Portland mayor tear-gassed by federal agents at protest

Protesters in Portland, Oregon, were reportedly tear-gassed by federal agents on Wednesday night — as was the city's mayor.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler on Wednesday joined a crowd of protesters in the city and ended up being "left coughing and wincing" after federal officers deployed tear gas into the crowd, The New York Times reports.

"It stings," Wheeler told the Times. "It's hard to breathe. And I can tell you with 100 percent honesty, I saw nothing which provoked this response. It's nasty stuff. I'm not afraid, but I am pissed off."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

According to CNN, there "is nothing to indicate the mayor was targeted" by the tear gas.

Protests have been ongoing in Portland since the police killing of George Floyd, and a recent report from OPB detailed how federal agents in the area had been "detaining people on Portland streets who aren't near federal property, nor is it clear that all of the people being arrested have engaged in criminal activity." In the wake of these reports, President Trump on Wednesday announced he'd be deploying "hundreds" of federal agents to Chicago and "other cities."

As OPB reports, Wheeler when joining the Portland protesters was met with boos and calls to resign from office. He told the demonstrators that the "tactics that have been used by our federal officers are abhorrent." Brendan Morrow