Riot declared again for Portland protest at union offices
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A riot was again declared by authorities Sunday night in Portland when protesters marched to a police union building, blocked a road and set dumpster fires as officers work to quell nightly unrest in Oregon’s largest city.
The protest was over almost as soon as it began outside the Portland Police Association building — the same building where protesters were dispersed after a fire was started inside the offices the night before.
Demonstrators Sunday night marched to the building from a park a few blocks away. The road was blocked with fencing, and flames were seen rising from dumpsters in the middle of the street.
The Portland Police Association is a labor union that represents members of the Portland Police Bureau.
Police forced a couple hundred protesters away from the building, and live video showed several people being detained. It’s unclear how many may have been arrested.
Earlier story:
A fire inside a police union building led authorities in Portland to declare a riot and force protesters away from the offices as violent demonstrations continue in the city that had hoped for calm after federal agents withdrew more than a week ago.
Three officers were hurt, including two who were taken to a hospital, during efforts to clear a crowd of several hundred people outside the Portland Police Association building late Saturday, police said in a statement. The two hospitalized officers have since been released.
Rallies had been held earlier in the afternoon and evening throughout the city, including at Peninsula, Laurelhurst and Berrydale parks, local media reported.
Police said a group from Peninsula Park marched to the Portland Police Association building, which is located about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of the federal courthouse that had been the target of nightly violence earlier this summer. The Portland Police Association is a labor union that represents members of the Portland Police Bureau.
A group of demonstrators broke into the building, set the fire and were adding to it when officers made the riot declaration just after 11:30 p.m., police said. Video shot by a journalist, and surveillance video from inside the building obtained by the police department, shows smoke and flames arising from inside the building.
Officers formed a line and used flash bangs and smoke canisters to force the protest several blocks away. Demonstrators congregated at Kenton Park, where they were again ordered to disperse. Most of the crowd had left by 2 a.m., police stated.
The gatherings this week had been noticeably smaller than the crowds of thousands who turned out nightly for about two weeks in July to protest the presence of U.S. agents sent by the Trump administration to protect the federal courthouse downtown.
This week’s clashes have, however, amped up tensions after an agreement between state and federal officials seemed to offer a brief reprieve.
Police arrested 24 people during demonstrations overnight Friday after they said people defied orders to disperse and threw rocks, frozen or hard-boiled eggs and commercial-grade fireworks at officers. An unlawful assembly was declared outside the Penumbra Kelly public safety building.
Most of those arrested were from Portland, while one man was from Oakland, California, and another was from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Most were in their 20s or 30s. The charges included assault on an officer, interfering with an officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Read more at: https://apnews.com/8989613837e2046e35caf68916e8e90d
Portland Police Bureau news release:
Arson Fire in Building, Riot Declared
Portland Police Bureau - 08/09/20 3:11 AM
On August 8, 2020, various mass gatherings occurred in Portland. One group marched down Northeast Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, while another group marched down Southeast 92nd Avenue. These groups were peaceful and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) did not interact with the crowd.
Around 6:00 p.m., a group began to gather at Peninsula Park located in the 700 block of North Rosa Parks Way. The group grew to a few hundred people, while listening to speakers for almost four hours. The group was peaceful and the PPB did not interact with them. Around 9:50 p.m., the group began marching to the west, in the direction of the Portland Police Association (PPA) Office located in the 1800 block of North Lombard Street. As the group marched towards the PPA office, support vehicles escorted them, illegally blocking all other vehicle traffic. The group remained peaceful at that point.
By 10:30 p.m., the large group reached the PPA office. As the group approached, Portland Police began making public address announcements informing the crowd they were to not to engage in criminal activities. People within the crowd committed crimes when they erected a fence, pushed dumpsters into the street to block traffic, set a dumpster on fire, vandalized the PPA office with spray paint, and destroyed security cameras.
At 11:35 p.m., people within the crowd broke the window to the PPA Office, unlawfully entered, and started a fire, committing the crimes of criminal mischief, burglary, and attempted arson. Due to the criminal activity within the crowd, PPB declared a riot and gave repeated public address announcements for the crowd to disperse.
PPB restricted access to the area surrounded by North Kilpatrick to North Buffalo Streets and North Omaha to North Interstate Avenues pursuant to Portland City Code provision 14C.30.010. All people, including members of the press and legal observers were ordered to leave the area immediately by traveling to the north. Crowd members were told that failure to adhere to this order may subject them to arrest, citation, or crowd control agents, including, but not limited to, tear gas and/or impact weapons.
Officers from the Oregon State Police and PPB arrived in the area to disperse the crowd. They were met with a hostile crowd who began throwing glass bottles and paint balloons at them. The hostile crowd also tried to injure officers by shining green lasers into their eyes, which is a crime in Oregon. Three officers suffered injuries. Two were transported to an area hospital by police vehicle and later released. Personnel from Portland Fire and Rescue were able to gain access to the location and extinguish the fire inside the PPA Office.
While officers were moving rioters they came upon areas of the street where rioters built barricades with street closure signs, picnic tables, and other types of material. Rioters on the other side of the barricade were hurling objects at officers. At that point, officers were able to get around the barricade and continue to push the rioters away from the closure area. About 300 rioters gathered at Kenton Park.
At 1:14 a.m., PPB made public address announcements to the crowd that Kenton Park was closed pursuant to Portland City Code and that their activity remained riotous. All persons were ordered to immediately leave the park and the area and that failure to adhere to the order may subject them to arrest, citation, or crowd control agents, including, but not limited to, tear gas and/or impact weapons. The riotous crowd then began to disperse in different directions from Kenton Park.
By 2:00 a.m., a majority of the rioters had left the area. Police made several arrests. Information on arrests will be provided as it becomes available. No CS gas was used by Portland Police.
The below link was provided by the Portland Police Association and shows the arson in progress.
