Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler reportedly pepper-sprayed a man who scolded him for not wearing a mask inside a restaurant.
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From police report written by Sgt Peter Simpson, after receiving call from Robert King, Wheeler's advisor on public safety. Incident occurred about 9 pm. Sun: pic.twitter.com/RjAt9Fp6AJ
— Maxine Bernstein (@maxoregonian) January 25, 2021
A police report obtained by the Oregonian revealed that Wheeler told police he was followed to his car by a man who was recording him on a cellphone and harassing him for not wearing a mask inside a nearby restaurant.
Wheeler said he attempted to respond to the man by explaining that the restrictions allow customers to take off their masks while eating and drinking.
He said he warned the man that he would pepper-spray him if he did not back off.
When the man refused to stop recording Wheeler, the mayor pepper-sprayed him, according to the police report.
“I clearly informed him that he needed to back off,” Wheeler told police.
“He did not do so … I pulled out my pepper spray and I sprayed him in the eyes,” Wheeler continued. “He seemed surprised, and backed off. He made a comment like, ‘I can’t believe you just pepper-sprayed me.’”
Ironically, Wheeler was the one who decided his law enforcement agencies would not be allowed to use a similar chemical irritant when dealing with violent rioters in the city.
He banned the use of tear gas for Portland’s police, saying “we need something different” in order to put a stop to Portland’s constant riots.
Prior to doing so, Wheeler had even made a spectacle of joining pro-anarchist protestors in a show of solidarity by getting tear-gassed as rioters set fire to a federal building in Portland.
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However, when he felt his own safety was threatened, Wheeler did not hesitate to spray a toxic substance into another citizen’s face.
Wheeler has refused to say anything else about the incident, though he did acknowledge that it happened and that he had filed a police report.
On Monday Wheeler’s office released a statement saying that, “The mayor is cooperating with the police investigation and encourages others involved to do the same.”
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