PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Protests in Portland entered the 91st consecutive night on Thursday evening with a cleanup and youth march as the Black Lives Matter movement reignited across the U.S. following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Demonstrators with the Portland Black Youth Movement gathered at Duniway Park Thursday evening and started marching at about 7:30 p.m. They walked to downtown Portland and were shown support along the way by adults who praised their efforts.
“We are out marching for Jacob Blake, mostly for the justice of him and also the justice of other Black people and the systemic oppression and mostly to abolish the police,” said one protester.
The group returned to Duniway Park and dispersed by 9:30 p.m. Police did not interact with the crowd the entire evening.
Some “Direct Action” protesters were also expected to join a clean up Thursday afternoon starting in Kenton Park and then heading to the Portland police union building on North Lombard Street, which has been the scene of past protests.
“The officers made no effort to read him his rights or detain him, they instead shot at him seven times,” Black Youth Movement organizers said online.
Earlier on Thursday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler met with downtown business leaders, who informed him of their issues with retaining customers and employees at their locations amid the protests and the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, new data on Portland police officers’ overtime in June showed costs skyrocketing by 200% in June. Officials said part of the problem comes to a lack of staffing.
PREVIOUS NIGHT
On Wednesday, authorities declared an unlawful assembly and arrested 11 protesters outside of Portland’s ICE facility after about 200 marched from the Elizabeth Caruthers Park around 10 p.m.
Federal officers became involved shortly afterward when one protester shot a security camera with a paintball gun. Protesters started throwing objects at the officers once they emerged from the federal facility, injuring one federal officer after throwing a rock that hit the officer’s leg.
Portland police officers, who were also at the scene, helped federal officers in pushing protesters away from the ICE facility. Portland police say one of their officers was pepper-sprayed by a protester who returned to the scene after the first crowd dispersal.