Following news out of the Pacific Northwest that Antifa had again been violent with those critical of their face-masked tactics — this time beating and “milkshaking” journalist Andy Ngo — Sen. Ted Cruz publicly condemned Antifa’s behavior on Twitter and called for an investigation into local leadership for looking the other way.

Under particular fire is Portland, Ore. Mayor Ted Wheeler who, following the assault on Ngo and others, was silent on social media. Many believe the Portland police have been unable to respond to Antifa assaults because they’ve been hamstrung by Wheeler.

What happened to @MrAndyNgo is horrible and inexcusable. The #mayor @tedwheeler should be resign for what he has done to #portland. I feel bad for the @PortlandPolice having their hands tied. The socialists with #antifa are dangerous and un-American. pic.twitter.com/k7PV2YTUgW — Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) June 30, 2019

Last year, Wheeler defended his decision to allow Antifa to block traffic and harass motorists at another Antifa protest — captured on video by Ngo — and essentially said it was Portland police’s decision not to intervene.

The video posted by journalist Andy C. Ngo showed protesters, including members of antifa and Black Lives Matter, blocking an intersection and attempting to direct traffic at while officers on motorcycle watched from a block away. At one point, the activists chased down 74-year-old Kent Houser after he made a right turn against their wishes, pounding on his silver Lexus and breaking a window. The car sustained thousands of dollars in damage, he told the Oregonian. … The mayor has been accused of taking a kid-gloved approach to the protests that routinely roil the liberal enclave, such as the summer occupation of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, which saw Portland police refuse to assist the immigration-enforcement officers unless they were in physical danger. “This is the kind of street anarchy that routinely happens where I live,” tweeted Mr. Ngo.

Portland has implemented policies over the last several years that officers from neighboring communities consider “anti-police”, such as new deadly use of force rules that make officers involved in use of force altercations essentially suspects in a crime until they are cleared by an internal investigation.

Washington County, Ore. Sheriff Patrick Garrett ended a program in February that allowed his office to support Portland because he felt the liability risk was too high.

“If we’re engaged in a use of force event in the city of Portland the likelihood that costs are going to be significant as a result of that are just higher,” [Garrett] said. The agency’s Senior Assistant County Counsel, Elmer Dickens, explained why in the internal email sent on Thursday. In it, he writes, “the makeup of the Portland jury pool and the anti-police attitudes of many residents appears to have a large impact upon the DA’s ability to successfully bring charges against suspects that are injured in police use of force cases.” Dickens also appears to criticize the way the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office handles officer involved shootings. Dickens writes, “A policy of making every officer who uses deadly force become a criminal suspect in a grand jury proceeding is disturbing.”

Sen. Cruz — who also called on journalists and local police to accurately report the incident this weekend and to arrest and charge the perpetrators, respectively — seems to be alluding to some of these anti-police policies in pointing to Wheeler and asking that he be investigated.

Sickening criminal assault. To mainstream “journalists”: don’t cover this up, don’t ignore it. https://t.co/0WKE3eQGMb — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 30, 2019

To law enforcement: find & prosecute these violent felons. https://t.co/03yIRM8Iey — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 30, 2019

To federal law enforcement: investigate & bring legal action against a Mayor who has, for political reasons, ordered his police officers to let citizens be attacked by domestic terrorists. https://t.co/5xyCDARICl https://t.co/c0Tf3SsKEf — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 30, 2019

Thank you for reporting on this sickening assault. Other journalists should do the same & those who facilitated or turned a blind eye to domestic terrorists—e.g., the Mayor—should be held fully accountable. By DOJ. By civil litigators. By criminal prosecutors. AND by the media. https://t.co/uqRRYEmhFe — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 30, 2019