(Reuters) – Fireworks and firefighters were set up by Protestants in the U.S. federal courthouse in Portland on Wednesday, police said in a tweet, declaring the assembly an uprising.
Protests against anti-racism in cities, including Portland, Oregon, are sometimes erupting and arson, and federal officers sent into the Northwestern city have repeatedly clashed with crowds claiming their rights in federal court there.
“We know there are people in the club who do not want violence or vandalism to occur, but we know that there are some people in this club who are involved in criminal activities,” police said. .
“To those outside the Justice Center, this assembly has been declared a riot.”
The crowd that converted on South West 3rd Avenue outside the courthouse were asked to leave the area, police said, or be subject to tear gas, other agents for crowd control, citation or arrest.
In Portland, some protesters have previously attacked a federal court and others have gathered to speak out against racism and police brutality following the May 25 death of George Floyd.
Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died after a white police officer nodded for barely nine minutes.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr came under fire from Democratic lawmakers earlier this month for sending federal officers to disperse the Protestants in Portland.
Report of Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru, Edited by William Maclean
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