Pro-Palestine Messages Reportedly Found On Devices At Ballot Box Fires
'all three incidents are connected'
Portland Tells Voters ‘Nothing To See Here’ As Ballots Literally Go Up In Flames
Drop boxes near Portland, Oregon, caught fire overnight. Police found a 'device' near each of the boxes.Suspected arson fires torch perhaps hundreds of ballots in drop boxes in Pacific Northwest
Hundreds of ballots likely went up in flames after an explosive device apparently went off in a ballot drop box in Washington state, one of two such explosions that occurred early Monday morning.
Around 5:30 a.m. on Monday, police began working tirelessly to put out a fire in a ballot box near a bus station in Vancouver, Washington. Video of their efforts shows crews toiling in the pouring rain as the contents of the ballot box were reduced to ashes.
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"It appears that a device was attached to the outside of the ballot drop box that resulted in the ballots being ignited," Clark County auditor Greg Kimsey said, according to Oregon Live.
The ballot box was outfitted with a fire suppressant, Kimsey noted. Unfortunately, it did not work effectively.
When asked how many ballots were affected, Kimsey declined to give an exact number but claimed it was in the "hundreds."
Kimsey described the incident as "heartbreaking." "It’s a direct attack on democracy," he added.
Police likewise described the device as "suspicious."
'Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence.'
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (D) suggested the incident may have even been an act of "terror."
"I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state," he said in a statement, according to ABC News.
The drop box is located in Washington's 3rd Congressional District, where Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D) and Republican Joe Kent are in a tight rematch. In 2022, Perez beat Kent by fewer than 3,000 votes.
"Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence," Perez said in a statement, according to ABC News.
Kent's team did not respond to a request for comment, the outlet claimed.
Ballots at the drop box were last collected around 11 a.m. on Saturday, so anyone who deposited a ballot after that time is encouraged to check the status of their ballot online. They may also contact the county elections office to receive a replacement ballot by calling (564) 397-2345 or emailing elections@clark.wa.gov.
Sadly, the drop box in Vancouver was not the only one in the area to be hit. About two hours before the incident in Vancouver, an "incendiary device" exploded in a drop box in Portland, a press release from the Portland Police Bureau indicated. Portland, Oregon, is located about 10 miles south of Vancouver, Washington.
Fortunately, a fire suppressant installed in the Portland ballot box activated, preventing a significant fire. Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott claimed that only three ballots had been damaged and that elections workers had already made plans to contact the affected voters.
"By the time officers arrived, the fire had already been extinguished by security personnel who work in the area," the PPB press release said. "Officers determined an incendiary device was placed inside the ballot box and used to ignite the fire. PPB’s Explosive Disposal Unit (EDU) responded to the scene and cleared the device."
It is unclear whether the two incidents are linked.
Yet another incendiary device was discovered at a drop box in Vancouver on October 8. Luckily, it did not cause any damage.
A man also allegedly admitted to lighting a fire in a ballot box in Phoenix last week, destroying perhaps 20 ballots, as Blaze News previously reported. The suspect denied having any political motivation, claiming instead that he "wanted to be arrested."
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Tax-Funded Group Offering $30,000 For Non-Citizen Homebuyers In Oregon: Report
American citizens need not apply.Portland homeless advocate allegedly stabbed to death by homeless person
The self-appointed "sheriff" who screened homeless people to determine who could live on his street in Portland, Oregon, has now apparently died at the hands of one of those he tried so hard to help.
His name was Kenny Housman.
Around 12:30 a.m. Monday, Housman reportedly was trying to referee an argument between two homeless people when suddenly one of them apparently stabbed Housman in the throat.
'He does not have the authority to monitor the public street bordering his property.'
Housman was raced to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. He was 73.
Reports indicate that two other homeless campers apprehended a person described as a "suspect" in Housman's fatal stabbing and held that person down until police arrived. However, that individual later was released from custody without being charged. The person was said to be "cooperating" in the investigation.
