Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler pepper-sprayed a man outside of a pub Sunday night, after the man accosted him while recording on his phone.
What We Know:
- Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler reported to police about the incident. “I clearly informed him that he needed to back off,” before spraying him in the eyes, according to the incident report released by police.
- According to Wheeler, he was leaving the pub around 8 p.m. when a man confronted him, accusing the mayor of not wearing a mask while sitting inside a restaurant as required by Covid-19 rules, in addition to spewing other grievances.
- In his defense, Wheeler was sitting under a tented area which he told the man was an acceptable setting to sit without a mask on, as per the Covid rules which allow someone to take off their mask when eating or drinking, according to the police report.
- The man who confronted the mayor was not wearing a mask and followed Wheeler to his car getting “within a foot or two of my face while he was videoing me,” Wheeler reported to officers.
“I became imminently concerned for my personal safety, as I had recently been physically accosted in a similar situation,” advised the mayor.
- The mayor also said he was afraid of catching Covid-19.
- Wheeler’s director of communications Jim Middaugh, said in a statement, “Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler filed a police report relating to an incident that occurred. The Mayor is cooperating with the police investigation and encourages others involved to do the same.”
- According to NBC News, Wheeler said he threw a bottle of water to the man as he was leaving and contacted his chief of staff after leaving the scene. A city official contacted police, and Wheeler called police himself to give statements over the phone and in email, according to the report.
Mayor Wheeler has had other negative interactions earlier this year, including windows being smashed and a fire being set inside his condo building, as protestors called for his resignation over his lack of action on police reform.
