BLM fire at Ore. police station
Black Lives Matter militants set fire to a police station house in Portland, Ore., on Sunday night during another night of violence in the city.
The march on the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct station house had already been declared an unlawful assembly after cops said they were pelted with rocks and bottles and had “powerful green lasers” pointed at them.
But a mob of at least 300 continued to advance, despite repeated warnings by police — and lit an awning on the station ablaze, The Oregonian reported.
“Criminal Activity has continued. This event is now a RIOT,” police warned via social media as well as in repeated loudspeaker announcements.
Officers used tear gas to clear the area and managed to quickly put out the blaze, The Oregonian noted.
“Portland Police deployed CS gas,” the department said in a statement early on Monday.
“Arrests were made and crowd control munitions were used,” the statement said, describing members of the crowd which had gathered in the city’s North Precinct as wearing black and carrying shields, helmets and gas masks.
After declaring the incident a “riot” the police then arrested 23 people.
The charges included disorderly conduct, assault, riot and interfering with a peace officer, the police said.
The riot came on the 88th consecutive night of protests sparked by the police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.
Sunday’s violence appeared to have intensified after growing outrage over police in Wisconsin shooting black driver Jacob Blake several times as he tried to get into his car, with his name a rallying call in the Portland demonstration.
The previous evening had also been declared a riot — with anti-police protesters even bringing out a mock guillotine to taunt the lines of officers, cops said.