Blaze News reached out to detectives assigned to the case to see if the apprehended individual was ever considered a suspect, and Portland Police public information manager Mike Benner issued Blaze News the following statement:
At this point there is not enough evidence to charge the detained individual with a crime, and that explains the release from custody. The individual is cooperating with authorities, and the investigation is ongoing. We have nothing further to add.
Last September, KATU-TV featured a story on Housman, who owned the block that stretched the length of Clinton Street. Housman had dubbed himself "Sheriff of Clinton Street" and permitted homeless residents to set up camp along the street so long as they passed his inspection.
"You don't want those kinda people that steal catalytic converters and gas," he told the outlet at the time. "You don't want them on your street. If there are those kinda people, then you have to take steps to get them out."
Though RVs and tents lined his street, Housman banned loud generators and late-night parties. He also provided some homeless residents with electricity.
By all accounts, Housman — a Vietnam veteran — adamantly believed he could help at least some people. "They gotta live someplace. ... The good ones have to live someplace," he said. "The others? They can't live here."
Neighbors complained about violent crime spikes in the area, and data supports their concerns. KATU independently verified that the neighborhood had an "above average number of assaults, stolen cars and weapons violations," though those numbers could not necessarily be directly tied to the homeless encampments.
The Street Services Coordination Center for the City of Portland also was frustrated with Housman's autonomous zone. "Mr. Houseman [sic] has been known to contact city workers and attempt to enable people to stay on the block, though he does not have the authority to monitor the public street bordering his property," a 2023 statement from the agency read in part.
Housman seemed to believe his naysayers overgeneralized about homeless people and perhaps had overlooked their good qualities. "They just see a motorhome. They think, 'Oh no, homeless, crime, drugs ...' They don't see Tim, who I think works, I'm not sure, but he won't steal from them or anything else. They don't see, I don't know Jim very well; old man Steve, living on Social Security, needs a place to stay," he explained.
He also denied that his approved campers engaged in behaviors often associated with homelessness. "You don't find any car thieves here," he told KATU. "You don't find people laying around doing drugs ... You shouldn't find any needles; all of the trash is in one place for [waste removal] to pick up."
Now, at least one of the Clinton Street campers is mourning the loss of Housman. "He did things to try and help them out," Michael Zamora, who lives in an RV, recalled.
"He didn’t have to die."
(H/T: The Post Millennial)
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Blaze News original: 10 times 'defund the police' backfired
Less than two weeks after George Floyd died in the custody of Minneapolis police in May 2020, prominent city council members gathered in front of activists and pledged to start dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department.
"Decades of police reform efforts have proved that the Minneapolis Police Department cannot be reformed and will never be accountable for its actions," the council members stated, according to the Star Tribune. "We are here today to begin the process of ending the Minneapolis Police Department and creating a new, transformative model for cultivating safety in Minneapolis."
In addition to cutting police budgets and doing away with many officers, numerous police departments also were decimated after frustrated, abused, and unsupported cops simply turned in their badges.
The "defund the police" movement was born.
And in the same way rioting commenced in Minneapolis in the wake of Floyd's death and spread across America, so did the notion of defunding and dismantling police departments. Other cities such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, and Chicago got into the act.
It was a bad idea.
So much so that voters in Minneapolis a year and half later rejected the idea of removing the city's police department and replacing it with "a Department of Public Safety that employs a comprehensive public health approach ..."
In addition to cutting police budgets and doing away with many officers, numerous police departments also were decimated after frustrated, abused, and unsupported cops simply turned in their badges.
Law enforcement officials in 2022 called it a "crisis." A perfect storm of spiking crime and violence in the streets — along with police getting defunded or quitting — led not only to staffing shortages, but also new cops weren't signing up.
"What they're doing now is vilifying the job, and they're connecting with our state's attorney and our chief judge, letting all these prisoners out and all these offenders out immediately," former Chicago police officer Anthony Napolitano said. "And it makes cops throw their hands up in the air and say, 'I'm not going to do this job any more.'"
Here are 10 times when "defund the police" backfired spectacularly.
