Portland Riot Team Disbands after a Member is Indicted for Striking an Antifa Terrorist
The entire Portland Police Bureau Rapid Response Team decided to disband after one of its members was brought up on charges of striking an Antifa terrorist during a riot last year.
The Portland Police Department issued a statement about the disbanding of the all-volunteer unit on Wednesday.
“The Rapid Response Team is an all-hazard incident response team that has received advanced specialized training to respond to incidents requiring higher levels of technical expertise including public order policing, natural or man-made disasters,” the department said. “The primary role has been to provide public safety at crowd events when there was a threat of harm to the community.”
Press Release: Portland Police Rapid Response Team Members Leave Team, Remain In Primary Roles As Employees
Link: https://t.co/UZ5C9xKkFZ pic.twitter.com/21VE4P7d5D— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) June 17, 2021
According to the Oregonian, the officers gathered on Wednesday evening after a grand jury indicted their teammate, officer Cody Budworth, for allegedly striking an Antifa rioter last year.
The paper added:
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt described Budworth’s baton strike as excessive force that was legally unjustified.
Advertisement - story continues belowThe district attorney also told The Oregonian/OregonLive Tuesday afternoon that he had asked the Oregon Department of Justice to review for potential criminal prosecution the force used by another Rapid Response Team member, Det. Erik Kammerer, during protests. His office, he said, continues to review other protest-related uses of force by officers.
The officers say that the indictment of their fellow is politically motivated. And Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner demanded that Portland Mayor Tex Wheeler and his hard-left city council members “stop using RRT members as political pawns.”
“Our RRT members do not volunteer to have Molotov cocktails, fireworks, explosives, rocks, bottles, urine, feces, and other dangerous objects thrown at them,” Turner said in a written statement. “Nor do they volunteer to have threats of rape, murder, and assaults on their families hurled at them. They do not volunteer to suffer serious injuries, to be subjected to warrantless criticism and face allegations by elected officials, or to suffer through baseless complaints and lengthy investigations devoid of due process.”
Turner is exactly right. The leftist city fathers are making their city less safe by targeting the police with political attacks all in fealty to dangerous, anti-American, Antifa terrorists.
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