#Americans split on whether local lawmakers encourage violent protests

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Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler speaks to the media while surrounded by protesters last week.
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Half of America’s likely voters believe political leaders in some major cities — including Portland and Seattle — are encouraging violent protests by limiting the police response, a new Rasmussen Reports poll has found.

Voters are also not convinced that the much-maligned police have been overly aggressive with violent protesters — only 29 percent thought so, the poll found.

The phone and online poll found that exactly 50 percent of likely voters believe politicians are encouraging the violence by hamstringing their own cops.

And 55 percent of voters believe most reporters identify with the protesters in violent protest situations.

Only five percent say most reporters identify more with the police, and 33 percent feel most reporters generally try to be impartial.

The gap is bigger when voters are sorted by party – 72 percent of Republicans think political leaders in protest-torn major cities, including Portland and Seattle, are exacerbating the violence there.