Protests for July 20

Posted on by audrey

Summary

On Monday night, thousands of people took to the streets of downtown Portland to protests the presence of federal paramilitaries in Portland. This included a large Wall of Moms group in yellow shirts, as well as the Dad Bloc in orange shirts, many of them carrying leaf blowers. After a rally on the steps of the Justice Center that included speeches and singing We Shall Overcome, many of the protesters marched north to the murals at the Apple Store before returning to the Justice Center area.

A smaller group of people at the Federal Courthouse began attempting to open a flap on the front of the building (referred to as a “murder hole”) and around 11:30 PM a smoke canister was thrown from inside the building. This drew a larger group to the courthouse, and the yellow-shirted moms moved toward the front as the crowd pushed up against the entire front of the building. Protesters beat on the front the building and pulled at the plywood covering the windows and doors. Eventually they succeeded in tearing the plywood away, and the feds threw more smoke and flashbangs before rushing out, using tear gas and other munitions. At this point many protesters dispersed.

A group of a few hundred people remained, dozens of them facing off the feds with a wall of umbrellas and shields, and when the feds returned inside the courthouse the protesters began throwing water bottles at the murder hole. The feds came out again, deploying more tear gas and pushing through the park. After they pulled back, people resumed cooking and eating at Riot Ribs. There was one last push like this before the end of the night.

Scheduled Events

  • Pacific Northwest Family Circle Weekly Car Caravan – 6:30 PM from PCC Climb Center
  • SE Portland Black Lives Matter Kick-off – 7pm at Lents Park

Timeline

Riot Ribs is looking well-stocked tonight! We’re glad that they’re back in the park and able to have this space to work:

After the moms came out against the feds last night, tonight there’s a dad group as well. In theory, it’s moms in yellow shirts and dads in orange, but we doubt such binary gender lines accurately represent this crowd. At least a thousand people are currently out here:

A better look at the size of the crowd:

“Shout-out to those mothers who are a parent of a black child! That shit is hard, y’all.
You want to be there for them but you also don’t know how because you’re white.
I want to give a shout-out to my own mother who’s here, she’s white.”

The crowd has continued to grow:

Tuck addresses the risk of violence in choosing the Justice Center vs. the Federal Courthouse as the focus of the protest:

https://twitter.com/tuckwoodstock/status/1285436288569499649

Projected on the Justice Center are the words “FED GOONS OUT OF PDX”:

The Federal Courthouse situation is a big contrast from previous nights:

A large section of the crowd marches toward the murals at the Apple store:

Other folks remain at the Justice Center:

https://twitter.com/tuckwoodstock/status/1285448608406319104

Checking in on the march:

Throughout these past nearly two months of protests in Portland, there have been tensions between two clusters of organizers about the type of protest or action that’s needed. The current version of the more reform-oriented group is the “Portland Protest Bureau”, which has some of the same organizers as the earlier Rose City Justice group.

Many of the regular Justice Center protesters refer to the PPB/RCJ members as “swoopers” for their tendency to come along with a megaphone and march groups away from locations that are likely to result in direct interaction with law enforcement.

Good energy tonight though!

Meanwhile, a look at the current state of the courthouse:

Marchers return to the Justice Center:

Someone is bravely? messing with the murder hole on the front of the Federal Courthouse:

Feds respond with smoke:

The moms are ready!

For at least half an hour people have been banging on the courthouse, yelling, pulling at the plywood that covers it. They succeed in getting through:

The feds do not like this:

Protesters have regrouped on Main:

The feds finished whatever repairs they were making to the plywood and went back inside, while protesters move in closer now.

We’re seeing videos circulate of a de-arrest against the feds on the courthouse steps during the initial push, and we’re not including it for the safety of the participants but there are two things to note: it was successful, and the fed they attacked pulled a side-arm on the crowd.

Protesters at the courthouse threw water bottles toward the murder hole from behind a line of shields for the next while:

Lest you think we’ve stopped caring about recycling in this town, know that there are people picking up trash and spent munitions throughout the night.

The feds charge again:

The feds really seriously don’t like the press:

Feds push back through the park with more tear gas and flashbangs:

Some stuff was messed up at Riot Ribs but they’re still grilling:

Courthouse cleanup resumes:

Another round of tear gas:

It was a very small fire:

The crowds continued to dwindle after this.

