BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Dueling demonstrations turn violent in downtown Portland

PHOTO: Mark Graves /The Oregonian vía AP

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

maylen

https://digital-stage.newsnationnow.com/

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241114185800

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241115200405

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118165728

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241118184948

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Dueling demonstrations in Portland Saturday afternoon by right-wing and left-wing protesters turned violent, with demonstrators hurling rocks and other items at each other and getting into fights.

Streets were blocked amid the clash between the groups that gathered near the Multnomah County Justice Center in Oregon’s biggest city, local media outlets reported.

Images showed what appeared to be hundreds of people involved, many of them wearing helmets and carrying makeshift shields.

The Justice Center in recent weeks has been the target of left-wing protesters mostly operating at night, when they frequently get into clashes with police.

Right-wing groups had announced a rally near the building Saturday afternoon that quickly drew counter demonstrators. The building houses a police precinct, police headquarters, a county jail and courtrooms and is next door to a federal courthouse that was targeted for weeks last month by left-wing protesters who clashed with federal agents dispatched to Portland to protect it.

The protesters at Saturday’s demonstration included the Proud Boys right-wing group and left-wing protest groups Democratic Socialists of America and Popular Mobilization, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Portland police issued a warning about two hours after the demonstrations began, warning that officers were prepared to start using crowd control weapons if the violence did not end.

Violent demonstrations have gripped Portland for months, following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

The Saturday afternoon clashes followed predawn clashes between police and about 200 left-wing protesters outside a different police precinct.

Demonstrators hurled bottles and rocks at officers and pointed lasers at them, damaging police cars and causing minor injuries for several officers, Portland police said in a statement.

One protester was given medical treatment at the scene after he threw rocks at officers and was shot with what police described as a “sponge-tipped less-lethal round,” the statement said.

He was among nine people arrested. Three were charged with assault on a police officer.

Many of the protesters wore helmets, eye protection, gas masks and body armor and some carried homemade wooden shields, police said.

A demonstration Friday that went into Saturday morning came a day after protesters in Portland clashed with federal agents outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.

People in a group of about 100 late Thursday and before dawn Friday sprayed the building with graffiti, hurled rocks and bottles at agents and shined laser lights at them, Portland police said.

The agents set off smoke or tear gas and used crowd control munitions to try to disperse the crowd. Three people were arrested.

Also Friday, a number of federal buildings across the city were closed as the FBI investigated a car bomb threat.

West

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20241119133138

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Fair

la

64°F Fair Feels like 64°
Wind
6 mph S
Humidity
48%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 46F. Winds light and variable.
46°F A few passing clouds. Low 46F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
5 mph N
Precip
9%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waning Gibbous