PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Several arrests were made around 2:30 a.m. Sunday as officers from the Portland Police Bureau disengaged with protesters after hours of confrontation.
Overnight Updates
PPB released photos of the Nike store on the corner of NE Knott Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard where they said protesters vandalized the building during a march.
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Federal officers threw canisters of tear gas at protesters in the street outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland after a riot was declared by Portland Police Bureau on the 58th consecutive night of protests in the city overnight Saturday.
Multiple demonstrations were organized on earlier in the day, including some at Northeast Portland’s Peninsula Park and Alberta Park.
KOIN 6 News and media partner The Portland Tribune also witnessed federal officers using pepper spray and flash bangs in downtown Portland. Federal Protective Services agents also declared an unlawful assembly. It’s unclear if any arrests or detainments have taken place.
Multiple protests were organized across Portland on Saturday. Some were at the usual spot outside the Justice Center and the federal courthouse, which saw thousands of protesters, while others were staged in the city’s various neighborhoods.
The demonstrations focused on solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and in opposition to police brutality, racial discrimination and the recent presence of federal law enforcement officers in the Rose City, the latter of which has revitalized the protests in
Saturday marked two months since George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, was killed by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd’s killing sparked massive nationwide protests.
Timeline of Events for Saturday, Night 58
2 a.m.
At 2:18 a.m., Portland police extended the area of street closure all the way north to W. Burnside and asked people to leave the area.
1 a.m.
At 1:19 a.m., a riot was declared by Portland Police. This came after over an hour of people shaking the fence outside the federal courthouse, the front section of which eventually came down. In addition, people were launching fireworks at the building, including one that inadvertently exploded into the crowd of people on the street at SW Salmon and 3rd.
After the fireworks and fence shaking, federal officers, including Department of Homeland Security personnel clad in black, and other officers clad in camo fatigues, came in and dispersed the crowd, shooting crowd control munitions into the street. Many were dispersed to the west down SW Salmon St. while others were dispersed north down SW 3rd Ave.
One person was hauled away in need of medical attention. A witness said he saw someone hit in the head with a crowd control munition by federal police, but was unsure if it was the same person who had required medical attention and got hauled off.
12 a.m.
Federal officers at the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse declared an unlawful assembly.
11 p.m.
Protesters continued to occupy SW 3rd Avenue outside the federal courthouse and the Justice Center. Drums could be heard in the crowd.
At one point, a person with a microphone stood on the steps of the Justice Center and addressed the crowd. They identified themselves as Lilith Sinclair said they wanted to talk about the ways in which the Black Lives Matter movement has been co-opted and called for the need to reclaim their movement.
A short time after Sinclair’s speech, fireworks started to go off outside the federal courthouse. Federal officers then responded with crowd controls, according to Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling.
Tear gas hung in the air.
10 p.m.
In downtown Portland, another massive crowd of people organized outside the Justice Center. A large portion of the crowd moved east into the intersection of SW Naito Parkway and SW Columbia Street. Via Twitter, police said the area from SW Naito to SW 4th Ave, and SW Columbia to SW Salmon streets were crowded with people.
Shortly before 11 p.m., protesters were on the move, marching up SW Clay Street.
Also in the crowd on Saturday: Caesar, the No Drama Llama was spotted.
9 p.m.
The hundreds of people that had gathered at Alberta Park in Northeast Portland began to march south, toward downtown. Along the way, demonstrators marched by the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct, which has been the sight of previous protests.
Earlier in the day
Most of the demonstrations were focused on solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and in opposition to police brutality, racial discrimination and the recent presence of federal law enforcement officers in the Rose City. Events ranged from a Chalk Bloc event to a PDX Stripper Strike Rally. At Harrison Park, a “Stop Evictions, Stop Police Terror” event was organized for the afternoon.
A supply drive for things such as helmets, goggles, masks, hand sanitizer, and food and snacks was put on from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Peninsula Park. Also at that same time and place was an event called Revolutionary SkillShare + Community Building Rally & March.
Elsewhere, another BLM event was organized at Gateway Discovery Park, while at Cathedral Park there was an Educators for Equity March. At SW Harvey Milk and 12th a “Drag Queens/Kings, Nightlife Performers & LGBTQ+ Allies March for Black Lives and the End Of ICE” march was put together.
In Northeast Portland at Alberta Park, a Day of Action Against the Federal Invasion event was put on by Pacific Northwest Youth Liberation Front. It was an event touted as a march against the institution of policing as well as the presence of federal law enforcement in Portland.