Portland protesters smash City Hall windows, 23 arrested
A march on the Portland police union headquarters drew a rapid police response after someone set a fire next to the building on Monday. [BETH NAKAMURA/ THE
PORTLAND, Ore. — Protesters i n Portland s mas h e d wi n d o ws a t City Hall in a demonstration that started Tuesday night and stretched into Wednesday morning and police made 23 arrests as they dispersed the crowd in Oregon's largest city, officials said.
Demonstrators in the crowd of about 150 also threw bottles and eggs at police, put metal bars i n t he s t r eet t o t r y t o damage police vehicles and smashed a security camera on the City Hall building, police said in a statement.
The s t a t e ment s a i d o f f i c e r s u s e d “c r o wd control munitions” i n response but did not say what kind.
T h e v i o l e n c e c a me a day af t er protesters Monday night repeatedly set fire to a police union h e a d q u a r t e r s b u i l d - i ng and were r epelled b y o f f i c e r s s p r a y i n g tear gas, officials said. Twenty-five people were arrested amid cl ashes t h a t s t r e t c h e d i n t o Tuesday morning.
P o r t l a n d h a s b e e n g r i p p e d b y n i g h t l y p r o t e s t s f o r n e a r l y three months since the police killing of George Floyd i n Minneapolis. Demonstrations, often v i o l e n t , h a v e t a r - geted police buildings and f ederal buildings. Some protesters have c a l l e d f o r r e d u c t i o n s in police budgets while t h e c i t y ' s mayor a n d some in the Black communi t y h a v e d e c r i e d the violence, saying it is counterproductive.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump renewed calls to have Gov. Kate B r o w n a n d P o r t l a n d Mayor Ted Wheeler call i n the state's National Guard.
“They must stop calli n g t h e s e a n a r c h i s t s and agitators `peaceful protestors'. Come back into the real world! The Federal Government is ready to end this problem immediately upon your request,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
B r o w n r e s p o n d e d on Twitter to Trump's demand, calling it “political theater.”
In July the federal government sent agents to protect federal property in downtown Portland. Crowds grew i nto t he t housands and agents repeatedly clashed with people over a two-week period, deployed tear gas and arrested people they said were hurling objects and trying to hurt agents and damage property.
T h e a g e n t s p u l l e d back from a visible prese n c e d o wnt o wn, b u t i t's unclear how many remained i n Portland, under an agreement in which the Oregon State Police would be deployed to downtown. The State P o l i c e l e f t a f t e r t h e agreed upon two-week monitoring period.