A Republican mayor in Oregon painted a violent picture of the defund the police movement on Thursday, pointing to recent rioting in the state and elsewhere.
In remarks on “Fox&Friends First,” Mayor of Sandy, Oregon Stan Pulliam decried unrest in Portland after the inauguration.
“Obviously all of us have just watched in horror as the violence and destruction has taken over the city of Portland and quite frankly, this is what the defund the police movement looks like," Pulliam said.
"We have [Portland] Mayor Ted Wheeler, who one week ago gets punched in the face by a citizen,” he continued. “And then just earlier in a segment on this very show, he's put to having to pepper spray others.
“This is what the culture of criminality looks like. The lack of consequences unfortunately just leads to and incites more violence.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, when asked Monday about the riots in Portland as well as in Seattle, Wash., said President Joe Biden "condemns violence" and supports "peaceful protests,” adding that “smashing windows is not protesting and neither is looting."
"President Biden condemns violence and any violence in the strongest possible terms," she said, Fox News reported. "Peaceful protests are a cornerstone of our democracy but smashing windows is not protesting and neither is looting, and actions like these are totally unacceptable."
More than a dozen people were arrested in the two cities after demonstrators angry with Biden targeted government buildings and the Oregon Democratic Party building in Portland, Fox News reported.
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