Dozens of Protesters Arrested on Night 100 of Portland Protests | World

As soon as the march began, protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police, who had isolated the area, causing chaos, AFP journalists found.

The police, for whom the demonstration was not authorized, decided that it was a riot and responded with tear gas, moral effect bombs and non-lethal ammunition to try to disperse the crowd.

Police officers began chasing the protesters through the back streets of the eastern suburb of the city. Dozens of people, mostly young people and women, were arrested.

“It was the 100th rally for the Black Lives Matter movement in Portland since George Floyd’s death and they wanted to stop us from protesting, but it’s our constitutional right to be here and demonstrate,” said Kay, a 20-year-old protester. years with red eyes, irritated by gas.

As practically every night since the end of May, dozens of anti-racist and anti-fascist militants, many equipped with helmets and gas masks and even homemade shields, have gathered to insult and provoke the police that symbolizes, for them, the oppression of a country . where racial discrimination is institutionalized.

Death during protests

The situation worsened on August 29, when Aaron Danielson, 39, a supporter of a nationalist group called Patriot Prayer, was shot and killed near a demonstration.

A 48-year-old man suspected of the murder, who claimed to be an anti-fascist on social media, was killed Thursday by police in neighboring Washington state. He reportedly tried to escape and was armed when he died.

A far-right rally in support of Donald Trump’s re-election on November 3 is scheduled for Portland on Monday, increasing fears of further incidents.