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One person was shot to death on Saturday night in Portland, Oregon, while several of the participants in a long caravan in favor of President Donald Trump they clashed with protesters in the streets, police said.
It is currently unknown if the shooting is related to the clashes that broke out when the caravan of approximately 600 vehicles was confronted by protesters in the city center. A freelance journalist working for The Associated Press observed police paramedics treating the victim, who was apparently a white man.
“Portland Police officers heard gunshots in the area of Southeast 3rd Avenue and Southwest Alder Street. They went to the scene and located a victim with a gunshot wound to the chest. Medical personnel arrived and determined that the victim had died, ”the Portland Police Department detailed in a statement.
Portland has been the scene of nightly protests for three months since the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Hundreds of people have been detained by local and federal agents and, prior to the shooting, the police had made several arrests on Saturday and warned the population to avoid going to the city center.
The caravan headed downtown to Oregon’s largest city after holding a daytime rally in the parking lot of the Clackamas Town Center mall. Many of the participants waved Trump flags.
“This rally is not a protest,” Alex Kyzik, one of the organizers, told those present, according to Oregonian / Oregonlive.com. “This rally in a celebration of a great president.” The caravan made its way to downtown Portland around 5:15 p.m.
They were greeted at the scene by protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement who had gathered for their own march. Video footage showed sporadic clashes, as well as Trump supporters firing paint bullets at protesters, who responded by throwing objects into the caravan.
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