PORTLAND, Oregon. Life has been a series of adjustments for protesters in Portland as they clash with federal agents every night.
“We came out here wearing T-shirts and Hula-Hoops twists and things like that, and they started gassing us, so we came back with respirators and they started shooting at us, so we came back with vests and they started aiming at head, so we started wearing helmets, And now they call us terrorists, ”said Mac Smiff, a local Black organizer in Portland. Who is climbing this? It is not us.
The protests in Portland have been going on for two months, but the situation escalated when federal agents, from the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and the US Marshals Service, were deployed to the city from the end of the week of July 4th.
Since then, officers have used tear gas, pepper spray, and fired “less lethal” ammunition, sometimes indiscriminately, at crowds. The city had its biggest turnout in the protests last weekend, when more than 5,000 people gathered in front of and around the United States Palace of Justice Mark O. Hatfield, which has been heavily guarded by federal agents.
As the nights have turned into weeks and months, the protests have evolved. The Wall of Moms appeared last week, dressed in yellow and holding sunflowers as they linked arms to form a physical barrier that separated the protesters, some, their own children, from federal officials. The following night, they were accompanied by the Dads Wall, carrying leaf blowers to launch tear gas towards federal officials.
Not knowing if they will be warned before tear gas fills the air, some protesters come prepared with gas masks and sprays filled with eyewash.
At one point, Navy veteran and protester India Wynne thought it started raining in the middle of the night while wearing his gas mask. Turns out it was the density of what appeared to be pepper spray from federal agents.
“My skin started to burn. Federal officers step up long before we do, and they step up to the point where it is not necessary, ”Wynne said. “I know of crowd control tactics, and this is not what is happening. You do not need to deploy 20 or 30 tear gas canisters. … And they don’t care who they are gassing. “
Agents armed with heavy riot gear have got into altercations with protesters who have created their own protection and makeshift shields, including helmets and armor labeled “Press,” after a restraining order was passed that prevents federal agents arrest or attack journalists and lawyers. observers
Jayla Lindseth, a black protester, urges people to attend the protests with at least a few other friends who can help protect each other and “arrest” them.
“When I say arrest, I mean if you see your friend being caught [by officers]Take them back, ”Lindseth advised. “We are here fighting for change.”
