A brutality demonstration against police that involved several hundred people in Portland, Oregon, turned into violence, prompting police to declare a riot in the city for the second time in three days.
Thursday night’s protest began with a “couple of hundred” people outside the Multnomah County Justice Center, where protesters fired fireworks as the crowd blocked nearby streets, Portland police said in a statement. Friday.
The demonstration turned violent just before midnight after federal agents moved out of court to protect the building and were greeted by protesters who used slingshots to launch projectiles at them, including large rocks and bottles, police said.
Protesters also threw lighted fireworks at the broken glass doors of an adjacent federal courthouse, police said.
Officials at the scene warned protesters minutes later that they would be subjected to the use of force, including “crowd control munitions,” if they did not leave the area, department officials said.
When the police separated the crowd, some protesters were “very hostile and violent” towards the officers, including someone who threw an open razor at them, police said.
Protesters then began throwing mortars at the federal court, causing a fire inside the building. Several people were detained, but police had not provided an official account until noon on Friday, The Oregonian reports.
A message seeking comment from the Portland police was not immediately returned.
Video of the incident shows police wearing riot gear as they exit the Multnomah County Justice Center covered in graffiti. It is unclear what type of shells were fired by officers, but Portland police said their officers did not use CS gas while responding to the riots.
That was not the case Tuesday, when Portland police used canisters of 2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile, more commonly known as CS gas, to disperse protesters outside the headquarters of the Portland Police Union.
Police declared riots Tuesday night after protesters fired fireworks and threw stones the size of a baseball at police officers. In all, 29 people were arrested and six police officers were assaulted, police said Wednesday.
A federal court order temporarily prohibits Portland police from using tear gas unless they believe a life is in danger, The Oregonian reports.
Thursday’s demonstration marked the 36th day of protests in Portland after George Floyd’s death from police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis, according to the newspaper.
The video posted to Twitter early Friday showed the court was covered in graffiti, including some messages referencing Floyd. Glass from broken bottles and worn fireworks that were used as weapons against the police covered the ground, the video shows.
A flyer released outside federal court, meanwhile, offered a four-step plan for the “revolution” in the United States, according to a general editor of The Post Millennial.
“Vote for the Green Party in the November elections to prevent a candidate for the corporate association from being chosen,” the flyer said. “Keep the country closed mostly through strikes, boycotts and peaceful protests.”
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