Federal officers overnight used crowd control munitions to disperse an unlawful gathering in Portland from an immigration facility.
Breaking a lull that had prevailed for about 2 weeks, demonstrators marched to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.
Federal officers quickly moved to disperse the gathering, making arrests and pushing the crowd into a nearby neighborhood.
Portland police officers then declared an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to continue dispersing, the city’s police bureau said in a statement.
Eleven people engaged in criminal activity, including hurling objects at officers, were arrested, the bureau said. They included Aiden Brunola, 21, of Lake Mary, Florida, who allegedly assaulted an officer and unlawfully used a weapon.
Video footage showed several hundred people trespass on federal property, shouting and spraying graffiti, prompting federal officers to order them to leave in 2 minutes. Among their chants was: “How do you spell NAZI? DHS!”
When the crowd refused to disperse, officers made arrests. They later used crowd control munitions. During one arrest, an officer punched the person he was arresting.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for details on the response.
Many people in the crowd appeared to be part of Antifa, the far-left, anarcho-communist network that has contributed to the unrest seen in Oregon’s largest city since May 28.
Near-nightly riots abruptly came to a halt on Sept. 7 as wildfires loomed, before Friday night’s gathering.
City, county, and state officials have struggled to quell the unrest.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, dispatched state troopers to the city late last month after a man was shot dead, allegedly by a self-described Antifa member who was later killed by law enforcement officers.
But Brown has refused to send National Guard members, saying they aren’t trained for the job.
Guardsmen in other states quickly put an end to rioting, including in Wisconsin this month.
In an attempt to deescalate the situation, Mayor and Police Commissioner Ted Wheeler announced last week that he was barring police officers from using tear gas while responding to protests and riots.
“It’s time for everyone to reduce the violence in our community. We all want change. We all have the opportunity and obligation to create change. We all want to focus on the fundamental issue at hand—justice for black people and all people of color,” Wheeler, a Democrat, said in a video statement.
Portland police were already limited to only using tear gas in situations where life safety was at risk, but those situations were arising regularly during rioting, according to police officials.
Wheeler’s move was roundly opposed by the bureau and the Portland Police Association, a police union.
“This ban will blow up in the mayor’s face,” the union stated. “What he does not seem to understand is that the CS ban will force officers to use more impact munitions and use more physical force to disperse crowds. His decision hurts community safety and impacts officer safety.”
From The Epoch Times