Boy, 13, forced to watch his dad die after delayed response by Seattle cops; family sues, blames 'defund the police' movement
The family of a man who died after a delayed police response to his medical emergency filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Seattle in December 2022. A year prior, 46-year-old William Yurek's son, 13, called 911 while his father was having chest pains and difficulty breathing. Yurek soon after died of cardiac arrest in front of his son. The lawsuit stated that the Seattle police department "was severely understaffed at the time of this incident due to fallout from the abandonment of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, a.k.a. 'CHOP,' a perceived lack of support from the city, vaccine mandates, and other factors, including city mismanagement." Seattle last year settled the lawsuit for $1.86 million.
Progressive Vermont city regrets its 'defund the police' effort; Democrat mayor says 'a lot of damage' has been done
Burlington's "defund the police" movement failed so dramatically that even the progressive council member who pushed it admitted the city messed up, NBC News reported in December 2021. About 18 months prior, a resolution passed that slashed the police force by 30%, removed resource officers from schools, and shifted police funding to social justice initiatives. Instead cops felt attacked, and they left the department in droves. The city, with its 44,000 residents, went from a police force of 95 to 64 — resulting in only about five officers available to patrol at night. The city's Democratic mayor, Miro Weinberger, didn’t support cutting the force and wasn't happy with the defunding efforts: “There’s a lot of damage that has been done in the last 16 months."
Soon after its 'defund the police' efforts, Minneapolis tells crime victims to cooperate with criminals, turn over their property
The city circulated a letter in late July 2020 telling residents in the third police precinct that due to the overwhelming violent crime wave, they should "be prepared to give up your cell phone and purse/wallet" — and if confronted by a violent robber "do as they say." The letter added that "robberies and Carjacking's have increased in our precinct. Cell phones, purses, and vehicles are being targeted. Some victims have been maced, dragged, assaulted, and threatened with a gun." In addition, "100 robberies and 20 carjackings have been reported to the 3rd Precinct Police in July alone." Just days after George Floyd's death, violent protesters breached the police department's 3rd precinct building and set a fire inside the station. In November, carjackings were up 537% compared to the previous year.
Minneapolis city council's 'defund the police' initiative inspires residents of left-wing neighborhood to stop calling cops. Boy, are they sorry.
After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, the city council dreamed of a "transformative new model" of public safety in which community social workers — not armed police officers — enforced the law. So a neighborhood the New York Times described as "a haven to leftist activists and bohemian artists" vowed — as a way to protest racial injustice — not to call police. But within a month, their tree-lined neighborhood became a haven for crime and hundreds of homeless people. Resident Shari Albers organized "her mostly white neighbors" to "help tackle long-standing issues with crime," but instead she was kept awake at night by the "Powderhorn Park Sanctuary." The Times reported that the homeless community "has drawn heavy car traffic into the neighborhood, some from drug dealers." Albers admitted to the paper, "I am afraid. I know my neighbors are around, but I'm not feeling grounded in my city at all. Anything could happen."
Days after Oakland cuts police budget, armed robbers run up on city's woke 'violence prevention chief' and reporters amid discussion on rising crime
A KNTV-TV news crew was interviewing Oakland's violence prevention director on the steps of City Hall in June 2021 when two armed robbers approached the group with guns and tried to steal camera equipment. An armed security officer drove away the would-be burglars, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, but news of the scuffle broke out on social media — and it was called the perfect example of what inevitably happens when a local government cuts its police budget. A few days earlier, Oakland's City Council voted to reallocate $18 million of police funding to community violence prevention programs. Later in 2021, amazingly Oakland's liberal Mayor Libby Schaaf blamed "defund rhetoric" for a lack of police recruits amid a surge in violent crime.
