'Tactical strategy' may partly explain why official Portland gave green light to Antifa terrorists

A veteran drummer once said a lesson he'd learned early on, was to keep playing when a fight broke out in a club or hall. Stopping the music, he related, would cause uninvolved audience members to look for the trouble, and possibly join in. The small disturbance would become a big one.

I don't excuse Portland police for standing by while Antifa terrorists savagely attacked Andy Ngo and others. Their inaction was disgraceful. Some say police may have worried about violating an alleged 'stand-down' order, and being fired. But if job security is more important to someone in uniform than protecting citizens, why did they join law enforcement, in the first place?

Mayor Ted Wheeler has denied charges he issued a stand-down order. But he has indulged Antifa, before. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.N. Ambassador Ric Grenell have called for federal investigation of Wheeler and why Portland police allowed Antifa criminality to run rampant. Others now urge National Guard troops be deployed.

This brings to mind other instances where city leaders allegedly handcuffed police from enforcing laws against left-wing rioters. Think of Baltimore. 

But I do wonder how much city leaders' decisions are motivated by political bias, and how much by tactical thinking: trying to ensure small fights don't become big ones. 

Tactical strategizing isn't an excuse. But it may be part of the explanation.