Maybe itâs just bad timing.
Itâs almost too easy to pin the sudden shift in Mayor Ted Wheelerâs communications strategy on Eileen Park, the former KOIN reporter recently hired to lead Wheelerâs communications department.
Perhaps Wheeler was just waiting for a new communications director to help him unleash a new social media strategyâone thatâs both reactionary and petty.
Two weeks after Parkâs hire, we saw the first red flag. It came from Wheelerâs Twitter on Election Day:
âHereâs what you need to know about the demonstrations tonight. We know of at least 6 groups coming to downtown Portland. [Police] reached out to them to have a conversation. They have not yet responded. None of the groups have applied for a permit.â
This vague, foreboding message raised an alarm for Wheelerâs followersâincluding Patriot Prayer, the alt-right group based in Vancouver, Washington.
By now, itâs well known that Patriot Prayer keeps a close eye on Wheelerâs social media accounts, hungry for any opportunity to mock their cityâs liberal neighbor. Some Patriot Prayer protests have even been scheduled in direct response to Wheelerâs actionsâlike when Wheeler tweeted his support of Portland police officers for how they handled an October protest. Patriot Prayer disagreed, and five days later, brought a âflash mobâ to Pioneer Courthouse Square, calling for Wheelerâs resignation and inciting violent brawls.
Wheelerâs Election Day tweet was also met with an alt-right response. Three hours after the tweet was posted, Patriot Prayer shared the message on Facebook. Commenters suggested dropping by the demonstration to âtrigger liberals,â but the idea was quashed by group leaders.
The eventual demonstration, a small gathering of progressive groups protesting an anti-immigration ballot measure, began and ended peacefully.
I asked Park, who manages Wheelerâs social presence, if she considered that the tweet would provoke members of Patriot Prayer.
She hadnât. âThis has nothing to do about certain groups of people,â Park said.
I know, I knowâitâs just a tweet. But at a time when politicians use social media as their main messaging platform, Wheelerâs seemingly trivial posts canât be brushed aside.
Over the past month, Wheeler has used Twitter to âcall outâ and insult the credentials of civil rights leaders who disagree with him and to patronize others who oppose his Constitutionally dubious anti-protest policies... and to retweet anyone who says nice things about him.
According to Park, itâs all part of an effort to improve transparency.
And in some cases, thatâs happening. After years of resistance, Park managed to convince the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) to allow journalists inside the bureauâs âcommand centerâ during a large protest.
Thus, on November 14, Park invited two journalistsâone from the Oregonian, one from the Portland Tribuneâto report from the command center during an upcoming Patriot Prayer rally. But the offer came with a strict stipulation: If the specific reporter who was invited couldnât attend, neither publication could send another reporter in their place. Park told me she had selected those two reporters for their record of âfair and balancedâ reporting.
In other words, the mayorâs office was attempting to choose which voices they wanted covering police conduct. Neither reporter accepted Parkâs invitation.
âIn hindsight,â Park says, âI can see how this does not look good.â