LA school district cuts police force by 33% — then middle school girl is brutally beaten by 2 females while male teacher watches, not knowing how to handle it
A KCAL-TV report last summer linked defunding police with the brutal, two-against-one beating at Sun Valley Middle School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. A teacher tried to stop it but soon gave up and watched the attackers punch the victim as many as 35 times. The victim's mother told KCAL that the teacher admitted to her that he didn't know what to do when the girls became violent: "He said, 'I tried to do what I could, I cannot touch the students, and I would like more training on how to restrain a child, or what can I do in this situation?'" The report documented how the district defunded and reduced its police force beginning in 2020. In 2021, then-L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva blamed "defund the police" and progressive policies for a violent crime wave.
Minneapolis' 'defund the police' zeal leads to increased crime — and city actually moves to pay for temporary cops at a hefty price
The outsourced police work was to cost Minneapolis $500,000 over six weeks at the end of 2020. The desperate move came after the city and anti-cop activists went after officers, about 100 of whom simply left the force. As crime was spiking, members of the city council In September 2020 — all of whom backed defunding the police force — actually demanded to know, "Where are the police?" What's more, in October 2020, several residents sued the city over insufficient policing, claiming there were fewer officers than what the city charter requires. A year later, a judge ordered the city to hire more police officers, and Mayor Jacob Frey admitted that calls to "defund the police" led to a spike in crime.
In the wake of Portland's 'defund the police' failure — and soaring crime that resulted — city restores gun violence prevention unit
Portland — not surprisingly falling in line with other woke cities — cut its police budget in the summer of George Floyd by $15 million. But by early 2021, Portland moved to reintroduce a gun violence task force within the city's police department after tons of violence. Many community members blamed budget cuts, and specifically the dissolution of the Gun Violence Reduction Team, for the spike in crime. Many within the police department warned that cutting the police budget would only lead to more crime. "I'd say they're more emboldened, maybe, to be out with guns," Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said. "They know there's not someone watching. There's no real deterrent there." Later in 2021, Portland was having a tough time finding officers to fill the revamped gun violence task force.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is a 'defund the police' champion after George Floyd's death — a year later, she completely reverses herself amid violent crime wave
In October 2020, the mayor announced cuts to the police department's budget in response to Black Lives Matter activists' demands. More than 600 police jobs would be eliminated. Lightfoot said police have played a "complicit role" in "brutally enforcing racist, Jim Crow laws, depriving Black and Brown people" of their "full rights as citizens." That Christmas holiday, at least eight people were killed and 30 more were wounded in citywide shootings. Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara called the "historic levels" of violence amid police cuts "ridiculous." A year later, according to the Chicago Tribune, "Lightfoot unveiled a $16.7 billion spending plan ... that boosts funding for police ..."
Far-left San Francisco mayor pushed for $120 million in police funding cuts after George Floyd's death; just a year later she wants cops to fight 'bulls**t' crime 'that's destroyed our city'
Mayor London Breed — who jumped on the "defund the police" bandwagon in 2020 — just a year later launched an emergency police intervention in the city's high-crime Tenderloin neighborhood over rampant drug use and related gun violence, KPIX-TV reported. "It’s time, the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it come to an end," Breed said with an angry tone at a press conference, the station said. "And it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement. More aggressive with the changes in our policies and less tolerant of all the bulls**t that has destroyed our city."
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13th Oregon county secures approval to ditch Democrat-compromised state to join Idaho
The "Greater Idaho" movement continues to gain steam, promising to liberate conservative counties east of the Deschutes River from the ruinous policies and Democratic control all but ensured by residents in the more populous leftist areas nearer the coast, such as Mayor Ted Wheeler's crime-ravaged Portland.
On Tuesday, Crook County voters were presented with ballot measure 7-86, which asked: "Should Crook County represent that its citizens support efforts to move the Idaho state border to include Crook County?"
The majority signaled their support for moving the state border westward and joining their conservative compatriots in the Gem State.
The arguments
Those opposed to the measure unsuccessfully argued against 7-86 in the State Voters' Pamphlet that joining Idaho was problematic because:
- Idaho, unlike Oregon, is pro-life;
- Idaho, unlike Oregon, has a sales tax and a lower minimum wage;
- Idaho is not as fast and loose when it comes to voter registration;
- "Idaho does not allow Video Poker Machines in retail establishments";
- Moving the border might undercut Oregon's recreational drug sales;
- "Idaho has no state sponsored healthcare plan for low-income residents"; and
- Newly minted Idaho residents will have to pay "out of state fees" for hunting, fishing, and camping activities on the Oregon coast.
