According to The Washington Post, The New York Times, and other media outlets, Democratic mayor of Portland, Oregon, was tear-gassed by federal agents during Black Lives Matter protests for no apparent reason.
“I can tell you with 100 percent honesty, I saw nothing that provoked this response,” Mayor Ted Wheeler says. “I’m not afraid, but I am pissed off. This is an egregious overreaction on the part of the federal officers.”
However, one eyewitness is calling the claim into question. CBN News contributor Chuck Holton was there during the protesting in Portland and says the entire encounter was staged.
“I just want to tell you it’s all a lie,” says Holton. “I was 15 yards away from Ted Wheeler. These were not peaceful protesters; these were protesters that were actively attacking the federal courthouse in downtown Portland with rocks, bottles, water bottles, fireworks, paint-filled water balloons, dangerous green lasers, very powerful lasers, and, by the way, were starting fires, pretty large fires, on the portico of the federal courthouse.”
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The reporter adds federal agents notified people that the protest turned into a riot and crowd-control procedures would be deployed.
“And Ted Wheeler stayed right there, in the middle, in the center, in the front, where the tear gas would certainly be shot first — knowing he was about to be tear-gassed,” describes Holton.
-Corine Gatti-Santillo