After wildfire pause, protests resume in Portland
Protesters have returned to the streets of Portland, Oregon, following a dayslong pause largely due to poor air quality from wildfires on the West Coast
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Protesters returned to the streets of Portland, Oregon, following a dayslong pause largely due to poor air quality from wildfires on the West Coast.
Police declared an unlawful assembly Friday night in a neighborhood near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building where protesters had marched, according to a police statement.
Demonstrators participated in criminal activity and threw items at officers, police said, leading to 11 arrests.
Photos show that smoke was used to clear the crowd, but it was unclear whether tear gas was deployed. Police initially tweeted that tear gas was on the list of crowd control agents if people did not disperse, but the tweet was later deleted, KOIN-TV reported. Another tweet was issued that didn't mention tear gas.
“No, we are required by law to make that warning," Portland Sgt. Kevin Allen told the television station when asked about the initial tweet. "PPB is still prevented from using tear gas.”
Less than two weeks ago the mayor of Portland ordered police to stop using tear gas for crowd control during the frequently violent protests that racked the city for more than three months after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, was tear gassed when he went to a demonstration against the presence of federal authorities dispatched to the city to protect federal property.
He said he still wants police to respond aggressively to prevent violence and vandalism. Hundreds of people have been arrested since the protests started in May.
Demonstrators had not gathered in the city since at least Sept. 9, when police and protesters clashed near City Hall. Wildfires have spewed dangerously dirty air across Oregon, California and Washington state, and sent haze across the country.
The protesters in Portland want city officials to slash the police budget and reallocate that money to Black residents and businesses. Some demonstrators are also demanding the resignation of Wheeler, a white man and the scion of a timber company fortune.
In clashes with police, some protesters have broken windows, set small fires, punctured police car tires, shined lasers in officers’ eyes and pelted them with rocks and frozen water bottles.
Police criticized Wheeler's move, saying in a statement that it could force them to employ potentially more dangerous crowd control measures to quell violent demonstrations.