A loss of voters might also mean Oregon could lose representatives in Congress.
Citizens for Greater Idaho president Mike McCarter, a firearms instructor from the town of LaPine, alternatively argued, "There is a way to get better governance for central and eastern Oregon. The current location of the Oregon/Idaho border was decided 165 years ago and is now outdated because it doesn't match the location of the dividing line between the counties that prefer Idaho's style of governance and counties that prefer Oregon's style of governance."
McCarter further noted the residents of Crook County would receive better representation in Idaho, where the state legislature "is controlled by representatives from rural districts, who govern according to the concerns and priorities of rural counties."
McCarter, whose organization has elsewhere suggested that "only 25% of Oregonians who are registered to vote are registered Republican," stressed that the alternative would be to continue living under the thumb of Oregon politicians who "don't understand how we make a living. Their decisions damage industries like timber, mining, trucking, ranching and farming."
'When you go to seek redress and your government doesn't listen to you, where do you turn?'
Idaho state Rep. Barbara Ehardt (R) recently told CNN, "Constitutionally, people should have the opportunity to seek redress from their government."
"When you go to seek redress and your government doesn't listen to you, where do you turn?" she continued. "These people were seeking redress from the next best thing, which would be us."
Greater Idaho executive director Matt McCaw similarly suggested in the voters pamphlet, "The right to choose our own government is a foundational principle of the United States. It's why we hold votes for government office, redistrict every ten years, and have an initiative system that allows voters to refer issues directly to the ballot. The goal of all of these systems is to get government that people actually want and that matches their values."
"East-side Oregonians have little voice in their own state government, even less political power, and get a steady barrage of policies forced on us that we don't want and don't reflect our community or values," added McCaw.
Evidently, 53.44% of Crook County voters cared more about regaining a political say over their fates than abortion rights, automatic voter registration, sales tax, and slot machines, saying "yes" to ballot measure 7-86. The votes will not be certified until June.
The response
"The voters of eastern Oregon have spoken loudly and clearly about their desire to see border talks move forward," McCaw said in a statement. "We call on the governor, speaker of the House, and Senate president to sit down with us and discuss next steps towards changing governance for eastern Oregonians, as well as for the legislature to begin holding hearings on what a potential border change will look like."
"What they're telling us through these votes is that they want their leaders to move the border. In our system, the people are the ones in charge, and it's time for the leaders representing them to follow through," said McCarter.
Greater Idaho suggested that the "yes" vote would likely have been more substantial were it not for the opposition campaign bankrolled by Portland groups.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little indicated in 2020 — as the first of the eastern Oregon counties began to vote in favor of leaving Oregon to its troubles — that he liked the idea of a "Greater Idaho."
Little told "Fox & Friends" that he understood "what takes place in the Portland area has a big impact on those rural parts of Oregon, and I understand they're looking at Idaho fondly because of our regulatory atmosphere, our values. That doesn't surprise me one bit."
Little noted, however, there would be various legal "hurdles" prospective western Idahoans would have to clear first. The U.S. Congress and both the Oregon and Idaho state legislatures would have to approve the border shift.
KOIN-TV noted that the Idaho legislature passed a measure last year to begin conversations with Oregon lawmakers about the initiative.
Ahead of the talks, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) quipped, "I would entertain a trade for Boise and Sun Valley."
Extra to Crook County, the following counties have reportedly passed measures in favor of joining Idaho: Sherman; Morrow; Union; Wallowa; Jefferson; Wheeler; Grant; Baker; Malheur; Harney; Lake; and Klamath.
While there has long been an interest in moving the border, Democrat-championed COVID restrictions reportedly helped provide the movement with the traction it needed to get where it is today.
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