Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Officials in the Michigan city of Portland are pleading for Facebook users to stop sending them angry messages about the city of the same name in Oregon.
City Manager Tutt Gorman posted on the Michigan city's official Facebook page that the account, and that of the city's police department, are not affiliated with the city of Portland, Ore.
"We steadily receive highly inappropriate complaints and messages clearly not directed at our PPD and certainly not reflective of our residents," Gorman wrote.
He said there was "an aggressive spike in complaints" last week "involving civil unrest and Antifa groups shutting down streets in Portland, OREGON."
Chief of Police Star Thomas said the Facebook post hasn't yet stopped the influx of messages.
"You should be embarrassed for what you let happen to the citizens of your city when Antifa was blocking traffic and harassing drivers," a Facebook message sent to the police department's account reads.
Thomas said the Michigan city of about 4,000 residents is very different from its Oregon counterpart, which boasts a population of nearly 650,000.
"Our last homicide was in 2012 and we've only ever had two homicides in this entire city in the history of Portland since 1869," Thomas told WXMI-TV.
"Recently we've been told we shouldn't exist, there's no reason for our existence, why are we even here, and then there are some messages that have been taken down or removed just because of the vulgarity," Thomas said.
