Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland, Oregon was tear-gassed by federal officers along with a crowd of protestors on Wednesday evening (22nd July) after he tried for hours to placate incensed demonstrators demanding police reform from City Hall and calling for federal authorities to withdraw from the city.
The mayor was caught in the display of violence that began around 11:15 PM, per Yahoo News, after some protestors threw flaming bags of garbage over a fence protecting the local federal courthouse, prompting federal officers to use tear gas on the crowd.
"Enough is enough," the crowd continued to chant. "Enough is enough."
According to the publication, Wheeler had spent hours in the thick of the demonstration, attempting to answer questions from the crowd, which reportedly booed as he attempted to explain the lengthy and bureaucratic process of making reforms.
At one point, he acknowledged his privilege in society, conceding that he is a "white, privileged male."
"Obviously we have a long way to go," he added. "Everyone here has a job to do, all of us."
"It’s hard to breathe, it’s a lot harder to breathe than I thought," Wheeler told The Washington Post after he was tear-gassed. "This is abhorrent. This is beneath us."
Wheeler echoed the concerns of protestors over President Trump's deployment of federal officers in the city when speaking to activists on Wednesday night.
"President Trump needs to focus on coronavirus and get his troops out of the city. My biggest fear is that somebody's going to die," he said. "I want them to leave. This is going to come to a city near you if we don't stop it."
Warning: Footage of tear-gas being used on protestors below:The city has seen increasing tensions after the federal officers were deployed in Portland last week on the orders of President Donald Trump.
Protestors have maintained that the officers are violating civil rights by patrolling the streets in unmarked vans and purportedly detaining demonstrators without probable cause.
The officers have also used tear gas, batons, and non-lethal munitions to disperse protesters who have been demonstrating in the city for over 50 consecutive nights following the death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement in Minneapolis.