Rioters affiliated with the far-left Black Lives Matter movement were reported as recklessly firing their weapons at and near an apartment building in Portland on Saturday night, injuring one woman after what was described as “a hail” of over 150 shots, as reported by the New York Post.
The woman was hit in the arm as the rioters opened fire, apparently aimlessly, while demonstrations were marching past the 600 block of NE 87th Street. Police eventually arrived to provide immediate medical care before she was taken to a hospital, with her injury determined to be non-life-threatening. Police later reported that other stray bullets had struck “at least 8 occupied apartments and 7 vehicles.”
Residents of the area noted that the violence could have been more easily prevented if the Portland Police Department hadn’t been forced to defund its “gang violence task force,” as part of the growing nationwide calls to abolish all police forces. One resident said that “as soon as that defunding happened, all of this really peaked up.” Another resident compared the night to “a war zone,” and rhetorically asked “How can we explain” such an event occurring in America.
The gang violence task force of the Portland PD was disbanded after an audit claimed that it disproportionately targeted black people. Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty insisted that the defunding did not lead to the violence, instead claiming that “the reality is that Portland police have for a long time decided what they will investigate and what they won’t.”