Media

Present

Articles

Associated Press

Federal agents, local streets: A ‘red flag’ in Oregon

Bellingcat

What You Need To Know About The Battle of Portland

Clypian

Photos: Portland’s 54th Day Of Protests

Courthouse News

Portland Protests Violence From Federal Police

The Guardian

Heavy

Portland Mom Says She Was Groped & Assaulted by Feds During Protest Arrest

The New York Times

OPB

The Oregonian

Portland Mercury

Reuters

Trump to send federal forces to more ‘Democrat’ cities

Slate

Federal Agents Are Only Making the Portland Protesters More Determined

Teen Vogue

Portland Protests Face Violent Federal Crackdown Led by the Trump Administration

Vox

The unmarked federal agents arresting people in Portland, explained

The Washington Post

DHS authorizes personnel to collect information on protesters it says threaten monuments

Willamette Week

Police

Agencies present

  • Feds: US Marshals, DHS, etc.

Munitions used

  • Pepper balls
  • Smoke
  • Tear gas
  • Pepper balls
  • Impact munitions (gel rounds)
  • Flash bangs
  • Pepper spray (directly to the face)

Number of arrests

PPB: none, Feds: five

Charges

  • assaulting a federal officer
  • creating a disturbance
  • trespassing on federal property
  • failing to comply with a lawful order

Protests for July 19

Posted on by sal

Summary

Portland’s 53rd night of protesting saw around 1000 people in front of the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, numbers that we haven’t seen since the early days of the protests. Among them were a group of an estimated 300 – 400 moms, who call themselves the Wall of Moms, doctors/medical workers from OHSU, and everyday protestors alike. While a demonstration and march were slated to take place at St. Johns park, this did not happen due to low numbers resulting in safety concerns for those that were there.

Federal officers tear gassed protestors heavily multiple times throughout the night. They also shot munitions liberally, injuring multiple independent journalists including Alex Milan Tracy, Jake Johnson, and Donovan Farley. After several aggressive rounds of tear gas, pepper balls, and flash bangs, federal officers eventually retreated back into the federal courthouse and by 3 AM calm was returned to the area and lasted for the rest of the night.

Scheduled Events

Timeline

At 7 PM, protesters gathered at St. Johns park for a rally and subsequent march.

The rally at St. Johns eventually dissipated without marching, reportedly due to low numbers.

Downtown at the nightly demonstration in front of the Justice Center and Federal Courthouse, the group of moms that were present at last night’s demonstrations returned for Round 2.

Just before 10 PM, federal officers came out of the federal courthouse. In front of them the group of moms stood in a human chain with their backs to the courthouse.

At about 10:30 PM, federal officers appeared to deploy the first flash bang of the night.

Around 11:20 PM, federal officers briefly reemerged from the courthouse.

After a round of pepper balls were shot at protestors on the south side of the fence around the federal courthouse, the line of moms moved further down the fence to fill in the space and protect the protestors behind.

At 11:45 PM, protestors tore down the fence surrounding the federal courthouse.

Around 11:50 PM, federal officers emerged from the federal courthouse building and began firing tear gas at protestors.

While only federal officers were on the street assaulting protestors, Portland Police Bureau officers were spotted shooting unknown munitions out of the small windows in the plywood barriers on the doors of the Justice Center.

Around 12:30 AM Federal officers finished tear gassing the crowd of protestors and went into the IRS building on 3rd and Madison, across from Terry Schrunk Plaza.

An important reminder that can always use repeating:

At around 1:45 AM, federal officers reemerged to mace, tear gas, and push protestors back away from the federal courthouse.

Media

Present

Articles

BBC News

Portland protests: All you need to know about Trump’s crackdown

Portland protests: Mayor demands federal troops leave city

CBS News

Federal officers again tear-gas protesters in Portland, Oregon

KGW

Federal officers use tear gas on crowds outside Justice Center

NBC News

‘Wall of Moms’ stand between Portland Black Lives Matter protesters and federal police

NPR

‘Like Adding Gasoline’: Oregon Officials Blast Trump Response To Portland Protests

The Oregonian

President of Portland police union, targeted in protests, says community has ‘had enough’

Portland Tribune

Portland protester describes beating by federal officers

Reuters

Trump, Portland mayor clash over causes of escalating unrest

Street Roots

Photos | The concerning progression of police response to Portland protests

The Washington Post

Federal officials dismiss Portland leaders’ calls to leave city as clashes with protesters continue

Willamette Week

Portland Public Schools Will Reevaluate All Building Names, Starting With Woodrow Wilson High School

President Trump Has Reenergized Portland’s Protests

Police

Agencies Present

  • U.S. Marshals – Federal Protective Services
  • Portland Police Bureau

Munitions

  • flash bangs
  • pepper balls
  • tear gas

Arrests

No information as of 10:30 AM

Charges

No information as of 10:30 AM