The Portland Police Department has been under intense scrutiny lately for the way law enforcement in Oregon's largest city handled an Oct. 6 protest where a motorist pushed through a crowd of demonstrators.

But the agency, which employs eight officers, didn't have anything to do with police response to the event, the local CBS affiliate reports. That was the job of the Portland Police Bureau, which counts about 1,000 in its ranks.

Portland, Michigan, has a population of just under 4,000 and city officials there say they've been inundated with direct messages on Facebook since the Oct. 6 protest more than 2,000 miles away.

The difference between the two communities is night and day.

One encompasses 149 square miles, an hour's drive from a mountain range and the Pacific Ocean. The other doesn't even cover a full three square miles and the closest beach sits on the shores of Lake Michigan.

In 2016, nearly 80 percent of Portland, Oregon's voters cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton, according to the New York Times' election map. In the city's Midwest cousin? Donald Trump won with 49 percent of the vote to Clinton's 42 percent.

Yet police and city officials in Portland, Michigan, are being accused of letting mobs run wild on the streets, a narrative pushed by Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson and right-wing websites like Breitbart and The Daily Caller.

The flood of complaints prompted the Portland, Michigan city manager to publish a public service announcement clearing up any confusion. He also added the state to the local police department's Facebook title in an effort to clear things up.

But to no avail.

"PSA: We're not Portland, Oregon," the Facebook post reads.

PSA: We’re not Portland, Oregon. Since I authorized the creation of the Portland Police Department Facebook page in... Posted by City of Portland, Michigan on Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Folks have even filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking records concerning Portland police response to protests, city officials told WOOD TV.

It sounds like a headache. But at least one commenter on the city's Facebook PSA may have pinpointed the source of the problem.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.com