Protesters are expected to gather Monday in Northeast Portland, continuing their rallies against police violence and anti-Black racism after weekend demonstrations were declared riots by police.
Protest groups promoted plans to meet at Alberta Park then march to an unannounced location.
The park sits blocks away from the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct, where previous protests have turned destructive; in May, Portland’s mayor and police chief accused some in the crowd of endangering lives by barricading doors and setting fires near the building, though no one inside was injured and damage to the police precinct was minimal. Nearby businesses, many of them Black-owned, were vandalized or suffered fire damage in the June 25 incident.
Now, weeks later, protests have returned to a similar tenor, with smaller groups of demonstrators marching nightly on locations likely to prompt a confrontation with police. Police have responded with tactics that change from night to night but usually end with lines of officers chasing protesters through nearby streets and firing crowd-control munitions, often in response to thrown objects, set fires or acts of vandalism.
Monday’s planned demonstrations also come after President Donald Trump once again aired his distaste for Portland’s protests, calling the city “out of control” and suggesting officials should “bring in the National Guard.”
Portland’s most prominent Saturday and Sunday demonstrations unfolded near the Portland Police Association headquarters in North Portland, which has become a hub for protests that have increasingly focused on police precincts and facilities outside of downtown.
The Sunday protest brought a crowd of about 200 to the police union building.
Police declared the gathering a riot as officers advanced on protesters, some of whom threw objects at police, video from the scene showed. At one point, a large firework exploded between the groups.
Police responded by firing crowd control munitions. They said a mortar hurt two officers and cited “direct attacks on officers” in declaring the demonstration a riot.
A protest Saturday night in the same area was mostly peaceful until a small group lit a fire inside the police union building. Police then declared a riot and used impact munitions and physical force to move the crowd away.
Twenty-five people were arrested over the two demonstrations.
Among them was Black activist Demetria Hester, who leads Mothers United for Black Lives Matter and is a regular presence at Portland protests against anti-Black racism and police violence. She is also the survivor of a hate crime committed by MAX train murderer Jeremy Christian in 2017. She testified against him in his trial.
Hester was accused of disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer, both misdemeanors. She was released from custody Monday afternoon, and spokesman Brent Weisberg said the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office had declined prosecution and that the court will dismiss the charges.
“The prosecution decline decision was in the interest of justice upon reviewing the police reports in this matter,” Weisberg said.
Monday’s demonstrations will mark Portland’s 75th consecutive day of protests.
Of late, focus of the city’s largest demonstrations has turned from the downtown police headquarters and nearby federal courthouse to marches that usually end outside police precincts and facilities throughout the city.
The crowds, which ballooned as federal officers arrived in Portland to protect the federal courthouse and quell the protests, have become smaller but more confrontational after the federal officers disappeared from public view. Portland police have responded with crowd-control munitions and other force.
-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015
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