© KGW-TV
Scene from Portland protest
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell lamented the destruction and criminal activity happening downtown during a meeting with the media on Wednesday morning, and
he said the recently defunded Gun Violence Reduction Team should come back.
Protesters have gathered in downtown Portland each night for nearly 10 weeks since the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis when a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly 8 minutes.
Portland's protests and rallies against systemic racism and police brutality have mostly been peaceful, with thousands of people gathering in downtown Portland to chant, listen to speakers and call for change.
"There have been some really large peaceful protests where people have come out, listened to and given speeches, marched to different parts of the city, and that has required zero police engagement," Lovell said.
Comment: As protests in Portland have turned into riots, even
the elderly are targeted. Two women were splattered with white paint for trying to disrupt demonstrators from attacking a police stations and setting it on fire:
"As officers dispersed the crowd, they were hit with projectiles ranging from glass bottles to heavy rocks. Large rebar ties were thrown into the street with the intention of popping police vehicle tires. Several police vehicles ran over them, which caused damage to tires. While officers dispersed the crowd, several custodies were taken."
Impression management by Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Mayor Ted Wheeler was in high gear:
On their 71st night of demonstrations,
another police HQ was attacked as protesters threw rocks and fireworks at officers and used lasers to obscure police vision - including shining it into a police helicopter. The Penumbra Kelly Building that housed Multimomah County Sheriff's Office and the Portland Police Bureau came under attack:
The latest actions were violent enough to finally force the mayor to call 'Wednesday's Assembly'
not peaceful. His concern was Trump might appropriate it as 'a prop for his reelection campaign':
Trump addressed the ongoing protests in Portland during a press conference on Friday, where he said Mayor Wheeler has "surrendered to the mob" and he called the demonstrations "the radical left's agenda in action."
Comment: Update (10 Aug): The NRA responded to the lawsuit, calling it "baseless and politically motivated," while filing their own lawsuit against the state of New York for defamation and violation of its rights to free speech.
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