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Rapping Back #93
Portland Copwatch member Dan Handelman analyzes Police "Union" social media (formerly the "Rap Sheet" newsletter) for the People's Police Report

The most significant among the very few posts on the Portland Police Association (PPA)'s social media accounts from mid-April until mid-August took aim at the protests held at Portland State University (PSU) in solidarity with the Palestinian people. In all, there were only 13 posts to the PPA Facebook page, and one featuring PPA President Aaron Schmautz we found on the Oregon Coalition of Police and Sheriffs (ORCOPS) page. Of those fourteen, five had something to do with law enforcement participants being shot, two were about those protests, three were to promote their friendly side (which PCW labels "bluewashing") with the last four referring to the Bureau, the PPA, and one of the Association's favorite topics, crime.

Don't Do as We Do

The Portland Police are not alone in bringing violence to the streets of their city. It's the American way. In addition to breaking up protests, roughing up suspects and shooting/killing often unarmed people, the police also do a lot of property damage when they search homes, "box in" cars, and engage in chases (see article). After students took over the PSU Library and yes, engaged in vandalism of that building, Schmautz ran a long post on April 30 titled "Drawing a Clear Line Against Violence." Letting it sink in that the cops who have led to over $2.5 million in payouts for the violence they inflicted on racial justice protestors in 2020 (see article) would be so sanctimonious, let's see what he means.

From Schmautz. "Free speech. Violence. One is permitted. One isn't." He speaks out against "agitators who coopt free speech events in the name of violence, vandalism and chaos." To be fair, that sentence separates the idea of vandalism from violence but he doesn't make a distinction, really. He bemoans that the President of PSU "acquiesced" to the protestors by negotiating with them. "Give an inch and a mile is taken." Spoken like a true diplomat... from the United States. The PPB was called in and "thrust into a political maelstrom." He expresses support for free speech but, as the essay's title suggests, he "draws a line against violence, vandalism and destruction." He appreciates that Chief Bob Day, District Attorney Mike Schmidt, and the PSU President all spoke out.

In a pop-up, Schmautz adds: "The question repeatedly confronting our community is whether the city or the Bureau are ready to navigate the expected challenges this election season. Given this week's events, it is clear that we must stand united in supporting free speech, draw a clear line against political violence... and our leaders must speak directly and lead with common sense and courage."

He followed up a few days later on May 2, after the PPB had cleared the library and shown video of people running with vertically cut rubber trash cans and calling them "hardened shields," with another rant. He said the media had asked him about "another violent, criminal direct action event." Says Schmautz, "we've been here before." He says people want to destroy our city with political violence... yes, the elected leadership and its goon squad in blue! He was offended about a question that the police didn't show restraint. "Those who never hide the ball have demonstrated for the world who they are" -- maybe people are meant to understand this comment from the rest of his rant, it is not 100% clear what he means. He blames the PSU leadership for being fearful and naive and allowing the occupation to "place the entire city indanger." For those who don't live here, the PSU library takes up about one square block of an over 400 square block downtown area. He said the PPB showed "patience, temperance and restraint" while the "domestic terrorists became anxious, demonstrating their desire for destruction and conflict." He says that police were "attacked" as they cleared the library. Maybe he was referring to something other than the garbage cans, which video clearly shows were rammed into deliberately by the police, not the other way around. He mentions that police vehicles were burned, which happened miles away at the PPB training facility, though to be fair those who took responsibility tied their action to what happened at PSU.

Schmautz ends by noting there were then 180 days until the election, and the police need to enlist the "citizen's [sic] help" to call out violence. OK, stop using violence, PPA! There, we helped.

Other Topics Not as Impassioned

The other articles included one co-written with the Multnomah Deputy Sheriff's Association on July 25 about the death of Sonia Massey in Illinois at the hands of "the same responder [who was supposed to] ensure her safety." Pledging to talk to the community openly, Schamutz is clearly ignoring how the PPA refuses to talk to the people when the PPB shoots someone. Another piece was about Bob Day becoming the permanent chief, linking to a KPTV news story (April 12), a Christian Science Monitor story where they tout how the police and community teamed up once drugs were recriminalized (July 18... the first post in over two months!), and how officers are running for the special Olympics (July 19). A short piece honoring 911 dispatchers fails to acknowledge that the rank-and-file dispatchers are part of the PPA (April 17).

The five pieces about violence against cops include a recap of a 10 year anniversary event for Mick the K-9 dog (April 16), who was killed by a suspect in 2014 (PPR #62), and three about police memorial week (April 30 and two on May 13).

State Gives Away the Farm

Under our radar, the PPA and its state allies at ORCOPS lobbied the legislature to pass a bill allowing Sergeants and other supervisors to unionize. The problem with that is that they are supervisors, not line workers. The bill's passage led to a photo-op and a post on ORCOPS on May 29 claiming it took them 10 years to get the bill passed, including the above photo with PPA President Aaron Schmautz standing next to Governor Tina Kotek. Too bad one aspect wasn't that Sergeants and the people they supervise cannot be in the same bargaining unit... which is how the PPA is structured.

September, 2024
Also in PPR #93

Portland Copwatch
PO Box 42456
Portland, OR 97242
(503) 236-3065/ Incident Report Line (503) 321-5120
e-mail: copwatch@portlandcopwatch.org

Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.

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