Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler sprayed a man who approached him after eating at a local pub on Sunday night, according to reports.
Wheeler was with former Portland Mayor Sam Adams when a man confronted them outside the McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House, according to a police report obtained by The Oregonian.
The man reportedly complained that Wheeler and Adams did not wear face masks while eating.
The two had been in the restaurant’s tent, and Wheeler explained to the man that masks are not needed during dinner, KOIN reported.
The man, who didn’t have a mask, answered his cellphone and followed Wheeler to his car.
“I immediately became concerned for my personal safety,” Wheeler later told authorities, as detailed in the police report.
Wheeler told the man to back off, but he refused.
“I told him I had pepper spray with me and would use it if he didn’t flinch. He kept a short distance, I took out my pepper spray and I sprayed him in the eye, ”the mayor said in the report.
In a statement to The Oregonian, Wheeler’s spokesperson, Tim Becker, acknowledged the incident.
“The mayor is participating in the police investigation and is encouraging other stakeholders to do the same,” Becker said.
Sunday night was the second time this month that Wheeler had been confronted at dinner.
He was slapped in the face while dining at Café Nell on January 6.