to protesters", and opened a class action lawsuit against the police in November 2017; the case was still ongoing as of August 2020. After 2017-2018 confrontations between the alt-right and anti-fascists, Lieutenant Jeff Niiya's close conversations via text with Joey Gibson, head of Patriot Prayer, was published. Niiya helped members avoid arrest. After a six-month investigation, Niiya was not disciplined for this, but the investigation also showed that the police chief and Mayor Ted Wheeler knew about Niiya's communication. An officer was hired from Burlington, New Jersey's sheriff's department in 2017. Center for Investigative Reporting's Reveal documented his ties to extremist groups during his time in Burlington, including the anti-government Military Patriot Oath Keepers and the anti-Muslim Voice of the American Infidels. PPB's internal affairs department investigated him for three months and wouldn't share the outcome, but the officer is still employed by PPB. The Oregonian noted that existing social media policies would not punish individuals who were part of private social media groups. In an ongoing series of protests beginning in May 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, the Portland Police Bureau has clashed with Portlanders demanding justice against police brutality. In what Rolling Stone reporter Tim Dickinson called "with no remorse or sense of irony", the PPB has been widely criticized for their violent tactics to dissolve the protests including tear gas, flash bombs, impact munitions, and use of force without warning. The PPB has also been the target of temporary restraining orders for violating constitutional rights and for attacking journalists. The PPB were supplemented with federal agents deployed by President Donald Trump who have reportedly arrested rioters and antifa off the streets from unmarked police vehicles for detainment without reading Miranda Rights, providing cause, or identifying themselves. After Mayor Wheeler banned the use of CS gas by PPB on September 10, 2020, the Portland Police Bureau issued a press release, blaming the need for CS gas on the protesters, described as "Victim Blaming 101" by a journalist. PPA's Turner said it would "blow up in the Mayor's face". Days later, Wheeler emailed the police chief and staff, admonishing them for the apparent insubordination in the press release, and later called it "serious breach of protocol and an inappropriate use of City communications resources". COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic, the PPB's union fought against attempts to implement a requirement for COVID-19 vaccination for PPB staff. The