Portland Police, FBI Investigating Alleged Antifa Video Calling For More Destruction, Retribution Unless Mayor Resigns

The Portland Police Department (PPD) and the FBI are investigating a purported Antifa video message threatening Portland Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler.

In a video that surfaced online last week, a person in a white mask standing outside a light rail station says that Antifa will continue to riot and destroy the city until Wheeler resigns from office. At the end of the video, the person also threatens Wheeler directly while flashing the mayor’s home address on screen. The masked person says:

Hello. We come to you as a small collective within the anarchist and antifascist community and I speak for the whole. As each individual may carry different ideologies and beliefs about how things could should or will be accomplished, we hope with this message to simply convey a few points that are commonly agreed upon within this community.

The mayor of this city is undeserving of his position. He has made it abundantly clear that windows to him are more important than human lives. But we are not just challenging the idea of having Ted as a mayor. We are challenging the idea of having mayors at all. We want abolition. Abolition is absolute. If peaceful marches, speeches and voting were enough to bring about goal, then we would have already been there. Window smashing and riots are a necessary escalation when those in power have proven that they are unwilling to listen and have made the choice to ignore you. We are moving with a sense of urgency because not only is the system destroying us, it is destroying the very planet that we live on.

This movement encompasses the very liberation of all those oppressed by the system whether it be black, indigenous, Hispanic, etc. Nobody owns this movement, and wanting to or trying to claim ownership of this movement just leads to more division, which is counterproductive to all of our goals. We are on the same side though, and the more time we spend fighting each other, the less energy we have to fight the true enemy. So let’s start local with our own city’s failed leadership.

Ted, we are asking for the last time that you resign. If you ignore this message outright, the destruction to your precious way of life is going to escalate. Blood is already on your hands, Ted. The next time it may just be your own.

The FBI is assisting the PPD in investigating the video and tracking down the person or people who made it. Wheeler’s office, the PPD, and the FBI have all confirmed the investigation into the alleged Antifa video. As The Oregonian reported:

Jim Middaugh, a spokesman for Wheeler, said the mayor and his office learned of the video Wednesday night and that the Portland Police Bureau opened an investigation. Middaugh said the city’s police bureau had also notified the FBI, but he declined to comment further.

Sgt. Kevin Allen, a Portland police spokesman, confirmed the bureau’s investigation but said he could not release additional details at this time. Beth Anne Steele, an FBI spokeswoman, confirmed the federal bureau was assisting Portland police.

The FBI also provided a statement to the KOIN 6:

The FBI is aware of the video and is assisting Portland Police Bureau in the investigation. Due to the on-going nature of the case, we have no further information to release at this time. Anyone with information as to the person or people responsible for this video are encouraged to contact the FBI or PPB. The FBI can be reached at (503) 224-4181 or via tips.fbi.gov.

The video surfaced after Wheeler gave a press conference on April 23 calling for action against Antifa members, saying, “Our job is to unmask them, arrest them and prosecute them.” The violent rioters have heavily damaged the city over the past year in dozens of riots against the city and federal governments.

Related: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler Finally Condemns ‘Anarchist’ Violence

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