PORTLAND, ORE. — A man holding an American flag knelt in front of angry rioters as they tried to break down fencing in front of the federal courthouse in Portland Saturday, urging them to stop the destruction.
Rioters broke down the fencing surrounding the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse and began to barricade the walls and doors of the building. One man with an American flag knelt in an attempt to get rioters to stop. The man was joined by a few other protesters and the group stood against a large crowd.
“If you stand for justice, come here, stand with me!” the man said after standing up. “Stand with me because I’m here for justice, I’m not here to tear down this fucking fence, I’m not here to spray paint. It’s going on every day! If you don’t want to get gassed, stop … It has to stop!”
“None of you guys represent black lives!” he added.
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While kneeling, the man explained that he lives in Portland and begged protesters to “occupy the streets” rather than vandalize and destroy property. Despite his efforts, rioters continued to take down the fencing and put it up against the building.
Included in the group trying to urge the rioters to stop was a black man with a megaphone. He shouted that there were children, animals and elderly people in the crowd.
“This .. has nothing to do with black lives,” the man with the megaphone said as he stood in front of the man holding the American flag. “This is how you destroy them. There’s kids out here, there’s animals out here that can’t protect themselves. There’s older people out here that can’t protect themselves. These fences come down, they [officers] come out.”
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A small group (started by the man holding the American flag) stands in front of the broken barrier urging protesters to stop.
One man joins with a megaphone and reminds the crowd that there are children, elderly people, animals etc present: pic.twitter.com/KV9zW05kYh
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) July 19, 2020
As the American flag-wielding man tried to bring peace to the crowd, a fight ensued. One woman who was standing with the man holding the flag put herself in front of him in an effort to protect him from the group. Other protesters came and helped to break up the fight.
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Wow officers just came out of nowhere here in Portland. Deployed pepper spray, tear gas, flash bombs etc. Crowd retreated a few blocks but is now trying to go back pic.twitter.com/I2TXV36ERL
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) July 19, 2020
Eventually, the small group was overwhelmed by rioters wishing to tear down the fence. The crowd was quickly able to take down the fencing around the federal courthouse and officers came out later in the evening to try and disperse rioters. (RELATED: VIDEOS: Riots Across Portland Lead To Fire Being Set Inside Police Union Building, Officers Squaring Off With Protesters At Courthouse)