Portland’s small-business owners are sounding a desperate alarm that should wake every American who cares about law and order. Owners like Loretta Guzman say they are being forced to fortify their storefronts and beg for help as vandals and repeat offenders turn once-thriving blocks into war zones.
Guzman’s Bison Coffeehouse has been targeted repeatedly, prompting her to spend her own money on bullet-resistant windows and cancel normal business routines to protect patrons and employees. The images of shattered glass and spray-painted interiors are not isolated incidents but the visible evidence of a city that has lost control of public safety.
These stories are backed up by hard numbers showing property crime and vandalism climbing sharply in recent years, with business owners reporting multiple break-ins and a real fear of being forced to close. When shopkeepers are investing in ballistic glass instead of hiring staff or expanding, you know the policies in place are failing working families and entrepreneurs.
When the idea of deploying the National Guard or federal law enforcement is floated, frustrated citizens and business owners don’t see it as a political stunt — they see it as common-sense backup for a city that has exhausted local options. The tug-of-war between federal offers of assistance and city hall’s refusal to accept help is a shameful display of political theater while Main Street suffers.
Portland’s leaders posture about local control while ignoring the practical consequences of under-policing and soft-on-crime policies, leaving residents to pay the price. A coalition of mayors and city officials may denounce federal intervention, but those statements do nothing for boarded-up windows and lost livelihoods.
Washington must stop shrinking from its responsibility to protect citizens when local governance refuses to act effectively; federal support — whether through the Guard, prosecutors, or coordinated multi-agency task forces — should be deployed to restore order and prosecute repeat offenders to the fullest extent. Law-abiding Portlanders deserve to walk their streets and run their businesses without fear, and flimsy political excuses cannot be allowed to stand in the way.
This is not a partisan plea, it is a moral one: stand with the hard-working Americans who build our communities and reject the failed policies that let criminals terrorize neighborhoods. If elected officials will not defend the public, then citizens must hold them accountable and demand leaders who put safety, justice, and prosperity first.
