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