The Portland Police Office (PPB) said a crowd emerged outside of federal court, initially listening peacefully to speakers.
Around 11 p.m. local time, people began to shake a fence while other people fired fireworks at it. The police then “attempted to disperse the crowd with various ammunition,” the statement read.
Federal agents also began a stronger response to push back protesters. Bright flashes and smoke filled the air along with the sounds of loud explosions.
Live video broadcasts showed federal agents dispersing tear gas and explosions from behind the heavy metal fence established as a barricade between the justice center and protesters.
Before tear gas was released, a CNN team saw a large crowd of peaceful protesters chanting “Black lives matter” and waving their cell phone flashlights in the air as they listened to speeches.
It was unclear whether the police or a federal agency released the gas.
Hundreds of people remained along the fence trying to pull or push it while some attempted to cut the fence with power tools, the PPB said. People in the crowd were armed with gas masks, shields, leaf blowers, power tools, fireworks and lasers, according to the PPB statement.
Stabbed suspect in custody
Around 2:30 a.m. local time, police received a report of a stabbing at Southwest 5th Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street, at which time doctors on the scene provided first aid to the victim, who was then taken to the hospital. by ambulance, PPB said.
A suspect was detained and the investigation into the incident is ongoing, the PPB statement read.
Protest responses
On Friday night, a small group of protesters broke away from the crowd and started rocking a section of the fence from side to side and throwing fireworks in the barricaded area around 10:45 pm Federal agents responded with a small launch of sudden explosions and tear gas canisters.
As the group of agitators continued to shake the fence and fireworks through the barricade, federal agents appeared to escalate their response, the CNN team noted.
A large group of more peaceful protesters seemed to react to the small group of agitators, walking and appearing to try to calm the situation.
Alta Spells and Artemis Moshtaghian of CNN contributed to this report.
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