After Hate Killings, Portland Mayor Wants Anti-Muslim Rallies Canceled

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has called for the cancellation of two right-wing rallies and marches scheduled in the upcoming weeks, saying they are inappropriate and potentially dangerous after two men were stabbed to death on a train by a white supremacist as they tried to help young women he was berating with anti-Muslim hate speech, NPR reported on Tuesday.

"Our city is in mourning," Wheeler said. "Our community's anger is real, and the timing and subject of these events can only exacerbate an already difficult situation."

Wheeler requested that the organizers cancel the events voluntarily and also urged the federal government to halt the protests.

This elicited criticism from the ACLU of Oregon, which explained its reasoning in several tweets, inlcuding these two:

1. The government cannot revoke or deny a permit based on the viewpoint of the demonstrators. Period. https://t.co/P9gcNPAumH

— ACLU of Oregon (@ACLU_OR) May 29, 2017

If the government has concrete evidence of an imminent threat they can and should address it, without restricting 1A rights of all. https://t.co/jfxgJyvCpi

— ACLU of Oregon (@ACLU_OR) May 29, 2017

A "Trump Free Speech Rally" in Portland is scheduled for this Sunday, which is expected to be attended by alt-right supporters, NPR reported.

Jeremy Joseph Christian, the suspect in Friday's deadly stabbing, attended a similar event last month in East Portland in which he used the n-word and saluted Hitler, according to OPB.

Later that week a "March Against Sharia" is scheduled in Portland as one of some two dozen demonstrations planned across the country.

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