Demonstrators Riot Outside His Home On Mayor Ted Wheeler’s Birthday

Portland. Ore. – A gathering outside of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s condo in the Pearl leads to a riot. Officers moved in on protesters just after 11pm last night near NW 10th and Glisan. Police say demonstrators were burning picnic tables, setting dumpsters on fire, and launching fireworks in the street. Many in the crowd were holding balloons and wearing party hats, in celebration of the Mayor’s birthday, but they were also holding signs calling for his resignation. Portland Police say the riot was declared after someone broke a window on the building and threw burning debris inside.

This was the arson fire that prompted a riot declaration tonight. It was critical to secure the area to allow firefighters to respond to this dangerous situation. https://t.co/k33vcLD4BY

— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) September 1, 2020

More from Portland Police:

A mass gathering devolved into a riot after individuals broke windows, burglarized a business, and lit a fire in an occupied apartment building.

A group began by gathering in the North Park Blocks near Northwest Park Avenue and Northwest Couch Street. About 10:00p.m., a march began in the street to the area of Northwest 10th Avenue and Northwest Glisan Street. Some in the crowd began lighting off what appeared to be illegal commercial-grade fireworks. A fire was lit in a garbage can in the street. Some windows were broken and walls were defaced with graffiti (photo). In an attempt to deescalate, officers stayed out of sight and monitored the situation from a distance. However, the vandalism and burning continued. People were seen burglarizing a business, taking furniture out, and throwing it on the fires in the street (photo).

At 11:05p.m., due to the ongoing criminal behavior, the incident was declared an unlawful assembly and all persons were told over loudspeaker to immediately leave the area by traveling to the west. Failure to adhere to this order may subject them to arrest, citation, or crowd control agents, including, but not limited to, tear gas and/or impact weapons.

About 2 minutes later, officers observed someone throw burning material through a broken window into a ground-level business in a large, occupied apartment building. Out of concern that the fire could spread, causing an extreme life safety concern, the incident was declared a riot.

Here is a link to a post that showed the early moments of that fire:
https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1300703878078291968

Arson Investigators are looking for the suspect who started the fire.

Over loudspeaker, participants in the gathering were told that the area was closed to all persons, including media and legal observers, to allow firefighters to respond and extinguish the fires. Few, if any, of the persons complied.

Officers began to move the crowd. Immediately officers reported rocks and paint balloons being thrown at them. Arrests were made. As the crowd moved away, some attempted to stack debris in the road to create barricades. Officers cleared them. At least one more dumpster was lit on fire.

Over the next couple of hours, officers continued to move rioters in an attempt to prevent them from reconvening at the site of the riot. More selective arrests were made when appropriate. By 2:00a.m., most of the participants in the gathering had left the area.

During this series of events, officers deployed some crowd control munitions. However no CS gas was used.

Nineteen arrests were made. Some of those arrested were in possession of weapons, including knives and at least one expandable baton (photos). The following were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on the listed charges:

Giacomozzi, Kyle, 37, of Happy Valley, Oregon — Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Johnson, Alexandra, 28, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Shearer, Cody, 28, of Beaverton, Oregon – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Varty, Victoria, 30, of Portland – Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Myles, Rachel, 34, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Babb, Christopher (booked under the name Doe, John), 45, unknown residence – Attempted Assault on a Public Safety Officer, Riot, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Carrying a Concealed Weapon

Long, Scott, 48, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer

Grundmeyer, Tina, 53, of Portland — Riot, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Burns, Isabel, 24, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

White, Deven, 29, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Sutterfield, Trapper, 24, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Stanford, Garret, 29, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer

Rowe, Isaac, 25, of Portland – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Resisting Arrest

Bennington, Ellen, 20, of Vancouver, Washington – Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Resisting Arrest, Carrying a Concealed Weapon

Campbell, Arianna, 19, of Portland – Riot, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Police Officer

Hess, Damian, 21, of Portland — Criminal Mischief in the First Degree

Cited in lieu of custody:
Ferreira, Dustin, 36, of Portland – Interfering with a Peace Officer

Referred to juvenile court:
juvenile, 17, of Portland – Criminal Mischief in the First Degree, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Police Officer, Escape in the Third Degree

One person has not yet been booked and therefore is not identified here.