The police station building inside Portland, Oregon, was set on fire Saturday night, leading police to declare a call and resolve the area. Federal authorities left the city in late July after weeks of violent clashes between them and Protestants, and local leaders have hoped for peace after the federal agents involved.
Three officers were injured when police tried to disperse the crowd, Portland police said.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Saturday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. According to The Oregonian, this is the second time a fire has been lit near the police union building, a regular site of protests since it began in late May.
According to police, the group was warned at 10:30 a.m. to “not engage in criminal activity” and spread. “People in the crowd committed crimes when they erected a fence, put dumpsters in the street to block traffic, set a dumpster on fire, vandalized the PPA office with spray paint and destroyed security cameras,” he said. police in a release.
At 11.35pm, people inside the crowd broke the window of the police union offices, inside the building and then started a fire, “the crimes committed by crime, burglary and attempted arson,” police said. A rape was then declared and all the people assembled were ordered to leave, including members of the media and legal observers.
Officials from the Oregon State Police and the Portland Police Department tried to break up the public. But three officers were injured because police said the public began throwing bottles and painting balloons, as well as shining green laser lights, which is a crime in Oregon.
Nathan Howard / AP
Police said they were then able to get the barricade that was created and pushed the public back. Police estimate that at that point there were about 300 people in the crowd.
Shortly after 1 p.m., police declared Kenton Park closed and their presence was considered a “riot.” The club dispersed by about 2 a.m., police said.
Protests have taken place in Portland for more than 70 days and nights, beginning after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in late May. Federal authorities arrived in early July under an executive order from President Trump, leading to violent clashes. State and local officials are urging the federal authorities – who came from a number of different agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security – to leave as the confrontations intensify.
in spite of Incident of Mr. Trump that federal authorities were doing a “fantastic job,” the Trump administration and Oregon Governor Kate Brown worked out a deal for federal agents to begin at the end of July. But acting department Homeland Security director Chad Wolf said the timing of her departure depended on local authorities to secure the city.
Eyewitness accounts and video shared on social media often showed federal agents using violence with non-violent Protestants, including mothers and veterans. Paul Rosenzweig, who served in the Homeland Security Department under Republican President George W. Bush, described the actions of federal agents in Portland as “on the border of the legal.”
“Never before have I seen it where the federal government has imposed its will on the state and says, ‘We will do this mission, whether you want us here or not,'” Rosenzweig told CBS News’ David Martin.
On Thursday, Wolf defended the actions of his department staff as he testified before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “Our legislators are not the Gestapo, stormtroopers or thugs,” he said.
Authorities have tried to distinguish between peaceful protests during the day and sometimes violent clashes at night.
Earlier Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at Portland’s Waterfront Park to hear activist and worship leader Sean Feucht speak, CBS Portland branch KOIN-TV reported. Feucht said in a promotional YouTube video earlier this week that the event “Riots to Revival” would turn “the script” about recent unrest. The event did not remain violent despite some hot deals on face masks, which are mandatory outside if people can not maintain a distance of six meters.
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