The head of a Portland police union warned that morale among officers is 'as bad as it's ever been' one week after all 50 members of the city's riot squad resigned from their voluntary posts following the indictment of one of their colleagues.
'We're dealing with rioting at a level and sustained violence that we've never seen before,' Police Association Executive Director Daryl Turner told NBC Nightly News on Monday.
He said the Oregon city has seen increased gun violence over the past years as well as the 'most catastrophic staffing levels we've ever seen before' and 'budget cuts to defund us like we've never seen before'.
'All of those things play into the morale of a part into the morale of a police officer coming to work every day, trying to do your job, trying to do it right with all these roadblocks in your way,' Turner said.
His warning came after a firm that oversees Portland's tourism marketing took out a full-page ad in the New York Times over the weekend acknowledging that the riot-hit city has an 'edge' but insisting that locals still love it.
Portland Police Association Executive Director Daryl Turner (pictured) warned that morale among the city's officers is 'as bad as it's ever been' in an interview with NBC News on Monday
Portland has been roiled by riots throughout the past year - including the one pictured above on August 14. In his interview on Monday Turner said: 'We're dealing with rioting at a level and sustained violence that we've never seen before'
In a separate interview with Fox News, Turner explained that the police union has been aware of the morale issues for months, and sent a letter to city officials in October 'stating all the issues and problems and concerns that they had'.
'We had 150-plus days of unprecedented, sustained violence in the city of Portland, and our rapid response team, along with other members of the bureau came out every night [and] stood the line with ... Molotov cocktails, urine, feces, rocks bottles, everything else being thrown at them.'
Their home addresses were also publicized over loudspeakers at the riots last summer, he said, and their families were threatened.
'We had a murder during one of the riots, we had multiple assaults during the riots, and also multiple assaults of police officers during those riots,' he said, but 'the same district attorney who indicted our officer' dismissed 80 percent of the charges brought against protestors during the riots.
When asked whether he thought city officials 'have your back,' Turner said: 'No, they do not.'
'Night after night we were criticized by everyone ... from the DAs office through some of our city council members who are supposed to look at us as subject-matter experts' and 'support what we're doing out there when we're doing the right thing.
'That's not what happened,' he continued. 'They actually encouraged and enabled some of the violence that was going on during those 150-plus days.'
Turner also told FOX News that the union had been aware of the low morale for months and sent a letter to city officials in October 'stating all the issues and problems and concerns' police have had since the nonstop riots last summer
There were protests virtually every day in the city throughout last summer, with tens of thousands of demonstrators, some of whom identified themselves as members of ANTIFA.
At one of those protests last August, a police officer on the riot squad allegedly struck a photographer in her head.
The officer, Corey Budworth, was indicted last week for the alleged attack, resulting in the immediate resignation of the city's 50-member riot squad.
Fifty members of the Rapid Response Team resigned last week following the indictment of Officer Corey Budworth (pictured)
They will remain on the force, but will not serve on the riot squad, the bureau said.
Video of the incident was shared on social media, in which Budworth appears to push the photographer, who has been identified as Teri Jacobs, an activist, and then striking her in the head with his baton.
Jacobs says she was attacked despite carrying a press card. She was not charged with any crime, and received a $50,000 settlement from the City of Portland as a result of the baton strike. Cops have continued to insist she was part of a riot which set a government building alight with a petrol bomb.
'Unfortunately, this decorated public servant has been caught in the crossfire of agenda-driven city leaders and a politicized criminal justice system,' the Portland Police Association said in a statement last week.
They described the August 18 incident by saying Budworth and other members of the Rapid Response Team were deployed to a protest where a group of 200 demonstrators, many of whom were 'equipped with tactical helmets ... and armed with a variety of weapons' set dumpsters on fire, defaced buildings and broke windows.
'RRT was again deployed to disperse the crowd and prevent any further violence and criminal activity. A confrontation then ensued,' the union said in a statement.
'As RRT officers worked to clear the rioting crowd, Officer Budworth was forcefully knocked to the ground. The crowd grew even more aggressive, prompting other RRT officers to deploy pepper spray and less lethal munitions to try and break up the riot.'
An officer then attempted to arrest one of the rioters, the union said, when others began to interfere.
'Per his training and in response to the active aggression of a rioter interfering with a lawful arrest, Officer Budworth used baton pushes to move a rioter, now known to be Teri Jacobs, out of the area. As Officer Budworth cleared Ms. Jacobs from the area to stop her criminal activity, Ms. Jacobs fell to the ground,' it continued.
Portland's entire riot squad resigned last week after Officer Corey Budworth was indicted over a video which showed him hitting protester Teri Jacobs (pictured) with a baton last August
'Reasonably believing that she was getting back up to re-engage in her unlawful activities, Officer Budworth employed one last baton push to try and keep her on the ground, which accidentally struck Ms. Jacobs in the head.'
The PPA said Budworth's indictment by Multnomah District Attorney Mike Schmidt ignored the reality of the chaotic situation.
'We ask our community to wait for all the facts before passing judgment. We trust in our criminal justice system when the system fairly and objectively applies the rule of law,' the statement continued. 'Once the full picture is revealed, we are confident that justice will prevail, and Officer Budworth will be exonerated of all charges.'
Schmidt's office released a statement on Thursday in response to the resignations.
'Management and staffing of the Rapid Response Team falls within the purview of the leadership of the Portland Police Bureau. I have confidence that the Bureau will continue their mission to maintain public safety. In the meantime, my office will continue to focus on the fair and just prosecution of criminal matters. We cannot expect the community to trust law enforcement if we hold ourselves to a lower standard.'
