In Portland, some black activists frustrated with white protesters

PORTLAND (Reuters) – A small group of black teens with megaphones stood in front of federal court in downtown Portland around midnight Thursday in front of a largely white gang of protesters.

“I’m done focusing on all these white people,” said Erandi, 17, who asked to be identified only by her first name. “This is a Black Lives Matter move.”

And as it happened, Portland had its first night in weeks without tear gas here after state police took over federal agents guarding a courthouse that has been the focus of violence between the protesters and those officers.[nL2N2F20XI]

For more than two months, Black Lives Matter’s nightly protests have followed a family pattern.

A peaceful demonstration against racial injustice and police brutality begins at dusk in the central police compound.

They are more organic than organized. Protesters sing: “George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Black Lives Matter.” He passes a microphone to whoever wants to speak. The scenes feel festive at times, with drums and tambourines, and a grill that serves food at all hours. In one night, a man holding a microphone hits the crowd: “On the streets of Portland / We took him back / Wearing a mask because they shot me with gas.”

President Donald Trump at a White House press conference on Thursday called the protesters “professional agitators, professional anarchists” and said the federal agents deployed there “would cleanse this hive of terrorists.” Portland has become a prime target of Trump’s “law and order” re-election campaign.

But the reality on the ground is as murky as the nightly clouds of tear gas had been. There are no clear leaders or structures for these demonstrations, and as midnight approaches, the focus is on a small band of mainly white people trying to attack the courthouse by launching fireworks and objects at the police and officers on a fence. who watches over the building.

The New York Times said this week that an internal memo from the Department of Homeland Security indicated that federal agents did not understand the nature of the protests, particularly those attacking the court.

“We lack an idea of ​​the motives for the most recent attacks,” the memo said.

DIFFERENT PROTESTS

“There are two different protests. This is beautiful, ”said Ngee Gow, 22, pointing to the main body of protesters in the central police compound. “This is destruction,” he said, pointing to those waiting to face federal agents outside of court.

Suburban mothers, veterans and health workers joined anti-racist protests in early July to oppose federal intervention and try to mitigate the violence. Black protesters initially welcomed moms, and parents who came with leaf blowers to disperse tear gas, but are now frustrated with the midnight gang of provocateurs in court.

Portland is one of the whitest cities in the United States, with only three percent of residents identified as African-American. Although residents there are overwhelmingly progressive, the city itself is still highly segregated, a legacy of Oregon’s racist past as the only state that banned blacks when it was founded.

“We are fighting with our hearts here,” Erandi, the black teenager, told Reuters. “We need these white people to recognize that this is not a bonfire. This is not just a party. ”

Huddled with Erandi and a few other black protesters, Gow looked disappointed at the bustling crowd in front of the court, chanting “The feds are going home.”

“It is about black lives. Period, “Gow said.” If you really want to respect the lives of black people, and if you really want to respect Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, then you would be listening to the movement rather than antagonizing the police. ”