Activists plan protest march Saturday on Strip

Left-wing activists are planning to protest on the Strip Saturday in support of the ongoing clashes between demonstrators and military-styled federal agents in Portland, Oregon.

A call has gone out on the anti-fascist website itsgoingdown.org for protests to take place in more than 30 other cities across the country, including New York, Seattle, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and Dallas.

Federal and local law enforcement authorities have been preparing for the Las Vegas protest. It is not known how many people will show up.

U.S. Marshal Gary Schofield, who is responsible for protecting the federal judiciary in Nevada, said late Friday that he is concerned about possible violence and is reaching out to community leaders for help in ensuring a peaceful demonstration.

“We don’t want what is occurring in Portland to occur in Nevada,” Schofield said. “We fully support the rights of our citizens granted in the U.S. Constitution during these turbulent times in our country.

“What cannot be allowed is pushed total cases in the state to 40,885. Reports from health districts and counties placed the total higher, at 41,020 as of late Friday.

Fatalities were higher than the daily average of more than 11 for the period and brought the state death toll from the disease caused by the new coronavirus to 722.

Hospitalizations, meanwhile, continued to set new highs, with 1,160 confirmed and suspected cases occupying hospital beds, according to the state data. That was up by 24 patients from Thursday’s update.

The state infection or positivity rate — the number of confirmed cases divided by the number of people tested — continued to tick higher, hitting 9.74 percent.

The rate, considered a better barometer of the trend of the outbreak in Nevada than new cases or deaths, declined for more than two

Eklund said. He made it to the middle of the fountains before turning back, and he started struggling when he was near the spot where he jumped in, she said.

“He was just staying in one spot treading water,” she said. “He started yelling, ‘Help, help, help!’ ”

Eklund said she called 911 while another man jumped into the water in an attempt to assist. She saw another person jump into the fountains, but Koren said that was a possibly “mentally unstable” person who was not related to the drowning man.

“I’ve never seen anyone die,”

Eklund said. “We kept thinking: What could we have done?”

Eklund flew into Las Vegas for the first time on Friday morning to visit a friend, just hours before she witnessed the drowning.

She said she did not think she needed to call 911 at first because the man was swimming “confidently.” Once he started treading water, Eklund said, she encouraged the man to “just keep kicking.”

She said it felt like it took police

10 to 15 minutes to arrive once she called 911.

Koren said he did not have the exact time police arrived at the fountains. In a statement earlier Friday, Metro said officers were called to the casino property about 10:10 a.m.

Letorrence Dowell, 31, also described watching the man jump into the water on Friday morning. Dowell said he was drinking a Red Bull on the balcony of his hotel room at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas when he noticed someone swimming in the fountain.

He recorded the man swimming but then saw him start to struggle. He watched as the tourist jumped in to try to help, but he “just couldn’t do it,” Dowell said.

“I keep thinking about it,” he said Friday afternoon. “I can’t stop looking at (the fountains).”

Brian Ahern, director of media relations for MGM Resorts International, said the company was assisting Metro in its investigation. He referred all questions to police.

Koren said about 1 p.m. that police would leave Bellagio soon after finishing their investigation. He said the man’s death was a reminder for people visiting Las Vegas to be careful around water attractions.

“Please just make sure that you do not jump in for any reason,” he said.

The man who died will be identified by the Clark County coroner’s office after his family has been notified.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.