Police officers in Portland declared Saturday night’s protest a riot after demonstrators set a fire in a police union building.
Saturday marked the 73rd straight day of protests and riots that have taken hold in Portland since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, and it was not the first time that a fire had been set at that building.
Overnight on 8–9 Aug, hundreds of antifa descended on the @PortlandPolice union building again in north Portland. They blocked the road, started street fires & tried to burn down the union hall again. Video from inside shows the arson attack #PortlandRiots https://t.co/WAvyCdYjVm pic.twitter.com/mpHi9fQAcr
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 9, 2020
Oregon Live reported, “The night marked the second time someone had set a fire inside the police union building, which has turned into a regular site of demonstrations against police violence and systemic racism that began in late May.” (RELATED: Greg Gutfeld Slams Portland Mayor: ‘If You Looked Up Pile Of Crap, Ted Wheeler’s Face Would Be There’)
Portland police called the situation “terribly dangerous” after the fire was set, designating the gathering a “riot.”
A riot was declared after a group broke into the @PPAVigil offices, started a fire, and continued to feed the fire more fuel. This is a terribly dangerous situation. Officers moved the crowd so the fire could be extinguished before it could grow out of control. https://t.co/GyBrgqcK0e
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) August 9, 2020
Police went on to direct the crowd to disperse, calling on press and legal observers to leave as well and warning, “Failure to adhere to this order may subject you to arrest, citation, or crowd control agents, including, but not limited to, tear gas and/or impact weapons.”
Again, this is a riot. All people, including members of the press and legal observers must leave immediately to the north. Failure to adhere to this order may subject you to arrest, citation, or crowd control agents, including, but not limited to, tear gas and/or impact weapons.
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) August 9, 2020
Portland officials issued a full statement on Saturday’s protests, making careful note that there were also groups of protesters who had remained peaceful throughout their demonstrations.
“On August 8, 2020, various mass gatherings occurred in Portland. One group marched down Northeast Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, while another group marched down Southeast 92nd Avenue. These groups were peaceful and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) did not interact with the crowd,” the report said.