As wildfires rage on, an Oregon Sheriff says residents have been illegally stopping unfamiliar vehicles at gunpoint.
CNN reports that some residents of Clackamas County have defied evacuation orders. Instead, staying behind to defend their property. Signs in yards read, “Looters get shot.”
Sheriff Craig Roberts wants the illegal checkpoints to end – warning residents that they can’t do that. He says most people who have returned are simply coming back for their own possessions.
Amid evacuation orders due to raging wildfires, some Oregon residents suspicious of looting have been illegally stopping unfamiliar drivers at gunpoint. https://t.co/Al2fT4W0bZ
— CNN (@CNN) September 14, 2020
The drastic action by locals has been prompted by mostly unfounded reports of suspicious people. There has been a 400% increase in such calls to authorities. While most have been nothing, Roberts says a small number of arrests have occurred. Though, he did not provide details.
