Not that we didn’t already know this but in Portland, Oregon it is completely legal to burn down a federal courthouse but seriously illegal to stop people from burning down a federal courthouse. In its latest move to enable utter lawlessness, the City of Portland is fining the federal government hundreds of thousands of dollars for the protective fence erected around the federal courthouse. Apparently the fence is blocking a bike lane and everyone knows Antifa travels to riots using green transportation.
Federal agents have been protecting the federal courthouse in Portland from a mob of leftists, intent on burning it down, because the local police refuse to. One of the things the feds have done is erect a metal fence around the courthouse to keep the anarchists at bay. It must be very effective because the Portland City Commissioner wants it removed so the rioters can finally burn down the structure.
Check out this bonkers statement from City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly:
I want to update you on our federal occupation, explain the steps that we have taken as a city, and share what our state legislature and federal delegation are doing to address this unconstitutional federal aggression against our city.
At a time when tensions were starting to decrease on our streets, Trump sent federal agents from two of the most politicized and controversial agencies—Customs and Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security—without Congressional authorization or notification, or local elected officials’ consent, into our city. While we work to counteract their presence, we face an uphill battle to do so in a process designed to usurp not just our local authority, but the authority of our federal representatives. As your elected representatives, we are doing everything we can. Our recourse may be limited, but we’re not giving up the fight.
Get ready for this decisive action:
On Thursday, I directed the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to enforce on the federal occupiers for erecting a fence in our public right of way. PBOT filed a cease and desist demand on behalf of the City—we have not received a response. We are assessing the maximum fine of $500 for every 15 minutes the fence obstructs our street, and we are investigating other legal remedies available to us. Typically, we would send a maintenance crew or contractor to remove such an obstruction, but I will not send workers into harm’s way. Yes, I am afraid to direct workers to do their job and enforce our laws against the federal government—I hope that gives everyone reading this pause. As of yesterday, the federal government owes us $192,000 and counting. We intend to collect.
Good luck collecting on that, cuckoo pants.
Besides the insanity of this, the math seems to be way off too. If this order was issued Thursday, as in today, and they are fining the feds $500 for every fifteen minutes the fence remains that’s $2,000 an hour. The most that could be is $48,000 for a 24-hour period. I checked and this order and statement was issued on Thursday July 30, which is today.
I have no idea how this nitwit got to the $192,000 figure but here’s some non-liberal math to help her out: There are 4 15-minute periods in an hour and there are 24 hours in a day. 4 X 24 = 96, which makes 96 fines of $500 each. 96 X 500 = 48,000 or $48,000.
Since $500 per 15-minutes equals $2,000 an hour, there would have to be 960 hours in a day to assess this $192,000 fine. I’m sure days seem that long for Portland residents who don’t support the chaos, but there’s still only 24 hours in the day.
I bet she took all the numbers associated with this and banged them randomly into a her Casio. 15 X 24 X 500 = 180,000, which is pretty close so chances are she’s doesn’t understand how to use a calculator or a clock.
I’d also be willing to bet that there is no legal basis for the City of Portland to asses $500 dollar fines for every 15 minutes of noncompliance. Once you get a parking ticket, you own that spot. They don’t keep giving you a ticket every couple of minutes.
This will never be collected, but President Trump should charge the City of Portland the cost of defending the federal courthouse since they have abandoned the streets to lawlessness. It’s going to be a lot costlier than $48,000 or whatever made-up number they come up with. Also, Trump could easily collect this by simply withholding federal funding to the city.
