Taylor Perse (“Out of the Frying Pan and Into The Fire,” EW 11-5) cites the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) warning that Oregon is one of the top five states for militia activity. She condemns the counter-protesters to the Black Lives Matter demonstration in Creswell last weekend.

She fails to note the reason why counter-protesters show up at BLM marches. The very same ACLED concludes that up to 95 percent of the recent riots in the country have been linked to BLM.

The police stand by because their jobs are in jeopardy if they intervene, and they have no government support. Gov. Kate Brown, who regularly declares that “violence will not be tolerated,” has tolerated left wing violence for months.

So who’s left to protect the community from the burning, looting and mayhem?

Jerry Ritter

Springfield

Editor’s Note: Reporter Taylor Perse responds that the statistics used in this letter are not in the study that was referenced in the original story and could not be corroborated. A different study produced by ACLED mentions that more than 93 percent of all demonstrations connected to the Black Lives Matter movement have not had violent or destructive activity.

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