It seems sort of a truism of the whole agenda-setting project that when an issue (think Vietnam, civil rights or the 1968 campaign in the original Chapel Hill study) rises in salience, it's because something new happened that day in Vietnam, civil rights or the 1968 campaign. One of the striking things, then, about the administration's (and Fox's) crusade to make Portland a front in the New War on Terror® is how often the same tale resurfaces as fresh news. The latest outrage, in short, may have already done its work in 2022 or 2023 or 2024, and Tuesday evening's No. 6 story is a case in point:
Portland, Oregon, business owners sounded the alarm over the city's crime crisis Tuesday as President Donald Trump faces legal roadblocks in keeping federal troops on the ground to help mitigate the problem.
"We need help here," said Amy Nichols, whose local business has been the victim of 10 break-ins.
After years of struggle, Nichols believes the president’s push to keep National Guard troops in Portland could help shift things in the right direction and draw greater attention to the problems locals face.
Sounds outrageous enough, but ... we said "business owners," didn't we?
... Loretta Guzman, owner of Bison Coffeehouse in Portland, has had her own run-ins with crime.
She previously told Fox News about her plans to install bulletproof glass after criminals shattered her coffee shop's windows, but crime also invaded her personal life when she heard gunfire while in bed one night.
There really ought to be a Groucho Marx line in that, but let's get back to "previously" for a moment. The link in the text goes to a January 2023 clip (the bit about installing the bullet-resistant glass, which also resurfaces with a May 2024 story), which seems like it might be related to this December 2022 story:
PORTLAND, Ore. – Residents of Oregon's most populous city dealt with unprecedented homicides, rising property crime and a general feeling of "lawlessness" during 2022, but Portland leaders have taken some steps to set a different tone for the new year.
"The rise in crime and the houseless and homeless population, that continues to be a challenge that I think the city is starting to get their arms wrapped around," business owner Katherine Sealy told Fox News.
... Police response times to emergencies hit levels not seen in at least a decade, according to Portland Police Bureau data, with the average high-priority call waiting upwards of 20 minutes for a response in October. Loretta Guzman, whose café was vandalized after advertising a Coffee with a Cop event, said her customers tell her it's like the police have "almost disappeared."
Which definitely seems kin to this November 2022 story:
PORTLAND, Ore. – Violent crime is rising faster in Portland than other parts of the country, but some residents say it seems like police aren't around when they need them.
"It's like they almost disappeared," Loretta Guzman told Fox News.
Guzman owns Bison Coffee House in North Portland, which vandals targeted in early October after advertising Coffee with a Cop. Guzman said she decided to host the event because she heard complaints about safety in the city from her customers over the past couple of years.
And, of course, to the original:
PORTLAND, Ore. – An ugly, dark feeling gnawed at Loretta Guzman's stomach when she went to bed on Oct. 4. Negative comments had poured in on social media as soon as she posted that she would host Coffee with a Cop the next day at her North Portland coffee shop.
She prayed and went to sleep.
By 2:47 a.m., six masked vandals had smashed her windows and sprayed paint throughout her entire store.
(Here's a "Fox & Friends" clip from that month, in case you're bored.)
And she was back in July 2023:
Portland is making it easier for fentanyl addicts to get their fix by distributing aluminum foil, straws and pipes to smokers, all while the area continues to grapple with raging drug and homelessness epidemics.
... Loretta Guzman, owner of Bison Coffeehouse in Portland, is among the many residents who say the drug problem has gotten out of control.
She recently captured video of herself forcing two drug users to leave her property. Speaking to "Fox & Friends First," she blasted local officials for refusing to listen to their constituents' concerns.
But set that aside for a moment and return to what she told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday:
Guzman jumped up and looked around but saw nothing. Moments later, her nephew’s girlfriend knocked on her door to tell her he’d been shot.
"When she called 911, she didn't get a response, so I called 911 and I got a recording in the middle of a life-and-death situation," Guzman recalled.
"I tried to go get my car so I could try to save him, and people were standing around when I pulled up next to his car and nobody would help me lift him."
You can listen to the sequence yourself. But bear n mind the headlines on the homepage. "Send in troops" is the summary, followed by the who-what-where: "Portland coffee shop owner's nephew died in her arms as 911 played a recording." The story suggests that the "as," at least, is a lie, but the only reference to when this might have happened is "October 27." Draw your own conclusions, bearing in mind who might be watching "Fox & Friends" on any given morning as his thumbs wander over his phone.
You'll see some other familiar names cropping up if you read Fox's Portland stories regularly (the "83-year-old Vietnam veteran" who felt safer walking the streets of Saigon than those of Portland for stories in February, April and May 2023, for example). Much as with the bullpen of influencers whose social media posts fed the "Kamala roasted for word salad" tales of the 2024 campaign, Fox never needs to look far when the fires of MAGA fear and rage need fresh stoking.
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