Portland, Oregon is such a law-abiding city that one of its entire police units is quitting entirely. And no, it’s not because there is such a lack of crime. This is Portland – Antifa central – we’re talking about.
According to PoliceTribune.com, all 50 members of the Portland Police Bureau’s Rapid Response Team quit their voluntary positions on June 17. The outlet stated, “As a result, the agency will no longer have an RRT, which has been the primary unit handling the violent uprisings that have erupted on a regular basis in downtown Portland for more than a year now.”
The reason for the resignations is the indictment of one of the Rapid Response team’s members, Corey Budworth, for assault of a protester with his baton last Summer during the height of Black Lives Matter inspired riots in the city. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt alleged that “Officer Budworth committed fourth-degree misdemeanor assault for using his baton to keep a violent mob at bay during a riot on Aug. 18, 2020.”
Though an internal Portland Police Bureau internal investigation found that ”Budworth carried out his job within the scope of the law and didn’t violate any department rules or policies.”
According to the tribune, the Rapid Response Team is “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.” During the George Floyd riots, the RRT was tasked with providing “public safety” during crowd events. It’s safe to say that the unit saw the worst of the Antifa/BLM rioting up close and personal.
Of course, the Rapid Response Team’s resignation seems to have happened out of frustration. Tensions between protestors and police have been high at best, past year. On the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, ABCNews.com reminded readers that “demonstrations were held in the downtown area for more than 100 consecutive days last year, with many nights ending in violent clashes between protesters and authorities.”
The violence seemed to peak with rioters launching violent (and fiery) assaults on a federal courthouse in the city last summer. To say that Portland has experienced civil unrest would be a gross understatement.
The same night that Budworth committed his alleged assault was one in which Antifa thugs threw a “Molotov cocktail into the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) headquarters,” so reported The Post Millennial. The Portland Police Association , which has been targeted by physical attacks over the last year from rioters, blasted the indictment of Budworth. Public Oregon Broadcasting reported their statement, which claimed, “Unfortunately, this decorated public servant has been caught in the crossfire of agenda-driven city leaders and a politicized criminal justice system.”
After Budworth’s indictment, each of the 50 RRT members took a vote to resign from the team. Though all will return back to their regular police assignments. Though that means there’s no riot team anymore. It seems like it’s going to get even weirder in Portland.