Portland, OR is in the news again, and while the topic is Antifa and the violent protests that have been going on for more than a year now, there’s a catch to the recent officer involved shooting that the leftist media seems to be ignoring.
[bookpromo align=”right”] On Thursday, June 24, police carried out a welfare check which ended up with a suspect being shot and later dying from his injuries. The incident happened at a Motel 6 where law enforcement had been notified that a man wearing all black clothing, fitting the description of a person of interest, was reportedly staying. When officers arrived, the male, later identified as 40-year-old Michael Ray Townsend, charged the police with a screwdriver. The officer who shot Townsend was Curtis Brown, a veteran of 18 years with the Portland Police Department.
It’s on the Internet, so It Must be True
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB): “Minutes after the shooting, a flyer was disseminated among protesters alleging Portland police had shot and killed a Black man.” Supposed witnesses flooded social media with their accounts of the incident. One woman claimed to have seen the whole thing, including how the officer shot the suspect in the back. However, video released by the police shows clearly that this was not the case.
At least 50 protesters went to the motel after the shooting and started harassing law enforcement. This, and the misinformation floating around suggesting a black man was shot in the back and killed by a Portland police officer, resulted in the bureau tweeting out a statement, including the fact that the suspect had been a white male:
“There is erroneous information being circulated on social media regarding the officer involved shooting in the Lloyd district. We can confirm that the subject involved is an adult white male. No one else was injured.”
White Lives Don’t Matter?
The crowd soon dispersed, once it was discovered that a black cop shot a white man. Police have not yet, as of the time of this writing, given details about the cause of the welfare check or any other information about Townsend, the suspect, except that he had matched the description, wearing all black clothes, with distinctive tattoos on his face: what appear to be spider web horns on his head and the words “trust” and “faith” over his eyebrows.
Tweeters took to Twitter to congratulate, complain, or insult the bureau’s decision to include the description of the suspect as a white man as a way to deescalate the growing crowd of protesters. One follower tweeted: “Don’t worry everyone, we only shot a white guy.” A few other honorable mentions include:
- “How sad it is that you have to announce that you shot a white male to head off street violence.”
- “Confirming it was an adult white male involved aka no need to burn loot murder. Lmao. Put the Samsung down clowns.”
- “Well Portland cops used to stand by while people were being assaulted by your beloved ANTIFA so I guess you have it coming.”
Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) said nothing about the incident, even though he is also the police commissioner. A scroll through his Twitter account only revealed high heat warnings as the West Coast is swept up in a massive heatwave and how to stay cool and safe. Perhaps protests, riots, and shootings have become so commonplace, it no longer phases even phases America’s most effective mayor.
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Read more from Kelli Ballard.
