POLICE DECLARE RIOT IN PORTLAND PROTESTS

Fires set, buildings damaged hours after fatal police shooting

Protesters who smashed windows, burglarized businesses and set fires during demonstrations in Portland, Ore., caused significant damage, and authorities urged downtown businesses to review security video to help police apprehend more rioters.

Police said they had arrested four people so far after declaring a riot Friday night during demonstrations after police fatally shot a man while responding to reports of a person with a gun.

“This destruction does not align with community values and has no legitimacy. It is harming our city, county and state,” Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said in a statement Saturday. “There are multiple criminal investigations under way to identify those responsible for last night’s criminality.”

Police said they were aware of plans for more demonstrations Saturday night.

Officers late Friday dispersed the crowd so firefighting crews could douse blazes before they spread in extreme fire hazard conditions. In a statement, police said the damage from the late-night violence “appears to be significant.”

There aren’t yet estimates of damage to buildings caused by the fires, but police say looters stole about $2,000 worth of products from a Nike store before onsite security personnel were able to stop the theft.

The vandalism downtown came after the police shooting earlier Friday and was part of vigils and demonstrations already planned for the night in the name of people killed in police shootings nationwide. They include 13-year-old Adam Toledo of Chicago and Daunte Wright, a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb.

On Saturday afternoon, Portland police identified the man shot by police in a city park Friday as Douglas Delgado, 46. Delgado died of a single gunshot wound, authorities said.

Two officers fired a 40mm device that shoots non-lethal projectiles, and one officer — an eight-year veteran — fired a gun, police said in a statement. Police identified the officer who fired his gun as Zachary Delong. He is on paid administrative leave, authorities said.

Authorities also clarified that the person who was fatally shot by police was not a person experiencing mental distress whose behavior prompted calls to police, as was previously reported.

The police investigation into the shooting was hampered by a crowd of “fairly aggressive people” who showed up at the park within two hours of the shooting.

As investigators worked the scene of the shooting and huddled over a covered body, nearly 100 yards away, a crowd of more than 150 people — many dressed in all black and some carrying helmets, goggles and gas masks — gathered behind crime scene tape, chanting and yelling at officers standing in front of them.

The crowd later marched through the park, ripped down police tape and stood face to face with officers dressed in riot gear. The crowd eventually stood in a nearby intersection, blocking traffic and chanting.

Police said they used pepper spray on protesters to keep them away.