A Man Who Said He Was from Boston Frightened Portland Officials with a Pepsi

He also said he once worked for the Boston Herald. He didn't.

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A man who said he was from Boston made a supremely unwise decision at a city council hearing in Portland, Oregon yesterday.

The man, who said his name was Carlos Enrique and claimed he used to work for the Boston Herald, was speaking at a public meeting Wednesday when things got weird. During his testimony (which was supposed to be about the city’s policy on towing decrepit boats), Henrique made note of how many protesters he’d seen bugging officials at meetings, then abruptly got up out of his chair, walked toward the officials, and jammed his hand into his jacket pocket.

“What I realized is that the language of resistance has not been properly translated to you,” the man said before approaching the dais. “So this is for you.”

For a fleeting moment, the officials appeared fearful—thinking, presumably, that he might be reaching for a weapon. But all he had on him was an unopened can of Pepsi, which he handed to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler before cracking a second open for himself. Security personnel then rushed in to intervene and usher him out of the room.

“Woah, woah, not a good move, not a smart move. Don’t do that again,” an exasperated Wheeler said after being handed the drink. “Please folks, do not do that. For your own safety don’t do that.”

He added, “If this were the Boston City Council that would have ended differently.” (That comment didn’t go over well at UniversalHub, by the way).

Enrique said in his testimony that he had recently relocated from Boston to Portland, and identified himself as “a former journalist for the Boston Herald.” The Herald says that’s not true. Someone with a somewhat similar name appears to have worked there a decade ago, but it’s more likely than not just a coincidence. Here’s what the Herald‘s HR department told Seattle’s KUOW:

The Human Resources Department at the Boston Herald said it had no record of a journalist on staff with that name. A man named Carlos Henriquez had once worked in the paper’s marketing and research department, starting in 2003. He left the paper more than 10 years ago. That Carlos Henriquez would be 43 years old today, according to the newspaper’s personnel records, significantly older than the protester in Portland appeared to be.

The man’s stunt appears to be inspired by the roundly mocked and since-pulled Pepsi ad starring celebrity Kendall Jenner, in which she can be seen in a handing a police officer a can of soda at a protest.