Anti-police protesters in Portland, Oregon, set fire to the headquarters of the city police union on Saturday night when local authorities declared riots, according to reports.
Portland police declared the riots around 10:50 p.m. after protesters closed the offices of the Portland Police Association, which represents city police, The Oregonian reported.
Despite the order to disperse, the guards entered the building and set fire.
“People have broken into the Portland Police Association’s office and set the building on fire,” the Portland Police Office said on Twitter at 10:51.
Police officers extinguished the fires and “restored order in the neighborhood,” the agency said in an update published at 11:43.
Saturday marked Portland’s 52nd night of protests against the cops, which began in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police.
On Friday, a different group of protesters clashed with officials outside federal court in downtown Portland, according to Fox News.
Federal and local police deployed tear gas just before midnight to clear protesters, according to the report.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf called the protests a “violent mafia” and said local leaders “refuse to restore order.”
Oregon officials in turn accuse Wolf of sending masked and camouflaged officers to arrest and capture protesters without probable cause.
On Saturday, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said the federal police were “kidnapping” protesters and compared the arrests to a “banana republic.”
Federal officials have called the allegations “scandalous.”
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