FILE – In this Aug. 4, 2018, file photo, counter protesters tear a Nazi flag, in Portland, Ore. A member of Portland’s city council says she is shocked by a newspaper report that the commander for the police rapid response team exchanged friendly text messages with a leader of far-right protests that have rocked the city. Councilwoman Jo Ann Hardesty said the reporting in Willamette Week on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, confirms there are members of the Portland police force who work in collusion with right-wing extremists. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes, File)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The city of Portland, often in the spotlight for its liberal leanings, has been roiled by the revelation that a police lieutenant in charge of containing protests texted repeatedly with the leader of a far-right group involved in those demonstrations.
The mayor asked the police chief Friday to investigate “disturbing” texts between Lt. Jeff Niiya, who is the head of the Police Bureau’s rapid response team, and the leader of a Washington-based group called Patriot Prayer that has repeatedly crossed into Oregon to stage right-wing rallies and marches.
The events in Portland and other West Coast cities routinely draw crowds of self-described anti-fascists, who show up in force to try to shut down leader Joey Gibson and his followers.
Police have struggled to contain the violent clashes and residents have grown used to events that shut down streets for hours, leave downtown windows shattered and end in open brawls, fires, injuries and dozens of arrests.
FILE – In this Aug. 4, 2018, file photo, Portland police keep Patriot Prayer affiliates separate from antifa protesters during a rally in Portland, Ore. A member of Portland’s city council says she is shocked by a newspaper report that the commander for the police rapid response team exchanged friendly text messages with a leader of far-right protests that have rocked the city. Councilwoman Jo Ann Hardesty said the reporting in Willamette Week on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, confirms there are members of the Portland police force who work in collusion with right-wing extremists. (AP Photo/John Rudoff, File)
The text messages, first obtained by the Willamette Week newspaper through a public records request, show Niiya communicating with Gibson before, during and after those clashes.