Protesters Ransack Neighborhood Near North Precinct
PORTLAND, Ore. — Protesters kept police busy until the wee hours of Friday morning, causing destruction to the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct and businesses in the area. Four people were arrested and several officers were injured.
Police say: “The dynamics of the demonstrators during this incident were more aggressive and violent than those seen in past weeks.”
A large group at Fernhill Park marched towards the precinct where several hundred people gathered near Northeast Emerson Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard around 10:00pm. They came with supplies to build a fence and did so from the south side of the precinct to the north side of the Boys and Girls Club. The crowd blocked northbound traffic on MLK Boulevard and threw items including glass bottles at police.
Demonstrators began moving dumpsters and other large barriers, ramming them into large garage doors on the west side of North Precinct in an attempt to breach the building. They then barricaded the exits so officers inside the building and those in custody could not get out.
Around midnight, someone in the crowd began yelling over a bullhorn that they were going to burn the building down. Several people were wearing masks and yielding shields. Fireworks were thrown at officers over the barricade that had been built.
Several demonstrators remained outside the precinct after 1:00am when police declared an unlawful assembly and told the crowd to leave immediately or face the use of force or arrest. Officers then began breaking up the crowd, some of whom fought with officers. Demonstrators shot officers with paintball rounds, blurring their vision. After a mortar was launched on the roof, crowd control munitions were used by police. The north side of the precinct was then set on fire after 2:00am.
To protect the life and safety of those inside, CS gas was used to disperse the crowd. Several demonstrators threw the canisters back at police.
Then the crowd began damaging and stealing from businesses in the area just before 3:00am. Several business were broken into, their windows smashed, fires were set and items looted.
The majority of the crowd called it a night by 3:30am.
One officer was taken to the hospital with a serious injury. All of the officers injured are expected to make a full recovery. The four people arrested face charges of assault or attempted assault on police.
A second large demonstration took place around the Justice Center. Police say someone in the crowd fired a gun into the ground at Southwest 3rd and Main just after 12:30. The suspect took off and boarded a TriMet MAX train. He was stopped by demonstrators at the Goose Hollow station and held for police.
21-year-old Jaden Trea Peterson is facing one felony and two misdemeanor charges.
