administration to protect the building.
Read MorePortland Police Got More Than $5 Million in Overtime as Protests Continue to Rage
Portland Police have earned almost $5.4 million in overtime during the weeks-long protests and riots in the city.
Overtime earnings through July 22 have reached $5,351,383, police told Fox 12 Oregon. Officers have also raked in an additional $1.2 million in accrued time compensation, according to the local outlet.
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