Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler pepper sprayed unmasked man videotaping him

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler pepper sprayed an unmasked man with a video camera who confronted him and former Mayor Sam Adams as the two men left a restaurant Sunday evening.

The two mayors had dined at the McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House and were leaving the establishment at around 8 p.m. when a middle-aged man appeared to accuse the Wheeler of dining without a mask, according to a Portland Police report released Monday.

According to the report, the two mayors informed the stranger that they had dined in the tented area of the restaurant where masks were not required, but that did not deter the man from following Wheeler to his car.

"He had no face mask on and got within a foot or two of my face while he was videoing me," Wheeler told police. "I became imminently concerned for my personal safety."

"I clearly informed him that he needed to back off. He did not do so," he continued. "I informed him that I was carrying pepper spray and that I would use it if he did not back off. He remained at close distance, I pulled out my pepper spray and sprayed him in the eyes." 

Wheeler then reportedly gave the man with a bottle of water to clean out his eyes. 

The encounter is just the most recent instance of an aggressive confrontation between Portland residents and their mayor, who has been accosted publicly on a number of occasions since last spring. Several weeks ago, Wheeler was approached by a group of radical left-wing activists while he was dining out with a female companion. A member of the group ultimately punched Wheeler during the encounter. 

Wheeler, who notably declined on multiple occasions the assistance of the federal government to help quell the more than 100 days of violence his city saw this summer, also saw rioters smash out the windows and set fires inside his condo building, prompting him to move.