Nine arrests made in latest Portland protest unrest

PORTLAND, Ore. — Protesters and police in Portland clashed before dawn Saturday after about 200 people marched to a police precinct station in yet another night of violence for Oregon’s largest city.

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 “spongetipped 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.

Violent demonstrations have happened in Oregon’s largest city for more than two months following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

The demonstration Friday, which 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.

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