PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler pepper-sprayed a man who confronted and videotaped him and a former mayor as they left a restaurant Sunday evening.
According to a police report, Wheeler and Sam Adams, who served one term as Portland mayor from 2009 to 2013, had been dining in a tented area.
When the two left, Wheeler said a man approached him and accused the mayor of dining without wearing a mask. Wheeler told police that the man stood close to him and he became concerned for his safety and contracting COVID-19.
Wheeler, who was re-elected in November, has been targeted by left-wing demonstrators, including some who smashed windows and set fires inside his condo building.