Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman took criticism on Sunday for referring to a segment of weekend protesters as “domestic terrorists” and comparing the situation in his city to the federally-fueled violence in Portland.

“This morning I went over to the Aurora municipal complex to survey the damage from last nights [sic] violence,” Coffman wrote on Twitter. He said that approximately 600 people attended the protest, centered around the August 2019 killing of Elijah McClain at the hands of Aurora police officers. A smaller group, Coffman continued, lingered afterward to destroy property at the municipal center.

“Make no mistake about it, the ones who remained behind were not protesters but simply using the protest as a cover for their violent actions.”

The Aurora Sentinel captured a screenshot of an earlier version of the post, with more incendiary phrasing than the later statement. “Make no mistake about it, the ones who remained behind were not protesters but domestic terrorists and they must be treated as such,” wrote Coffman. He titled the post, “Aurora Cannot Become Portland.”

In Portland, ongoing racial justice protests have escalated in recent days after unidentified federal personnel have been documented using unmarked vehicles to seize protesters and shooting less-than-lethal weapons into crowds. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported on Sunday that federal officials have acknowledged their actions intensified, rather than subdued, protests.

Coffman’s parallel between the two cities draw heated criticism online.

“Can you help us understand why you’re more publicly upset about some minor building damage than you are about Elijah McClain’s murder and his murderers not being brought to justice?” asked one Twitter user from Denver.

“[It’s] mind boggling to me that you think the problem in portland right now is the destruction of property,” another person wrote.

Coffman emailed The Sentinel after changing his statement to clarify that he understands “domestic terrorism” to mean the targeting of people and property. That, he said, was not the case with the Aurora crowd.