Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler punched in confrontation with left-wing activists: report

Wheeler finally condemns violence in Portland <br>

Reaction from Portland attorney James Buchal.

Left-wing activists apparently punched Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler while he was dining downtown on Wednesday, according to reports.

The incident occurred the same day that the city's police department deemed unlawful a gathering of about 60 demonstrators protesting a Wisconsin prosecutor's decision not to press charges against a White police officer accused of shooting Jacob Blake over the summer.

"You assaulted me. You just assaulted me," Wheeler can be heard saying in one video posted to Twitter as activists yelled at him while he dined outdoors at Cafe Nell's, according to The Oregonian.

The group "pushed their way past restaurant employees" and toward Wheeler to confront him despite his requests for them to leave, mayoral spokesman Jim Middaugh said in a statement to The Oregonian. 

"At that point, one member of the group started swatting at the mayor and made physical contact with him," Middaugh told the outlet.

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Portland police are investigating the matter, Oregon Public Broadcasting first reported Thursday.

Activists can be heard hurling insults at the mayor, telling him he has "done nothing" for the city in another video posted to Twitter on Thursday.

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"The [m]ayor is committed to supporting local businesses and wants others to do the same," Middaugh said in a statement to Oregon Public Broadcasting. "Given the tenor of political discourse nationally and locally, it’s not unusual for people to confront the mayor and other elected officials in public. It’s part of the job."

Mayor Ted Wheeler speaks to people gathered in downtown Portland, Ore., Wednesday, July 22, 2020.  (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

On Thursday, around 100 protestors in a suburb of Portland smashed windows and sprayed graffiti in a downtown business area. The city gained national attention during the summer as one of the epicenters of nationwide protests after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man being detained by White Minneapolis police officers.

For more than 100 nights, Portland was disrupted by violent clashes between protesters and law enforcement.

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Protests reached a fever pitch in late July when President Trump deployed federal law enforcement agents to stop attacks on a federal courthouse and other U.S. property. Rioters booed and heckled Wheeler in July during a "listening session" about unrest.

Fox News' Stephanie Pagnones contributed to this report.

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