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Portland protests resume, 11 arrested in unlawful assembly

Police try to take control of the streets during protests, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Portland, Ore. The protests, which began over the killing of George Floyd, often result frequent clashes between protesters and law enforcement. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein)

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Protesters gathered in South Portland Friday night to resume demonstrations after a nearly two-week hiatus due to the hazardous air quality created by nearby wildfires.

Eleven people were arrested, including one from Florida and another from Washington. Those arrested range in age from 20 to 42 and all faces disorderly conduct charges. Others face charges including interfering with a peace officer, assaulting an officer, unlawful use of a weapon, resisting arrest and possession of stolen property.

The demonstration was near the ICE facility which brought the Federal Protective Service into the scene. It’s not clear at this time what their response was.

Portland police first made note of the gathering via Twitter at 9:45 p.m., stating that a gathering had formed in the South Waterfront area, which blocked streets near South Moody Avenue and South Bancroft Street. Immediately after, police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.

The Portland Police Bureau warns of the use of crowd control agents, including tear gas, and later re-issues a tweet without the tear gas phrasing. September 18, 2020 (Twitter)

Demonstrators were warned that if they did not disperse north, they could be subjected to a number of actions, including arrest and crowd control munitions.

The Portland Police Bureau initially tweeted tear gas on the list of crowd control agents. That tweet was deleted, and later re-issued without the mention of tear gas.

Last week, Sept. 10, Mayor Ted Wheeler ordered the Portland Police Bureau to stop using CS gas for crowd control during protests after more than 100 consecutive days of protests in the city.

Wheeler, who is also the police commissioner, said “effective immediately and until further notice, I am directing the Portland Police to end the use of CS gas for crowd control.”

KOIN 6 News reached out to the bureau to ask about Friday night’s tweet and if officers were allowed to use tear gas. Sgt. Kevin Allen responded with, “No, we are required by law to make that warning. PPB is still prevented from using tear gas.”

On Saturday, Mayor Ted Wheeler confirmed that “Portland police abided by [his] order banning the use of tear gas for crowd control…”