Gregory McKelveyVerified account

Trump, DHS Head Wolf, Ted Wheeler - they are all part of the same elite, corporatist, wealthy class that play this game every day and they never expect anyone to catch on.

You know that PPB and DHS are collaborating. Of course, you know that. And you also know you will never prove it. You know the press will never cover it. But they want to, they just can't. Because the leaders wrote the rules, created the loopholes, and are trying to screw us all.

It's all a game. It is political theater. They all pretend to hate each other while they team up to crack down on us. Currently, Mayor Wheeler and Donald Trump are in a toxic fight over who gets to quell the Portland protests. They don't disagree on tactics, just territory.

Both Ted Wheeler and Donald Trump are funded by the same interests, are pushing for a return to "normal" despite the advice of experts on the pandemic, and care only about money - not you. They both agree on what to do with protesters: beat them - detain them - "quell" it.

Ted Wheeler gets to claim he isn't working with Trump in this game. Because dumping footage of protesters on social media isn't "coordination". Laying the foundation for Donald Trump to send forces to Portland isn't "coordination", but it is part of the political game.

Ted Wheeler has been trying to pit Portlanders against the protesters since this uprising began. When he could not appease the community with small reforms, he decided to paint the protesters as fringe. When that didn't work, Trump arrived to finish the job.

And also, how do you think this happens? Ted Wheeler's PPB is shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump's forces, and they will tell you it happened with no coordination? And the bad part is, they aren't lying. It happened with agreed-upon loopholes.https://twitter.com/KohzKah/status/1280822894981812225?s=20 …

I will tell you exactly how this will go - Wheeler: Please leave Trump Admin: No *protesters getting beaten, gassed, detained by rotating Wheeler and Trump Admin forces* W: Please go TA: No W & TA to the public: We hate each other and don't work with those guys.

Trump during 2020 campaign: I stopped the violent anarchists in Portland. Wheeler during 2020 campaign: I stopped the violent anarchists in Portland but with equity. *high five* Let's defeat both.

Wheeler is in a much harder communications battle. Even if he knows no one will prove collaboration, he knows he is in a rough spot. He has been trying to demonize the protesters for weeks. He thought they would fizzle out before it would come to this. It didn't.

But he has used the same rhetoric about the protesters as Trump. He has gassed, beaten, arrested, intimidated, and assaulted protesters just like Trump. But now, because Portland hates Trump, he has to "resist" publicly. But how? By saying what? That he can beat us up on his own?

He can't say he disagrees with Trump's tactics because he shares those tactics and has used them almost every night. He can't say he disagrees with Trump's rhetoric because he has been saying the exact same thing about protesters. So he has to say, he can beat us on his own.

Portland Police tweet things like this, and then charge the crowd. They are trying to provoke some form of retaliation. Then they declare a riot which means everyone there is now technically committing a crime.https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1284017205206634497 …

Then they have the pretense to charge the crowd. They do not need to arrest anyone special, just whoever they can catch and they charge them with Disorderly Conduct II and Resisting Arrest. The Feds then find anyone they can identify in the stream and swoop them the next day.

Everyone in power gets what they wanted: - Violence against protesters - arrests made by both sides - ammo to say protesters are violent anarchists - claims of quelling the protests Another Trump and Ted high-five.

This is also how Ted Wheeler and Donald Trump play the "sanctuary city" game. Wheeler says he does not work with Trump on immigration since they again do not "coordinate". However, he arrests people for minor victimless crimes which is the pretense to being deported.

So let's say I am undocumented and I get arrested for spitting in public, a crime that is only illegal for BIPOC Portlanders. I might get out of jail, but now I am in the list for removal because I am a "criminal". The Feds arrive within a few days because of this and deport me.

That isn't technically coordination right? Both Wheeler and Trump get to say they hate each other. But you are detained and then deported nonetheless. This is politics people. It is not a conspiracy. This is the game.

You'll notice that 'Sanctuary Cities' are also more prone to enacting and defending Broken Windows Policing. This is the practice of heavily policing minor crimes with the intent to lock up enough people that more serious crimes go down too. This is how they still work with ICE.

Lastly, I want to be clear: Trump is worse than Ted Wheeler. Obviously. I do not think they are in some secret text chain or have a secret agreement. I do not think Wheeler is a fascist or evil. I think he and Trump share a background, share priorities, and how to play this game.

I do not think they secretly admire each other. I think they both care about political points, squashing dissent, and stepping on the working class. I think neither of them is saddened to see the violence we are seeing from PPB and DHS. That is the point.