Portland mayor: Keeping police away from protest a mistake

By SARA CLINE
Associated Press/Report for America

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nearly three weeks after armed far-right and far-left protesters violently clashed in the streets of a diverse neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, the city’s mayor says the lack of police intervention was “not the right strategy.”  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Police Chief Chuck Lovell have been criticized by residents, activists and state officials for the police bureau’s hands-off approach, when Proud Boys and antifascists brawled in the streets, business parking lots and school grounds Aug. 22.