PORTLAND, Oregon. The shields were made of pool noodles, umbrellas, and sleds. The body armor attached with bicycle helmets and soccer pads. The weapons included water bottles and cigarette lighters.
Faced with federal forces that came to Portland to subdue them, many of the city’s protesters have taken to the streets this week with items stolen from their home. Then they have gathered in federal court each night with sometimes very different views of how to use their tools.
On 55 consecutive nights of protest in Portland, no two are alike. The protests began on May 29, after the murder of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. They have continued since then, night after night, and show no sign of giving in.
Without clear or flat leaders, protesters have largely adopted a spontaneous consensus strategy, which follows the whims of the crowd and, sometimes, the resolutions of their internal disagreements, as if the fire is an appropriate addition to their protest.
“It’s really organic and not centralized,” said Luke Meyer, who walked the streets overnight with a plywood shield. “You almost voted with your actions.”
For weeks, city officials who have been the target of much of the anger have been unable to find a way to end the protests. Now, those protesters are lamenting federal agents who were assigned to remain calm in the city, but who have instead seen the number of protesters outside federal court increase to thousands.
Whose streets are they? they shout, in one of their characteristic songs. “Our streets. Whose lives matter? Black lives matter.
The protests have drawn diverse crowds, including teens, grandmothers, lifelong activists, and those who joined the fray for the first time.
In the early hours of Wednesday, protesters used a variety of tactics. While some spent their time singing, dancing, or closing their arms, others slowly cut through the temporary wooden façade of the courthouse building, eventually separating an entire panel to expose an entrance. Some used lasers or bright lights to shine in the holes from which federal officials sometimes fire projectiles at the crowd. Others dragged barricades to cover the building’s entrances.
At one point during protests that ranged from Tuesday night through Wednesday, federal agents rushed out of court and shoved a group of mothers wearing matching yellow shirts as tear gas engulfed them. At another time, officers shot down a protester on a pole. After clearing a park, officers rummaged through a makeshift kitchen that has been used to feed protesters, throwing food and supplies to the ground.
Faced with tear gas discharges that left a lot of cough, the protesters retreated down the main street. But they soon regrouped and returned when the authorities backed down. In an echo of the “umbrella revolution” in Hong Kong, protesters with shields and umbrellas took the lead to protect themselves and others from the armament of federal forces with tactical equipment.
Authorities accused protesters of sometimes using dangerous methods, including launching shells from sling shots. In one of dozens of arrests during the protests, a protester was recently accused of hitting an officer with a hammer.
In court documents, the federal government has said the protesters have committed “vandalism, destruction of property, looting, arson, and assault.” On May 28, a Molotov cocktail was released, according to court documents, and security cameras in federal buildings were smashed. A protester was charged with pushing a glass door on July 2, causing the glass to break and injure a police assistant.
Federal efforts to confront protesters in recent days were often preceded by attempts by some protesters to light fires on the facade of the federal court, which has been bricked up with painted wood and attacked by protesters.
On Wednesday morning, someone started trying to light a part of the facade but was blocked by someone else. Later, a debate ensued in the crowd over whether to allow the fire, with a protester arguing that being peaceful was the best route.
Megan Smith was one of the people who opposed the use of fire, saying it puts out the flames she finds.
“I would rather have the fires controlled,” Smith said. “I understand this is how you get your anger out, but it makes it dangerous for everyone else.”
In part, he said, starting a fire increases the risks for everyone because it is clear that it will cause federal officials to come out to face the crowds. And on Wednesday, he did exactly that.
Federal authorities have used the lighting of fires as an additional justification for their presence in Portland.
“People who try to burn down a building are no longer protesting,” Chad F. Wolf, acting secretary of national security, said at a press conference on Tuesday. “They are criminals.”
Early Tuesday morning, protesters lit bonfires in the streets around the federal court and attempted to light the plywood that protected the building. There were fewer fires in the protests early Wednesday morning.
“If we were to leave tomorrow, they would burn down that building,” said Wolf, adding that the agency was compiling video evidence of protesters lighting fires.
However, Mr. Wolf’s insistence that federal agents stay to protect federal property, both the Mayor of Portland and the Governor of Oregon have called for federal agents to leave the state, is part of the dynamic that is causing it. that the protests increase to thousands.
Among the protesters on Tuesday night was Ronda Jordan, 63, who works as a quality control officer for a company that makes granola bars. None of her friends felt brave enough to attend the demonstrations, so she came alone.
“Frankly, I was afraid to come here too, the feds intimidate me,” he said, grabbing a sunflower as a symbol of peace. “But the closer they get to us with federal officials, the more people are going to come here.”
In the last days “The feds are going home!” It has become a rallying cry for protesters. Laurie Vandenburgh, a school counselor, and her daughter Emily Vanlaningham, a social worker, said her presence was one of the main reasons they joined the protests Tuesday night.
“I’m personally upset that the feds are here,” said Vandenburgh. “Our city is fine without them.”
Sergio Olmos contributed reporting.
