Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced that he is looking for a new place to live to avoid rioters to repeatedly targeting his $840,000 condo.
He told his neighbors in an email that it would be “best for me and for everyone else’s safety and peace” for him to move out of the building after rioters tried to torch the building on the mayor’s 58th birthday.
“I want to express my sincere apologies for the damage to our home and the fear that you are experiencing due to my position,” Wheeler wrote.
“It’s unfair to all of you who have no role in politics or in my administration.”
Wheeler has also asked Portlanders via a Facebook post to join him in “denouncing violence” after a man was shot and killed on Saturday when President Donald Trump’s supporters clashed with protesters in downtown Portland.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community,” he wrote, “But last night saw more senseless violence in Portland.”
While the mayor stands with the protesters against alleged police brutality, he denounce the acts of “senseless violence.”
“Elected leaders – or those seeking office – who remain silent in the midst of these acts of violence and criminal destruction are equally complicit,” he wrote.
The Democratic mayor has faced harsh criticism for his handling of the protests for 97 consecutive nights since George Floyd’s death in May.
The President called him a “wacky Radical Left Do Nothing Democrat Mayor of Portland” who “watched great death and destruction of his City during his tenure.”
Chuck Lovell, Portland’s police chief, pointed out that the arson attempt on Wheeler’s condo is proof that “the nightly violence is coming at increased cost.”
“Our elected officials need to do their part to draw a line in the sand and to hold people accountable,” Lovell said.
“The violent behavior must end.”