Protesters broke into a building, set it on fire and started garbage container fires Saturday night in the largest city in Oregon, police said, as protests that have taken place since George Floyd’s death intensified by another night in Portland.
The fire in the Portland Police Association building was extinguished shortly thereafter, Portland police said on Twitter. The department declared revolt and began work to clean up the downtown area.
Tear gas was deployed, according to the images and video of the scene. Police tweeted that the fences that had been placed around federal courts had also been removed and barricaded.
President Donald Trump denounced the protests and Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf criticized the protesters as “lawless anarchists” on a visit to the city on Thursday.
Before aggressive language and action by federal officials, the riots had frustrated Mayor Ted Wheeler and other local authorities, who had said a small group of violent activists was drowning out the message from peaceful protesters in the city. But Wheeler said the federal presence in the city now exacerbates a tense situation and has told them to leave.
“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Wheeler said Friday.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued Homeland Security and the Marshals Service in federal court Friday. The complaint says unidentified federal agents have captured people from the streets of Portland “without warning or explanation, without a court order, and without providing any way to determine who is leading this action.”
OFFICIAL PORTLAND SLAMS MAYOR, CLAIMS THE POLICE AND THE PROTECTIVE TROPICANTS ‘GOON SQUAD’ TARGET
Rosenblum said he was seeking a temporary restraining order to “immediately stop federal authorities from illegally detaining Oregonians.”
The administration has recruited federal agents, including the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and an elite team of U.S. Customs and Border Protection based at the U.S.-Mexico border, to protect federal property.
But Oregon Public Broadcasting reported this week that some agents had been driving in unidentified vans and snatching protesters off the streets that were not near federal property, without identifying themselves.
Tensions also escalated after a Marshal Service officer fired a less deadly round at the head of a protester on July 11, seriously injuring him.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and federal Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, released a joint statement Saturday denouncing the actions of the Trump administration.
“We live in a democracy, not in a banana republic. We will not tolerate the use of residents of Oregon, Washington or any other American as props in President Trump’s political games. The House is committed to acting quickly to curb these heinous abuses of power immediately, “they said.
Hundreds of people had gathered Friday night for a vigil outside the center’s courthouse, which sits between two federal buildings, including a courthouse, The Oregonian / OregonLive reported. Across the street, dozens of other protesters entered two recently closed city parks after dismantling the chain link fence that blocked access.
Federal agents emerged from an adjacent office building and used impact munitions, stun grenades and tear gas to clean up the area, the news organization reported. He said that his journalists did not observe any incident that could have caused the use of weapons.
Federal officials deployed tear gas again just before midnight after protesters placed dismantled fences in front of the plywood doors that covered the entrance to the federal court.
Early Saturday morning, Portland police declared the meeting illegal, saying protesters had piled up fences in front of exits to federal court and the Multnomah County Justice Center and then fired fireworks at the Justice Center.
Federal officials and local police simultaneously advanced on protesters to clear the streets, making arrests as protesters threw bottles and pieces of metal fence at police, the Portland Police Office said. Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell told reporters on Friday that his officers are in contact with federal agents, but that none of them control the actions of the others.
The Portland police night action was condemned by Jo Ann Hardesty, a prominent member of the City Council. Hardesty said Saturday that local police “joined the aggressive crackdown on the peaceful protest.”
Hardesty also criticized Wheeler and told the mayor that he needed to better control the local police. Hardesty, who oversees the city’s fire department and other first responders, said in an open letter to Wheeler if “you can’t control the police, give me the Portland Police Office.”
In a statement Saturday, Portland police said that while responding to overnight protests, which included people throwing projectiles at them, some federal agencies took action “under their own supervision and direction.” Portland police said city officials arrested seven people, and one officer suffered minor injuries.
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The statement said city police support peaceful protests and that starting Saturday night, Department of Homeland Security police would not work at the Portland Police Incident Command Center.