Cops are pictured tackling a rioter in Portland on August 18, 2020, the same night Officer Corey Budworth struck Teri Jacobs with a baton - an incident he has now been indicted for
Corey Budworth (second row from front, far left) is pictured with the Portland Police in 2020
In addition to the criminal charge against Budworth, Jacobs sued Budworth in September for excessive force, claiming that he, 'swung his truncheon like a baseball bat at Ms. Jacobs, striking her several times,' according to a copy of the suit obtained by the Wilamette Week.
'As Ms. Jacobs was knocked to the ground, she was terrified that the officer was going continue to attack her, and she feared that she might never get up again if he continued with his violent attack,' the complaint continued.
The city reached a $50,000 settlement, with Jacobs in February, in addition to $11,000 in attorney fees.
Schmidt's office said it had learned of Jacob's identity when she filed the suit.
Sharing her version of events with KATU in April, Jacobs said: 'I’m doing my very best to get to the sidewalk, and it feels like it doesn’t matter where I am, what I do, these police officers are going to run me over, ram into me.
'I really wasn’t aware of what was happening or the pain that I was in until I was on the sidewalk, and then I realized like, whoa, my back, my head, like what just happened there.'
She said she was trying to help a friend lying on the road when she was struck, and added that her camera was smashed during the incident.
Jacobs Facebook profile includes a photo of a group of black-clad people giving the finger to a passing vehicle that is blurred, in front of a boarded up building.
She also shared photos of herself protesting on her Instagram page, captioning one snap: 'This is America. Stop attacking your own people and leave Portland. Remember the oath you took, to support and defend the constitution of the United States of America. Feds, go home!'
The incident occurred amid sustained protests in the city following the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd.
More recently, in February around 150 suspected members of the violent anti-fascist group took part in a protest against President Joe Biden's immigration policies, vandalizing several businesses including a Starbucks, Chipotle, Umpqua Bank and Urban Pantry.
Last month two groups of radical protesters, who have throughout the past year represented Antifa and other far-left causes, were armed with weapons, body armor, shields and flares and marched throughout parts of the city.
The riots came as violent skirmishes occurred worldwide during so-called 'May Day' protests in favor of worker's rights - but that descended into anarchist free-for-alls.
The entire 50-member riot squad, pictured here in 2017, has resigned immediately
It is not clear how the resignation's would affect the department's effectiveness during riots, with the Oregon city experiencing nightly unrest in its downtown district for the last year.
But at least 115 officers from the Portland Police Department have left their positions since last July, NBC Nightly News reported, and last fall, city officials voted to cut the department's budget by $18million.
Now, they are trying to get more people to visit the western city.
On Sunday, Travel Portland - a nonprofit that oversees the city's tourism marketing, took out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times admitting the riot-hit city has an 'edge' -but urging visitors to come anyway.
It admits that much of what has been said about Portland was true, and that the city, which endures nightly riots, has an 'edge.'
‘You’ve heard a lot about us lately,’ the NYT ad begins. ‘It’s been a while since you’ve heard from us.'
‘Some of what you’ve heard about Portland is true. Some is not. What’s most important is that we’re true to ourselves.'
'There's a river that cuts through the middle of our town. It divides the east and the west. But it's bridged - over and over again. Twelve times, to be specific. And that's kind of a great metaphor for this city.'
The advert goes on to highlight Portland's problems - and implies that locals don't mind the out-of-control behavior that has made much of the city's downtown area a no-go zone after dark.
It says: 'We're a place of dualities that are never polarities. Two sides of the same coin that keeps landing right on its edge. Anything can happen. We like it this way.
'This is the kind of place where new ideas are welcome - whether they're creative, cutting-edge or curious at first glance. You can speak up here. You could be yourself here.'
'We have some of the loudest voices on the West Coast. And yes, passion pushes the volume all the way up. We've always been like this. We wouldn't have it any other way.'
'We have faith in the future. We’re building it every day the only way we know how, by being Portland. Come see for yourself.’
A full-page advertisement for the city of Portland appeared in Sunday’s New York Times paper
Travel Portland said the ad is part of a campaign called 'This is Portland,' which will advertise the city throughout the summer and encourage overnight stays at local hotels and short-term rentals, reported KOIN. The campaign will run through August and will target leisure travelers in the West Coast cities of Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Travel Portland posted a video to its YouTube channel to coincide with the ad. Most of the narration is the same as the ad and voices over different Portland landscapes and scenes. The commercial includes over 30 local chefs, merchants, athletes, performers and artists.
Towards the end of the video, it reveals a few clips and images of peaceful Black Lives Matter protests over which a narrator says, ‘And yeah, we have some of the loudest voices on the West Coast. Sometimes passion pushes the volume all the way up. We’ve always been like this.’
Travel Portland posted a video to its Youtube channel to coincide with the ad
The commercial includes over 30 local chefs, merchants, athletes, performers and artists
It also included video and images from peaceful Black Lives Matter protests
ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis shared the ad in a tweet, which had a mixed bag of reactions.
A Twitter user named Cyber Westphalia wrote, ‘Perfectly reasonable use of taxpayer funds of a city that’s set ablaze daily.’ And Jeff McNamee wrote, ‘Two blocks of the city HAD the riots. The rest is pretty sweet.’
An account named UnitedWeStand52 wrote, ‘Portland is only villainized because of @FoxNews. Portland’s moto for years has been #KeepPortlandWeird and that it is.’
Some people took to Twitter after the commercial aired to express their thoughts
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