27 Arrests Made At Portland Protest Friday Night After Police Say Rocks Were Thrown At Officers
Portland Police say that they declared an unlawful assembly Friday and made 27 arrests after rocks were thrown at officers.
The Portland Police Bureau said that on Friday evening “a march began from Kenton Park at 8417 North Brandon Avenue. Many of the marchers wore gear suggesting that they were not planning to be peaceful, including helmets, gas masks, armored clothing, and some carried shields. About 10 minutes later, as they arrived at the offices of the Portland Police Association (PPA) in the 1800 Block of North Lombard Street, many in the crowd were chanting, among other things, “burn it down.”
Officers were said to have stood around the perimeter of the PPA office, to prevent demonstrators from getting in.
Police also say that they made announcements for the crowd to stay out of the street and allow vehicle traffic through.
According to Police “A large contingent did not adhere to the announcements and stood in the street blocking traffic. They approached the officers standing on the perimeter, yelled at the officers and used lights and noisemakers. In an effort to de-escalate the situation, the officers did not take any enforcement action for over 90 minutes. However, at about 11:35p.m., officers reported items thrown at them, including rocks, a full beverage can, and water bottles.”
This lead to police declaring an unlawful assembly, telling the crowd to leave or they would be arrested or subject to crowd control munitions.
Portland Police say that many did not end up leaving despite the order.
Police said “after several minutes, officers began to make targeted arrests and in some cases moved the crowd back and kept them out of the street. Several times officers pulled back and allowed members of the assembly an opportunity to leave. Many chose to stay and in several cases, they moved out into the roadway in such a way that they were blocking vehicular traffic.”
Police made a total of twenty seven arrests.
