A fire in a police union building by a small group of Protestants in Portland last night prompted authorities to declare the situation raped and then use flashbang ammunition and smoke canisters to force hundreds away from the area.
The Oregon City Renovation destroyed demonstrations in Portland this weekend as part of daily protests calling for police restructuring and systemic reform of anti-racism since George Floyd was assassinated by police in Minneapolis in May .
Portland protests have been at a calmer pace since federal lawmakers withdrew agents in July, but early Sunday saw a collision at the scene of the assault.
It was the second time such a fire has been set in recent days. Although both fires were soon put out, the incidents criticized individuals who provoked police by damaging property and other bilingual tactics, as opposed to much broader, calmer protests, according to a Oregonian report.
Three officers were injured during attempts to clear a crowd of hundreds of people outside the Portland Police Association building, police said in a statement.
Rallies were held earlier in the afternoon and evening throughout the city.
Seneca Cayson, a black business owner who helped lead peaceful rallies in downtown Portland, worries that incidents of vandalism and law enforcement by a small minority of the many thousands of white Protestants deviate from the main goals of the Black Lives Matter movement.
But he speculated that such clashes would also call for more attention to racial injustice and said of white rebels: “We are fighting alongside them to … be equal.”
Many cite competing voices and the harsh glare of a national spotlight, which has reduced the situation to a culture war when the reality is much more complex.
‘It happens so much that the things we care about are cut and put on the back burner. And that’s just put in a big barrel with everything, ‘said Neil Anderson, another local owner of Black Company. ‘We all want the same thing. But so often we drowned. “
For many, part of breaking down racial barriers means taking resources from the police and completely restructuring the policy.
Portland’s population is less than 6% black, but people of color have been disproportionately stopped by a city program set up by a gun reduction team.
An analysis of police use of violence published last month found that officers in 2019 were much more likely to use violence against black people and especially young black men than other groups, despite general trends toward less use of violence.
“It’s the whole culture of the Portland Police Department that is fundamentally unmanageable and needs to change,” said Jo Ann Hardesty, the city’s first black councilwoman and an activist who has been pushing for police reform for three decades.
“Thirty years is a long time to ask for exactly the same reforms. The difference now is that there are tens of thousands of Portlanders who want the same thing, ‘Hardesty said.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Saturday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck, setting off fire and setting it ablaze as officials made the rape statement.
Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler said violent protesters serve as political “props” for Donald Trump in a divisive election season, with the president hammering at a message-and-order message.
Meanwhile, Oregon State politicians will discuss Monday in a special session that continues with a broader ban on police use of chokeholds and further restriction of other use of force, the Oregonian reported on Sunday.
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