Portland protesters cause mayhem again; police officer hurt
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland’s nightly protests turned violent again, even after the city’s mayor pleaded for demonstrators to stay off the streets, and a police officer hit by a rock early Friday suffered what was described as a serious injury.
The protesters who came out Thursday night clashed with officers near a police precinct station and also used metal bars to disable police vehicles, police said in a statement.
The nightly clashes this week have ratcheted up tensions in the city after an agreement was reached last week between state and federal officials for federal agents to pull back from their defense of a federal courthouse that was prevously the focus of the protesters’ rage.
The strategy initially appeared to calm down the protesters, but violent demonstrations re-emerged on the streets this week, miles away from the courthouse - marking a new phase in the nightly protests for Portland that have happened since May 25, following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Tear gas was used by Portland police on protesters Wednesday for the first time since the U.S. agents left the city. On Thursday, Mayor Ted Wheeler warned the protesters clashing with police that “you are not demonstrating, you are attempting to commit murder.”
He predicted that there would be “more attacks on public buildings” and the protests then turned violent again Thursday night, with officers lobbing smoke canisters to try to break up the demonstrations.
Officers declared one assembly unlawful, ordering protesters to leave the area around a police precinct station after police said the crowd wanted to vandalize and burn the station.
Two elderly people who tried to stop vandalism at the station were hit with paint, police said in their statement, and media images showed another person trying to prevent the protesters from starting a fire at the station.
During the mayhem, protesters hurled bottles and rocks at officers and demonstrators laid ties made of rebar on the street that caused damage to police vehicles after they ran over them, the police statement said. Several people were arrested, including one person who had a loaded handgun, the statement said.
The officer who was hurt was hit by what authorities described as a large rock. The police statement described the officer as “severely hurt” but provided no further details.
Read more at: https://apnews.com/72474ff6e526fedaae288f09aff0aefe
Portland Police Bureau news release:
People Light Fires, Throw Rocks, Glass Bottles, and Paint during Mass Gathering outside East Precinct (Photo)
Portland Police Bureau - 08/07/20 3:00 AM
On August 6, 2020, several events took place in Portland. One group downtown blocked traffic for several hours on Southwest 3rd Avenue at Southwest Main Street. The gathering was mostly peaceful and PPB did not interact with the crowd. Another group blocked traffic for a period of time on the 4700 block of East Burnside Street. The group later moved to the sidewalk outside of the Penumbra Kelly Building before dispersing to the east. The PPB did not interact with the crowd outside of the Penumbra Kelly Building either.
Around 8 p.m., a third group began to gather at Floyd Light Park located on the 700 block of Southeast 106th Avenue. For about an hour, the group grew to a couple hundred people in size. Around 9:45 p.m., the group walked in to Southeast 106th Avenue, blocking both lanes of traffic. The group crossed Southeast 106th Avenue and began approaching the doors of East Precinct located at 737 Southeast 106th Avenue. People in the group were wearing helmets and carrying shields. At 9:46 p.m., Portland Police began making public address announcements, informing the crowd not to attempt to break in to East Precinct or burn the building.
Soon after the announcement was made, members of the group began to spray paint and dismantle the surveillance cameras on the front doors of East Precinct. One member of the group was successful in dismantling the surveillance camera. Several members of the group were spotted with cans of paint which were thrown towards East Precinct. Two elderly community members attempted to stop the group from vandalizing the building with paint and were subsequently hit with the paint.
Due to the crowds ongoing criminal behavior of vandalizing East Precinct and harassing community members, an unlawful assembly was declared at 9:53 p.m. Public address announcements were made, telling the group they needed to move to the north. Although these announcements were made, the majority of the crowd stayed at the location. At 10 p.m., the group outside of East Precinct lit a garbage can on fire and pushed it up against the front of the building. Several thank-you notes on blue hearts from community members which were affixed to the front of East Precinct were used as an accelerant for the garbage can fire. An elderly community member came forward in an attempt to extinguish the fire. As she did this, group members stood in her way. As the group attempted to keep the fire ignited, several others in the group shined lasers at the security cameras affixed to East Precinct and continued tagging the building with graffiti. Shortly after, PPB with the help of OSP began dispersing the crowd.
As officers dispersed the crowd, they were hit with projectiles ranging from glass bottles to heavy rocks. Large rebar ties were thrown into the street with the intention of popping police vehicle tires. Several police vehicles ran over these ties which caused damage to tires. While officers dispersed the crowd, several custodies were taken. After the initial push, the group headed back towards East Precinct even though several public address announcements continued to be made telling the group to leave the area. As the group headed towards East Precinct, they were dispersed to the west and past East Precinct. The group continued to walk back towards the precinct and once again were dispersed. During these dispersals, officers continued to take projectiles such as paint, rocks, and commercial grade fireworks.
Throughout the night, several people in the crowd with "press" affixed to their persons taunted officers. These people shined lights and lasers in officer's eyes, as well as threw eggs and rocks at officers. Some of these people continued to interfere with officers as they dispersed the crowds. Around 12 a.m., more than 100 members of the group returned to the area of Southeast 106th Avenue and Southeast Washington Street. An officer was severely hurt when a large rock was thrown at one of their shoulders. Since several people with "press" affixed to them continued to interfere with officers performing their lawful duties, a public address announcement was made which closed Southeast 106th Avenue from Southeast Washington Street to Southeast Cherry Blossom Street to all people including members of the press. This lawful order was under the authority of city code 14C.30.010 titled "authority to restrict access to certain areas". Despite the multiple public address announcements which stated press could no longer be in the area, a majority of the group continued to violate the closure order. The group was given ample time to leave the closed area. The members of the group who continued to stay in the area were dispersed once again by officers.
By 2:30 a.m. a majority of the crowd had left the area.
Several arrests were made during the event outside of East Precinct, including an individual who had a loaded handgun on their person. Information on arrests will be provided as it becomes available. Crowd control munitions were used during dispersals. The PPB did not deploy CS gas.
