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Portland’s small-business owners are sounding the alarm and begging for federal help as crime and lawlessness choke the life out of once-thriving neighborhoods. Local entrepreneurs like Loretta Guzman and other downtown operators are pleading with Washington to stop listening to ideological excuses and start protecting ordinary citizens and their livelihoods.
Guzman’s Bison Coffeehouse has been targeted repeatedly by vandals and thieves, forcing her to invest in bullet-resistant glass and to board windows just to keep the doors open for customers who still show up. These are not abstract policy problems; they are shattered windows, stolen inventory, and lost paychecks for working families who keep Portland running.
While business owners call for sensible, practical help, Portland’s political class is doing the exact opposite — rushing to sue and politicize every move to restore law and order. State and city leaders have mounted legal challenges and public condemnations rather than owning up to a crime problem and working with federal partners to fix it.
The federal government has responded where local officials would not: the Pentagon recently reassigned roughly 200 federalized California National Guard members to support federal personnel and protect critical facilities in Portland. If local leadership refuses to secure their own streets, the federal government has every right — and duty — to step in and defend American citizens and property.
Conservative business owners and community leaders have offered straightforward solutions that the left-wing establishment brushes off: prosecute repeat offenders, restore swift and certain consequences, and put more boots on the ground so citizens can go to work and shop without fear. Portland’s economy won’t rebound until politicians stop enabling crime with soft-on-crime rhetoric and start backing the men and women who show up every day to keep this city alive.
This is about more than one coffee shop or one restaurant; it’s about whether our cities will be safe for families, workers, and veterans who served our country. The brave business owners still standing in Portland deserve our support, and Washington should back them with the resources and resolve they need to push back against chaos and restore order.
Americans who believe in patriotism, property, and public safety should stand with these entrepreneurs and demand accountability from the officials who let this slide for years. It’s time for courage, not virtue signaling; it’s time for results, not press releases; and it’s time to put common-sense law enforcement back where it belongs — on the streets protecting the people.
