Portland protests continue Monday, as police again clear out downtown crowd; 10 arrested - OregonLive

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Nightly protests against police violence and systemic racism continued Monday in Portland.

Thousands of people have poured into the city’s core for 19 consecutive days to press for sweeping reforms to protect people of color from police brutality. Similar demonstrations are happening throughout the state and nation.

The protests in Portland ended Monday with police moving quickly to clear out a crowd gathered around a fence outside the downtown jail. It’s a scene that has repeated often since the demonstrations began. Officers have at times used gas, smoke, stun grenades and other types of munitions to break up late-night crowds.

The fence became a flashpoint for the downtown protests, where police and protesters faced off for hours every night.

The demonstrations on Monday began hours after police announced they would take down most of the fence “to show our willingness to have dialog and peaceful communication toward starting to heal."

The move followed longstanding criticism from demonstrators and civil rights groups over police use of force during the protests. Police did leave up some fencing directly beside the Multnomah County Justice Center. The fences blocking off the surrounding streets were gone. Flood lights surrounding the building were also gone, in contrast to previous nights.

Police said they left up some of the fence because workers are repairing damage the building sustained after the demonstrations started in late May. Several people broke into a first-floor office where people were working inside the Justice Center on May 29.

The decision to take down the fence fell on the same day of a planned march from Southeast Portland to Pioneer Courthouse Square that brought more than 1,000 people into downtown.

Several people addressed the crowd that gathered in the square around 8 p.m.

“This is about us, together, coming together to transform our community, to create new visions of health and safety,” said Lisa Bates, from the Portland African American Leadership Forum.

Brianna Bradley, 35, of Portland, stood among those gathered. She said Monday was the 10th night she had attended the demonstrations.

“It’s really empowering to be a part of it,” Bradley said.

Michael Feldman, of Beaverton, said he attended the demonstration as an act of solidarity. He brought with him large cardboard angel wings he covered in the names of African Americans killed by police between 2013 and 2019.

“I just want people to absorb the enormity," Feldman said. “I don’t think we as a nation typically confront grief and mourn publicly enough.”

Lamar Wise spoke to the crowd and called for $50 million in cuts to the Portland police budget. Wise is part of Rose City Justice, the group that arranges the nightly marches. He led the crowd in chanting, “50 million dollars!”

The Portland City Council will likely vote this week on some cuts to the police bureau budget, but they likely won’t come close to the $50 million demanded by Wise and many others.

”We need our government to actually care about us,” Wise said.

Police officers stayed away from the demonstration in Pioneer Courthouse Square. But some officers wearing riot gear stood on the landing of the Justice Center, a part of the building that remained fenced off from protesters.

Many people gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square began to march toward the Justice Center around 9 p.m. As they walked, they chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!”

After the crowd arrived near the part of the fence that remained, they continued to chant at police. Officers used a loudspeaker to tell people to go into a park across the street.

“We want this to remain a peaceful event," police said.

Several hundred people remained by the fence. Many held identical signs that said, “Black lives matter.” They filled most of Southwest Third Avenue between Main and Madison streets. Because police removed the floodlights that had been set up during previous nights, protesters were enveloped in darkness.

Around 9:45 p.m., police started to repeatedly ask people not to throw things over or climb the fence. Officers warned people five minutes later that if they did not stop, they would be “subject to arrest or use of force.”

“We are here to protect the people who work in the Justice Center and the adults in custody who are living inside,” tweeted the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail. “Help us keep them safe.”

The face off continued for more than an hour. Police and protesters alternately pointed spotlights toward each other. Officers again warned the crowd not to throw things over the fence or risk arrest or force.

Two blocks away, a fire broke out on a sidewalk near a closed Chipotle restaurant around 10:45 p.m. The flames attracted a crowd of people from the Justice Center, but police used a loudspeaker to tell people to move away so fire crews could respond. The fire was quickly extinguished.

Police once again warned people not to throw things.

"You in the red and black jacket, grey shirt, do not throw items at police,” said an officer over a loudspeaker, referring to the police line blocking the fire.

By 11 p.m., a few hundred people remained outside the Justice Center. Some people threw things over the fence. Police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly soon after and told people to leave.

Officers moved in within minutes, at 11:10 p.m., and dispersed the crowd.

Police said items, including glass bottles, were thrown at officers. A deputy was taken to a hospital after a rock thrown from behind hit them in the head, according to police.

Police set off stun grenades. Within minutes, the area outside the Justice Center was clear.

Police said a business on Northwest Davis Street west of the Park Blocks had a window smashed and items stolen about 11:45 p.m. Some of the people involved in the burglary were arrested, according to police.

The crowd kept marching through the Pearl District, where demonstrators were reportedly tagging walls and buildings, police said. The marchers wound back into downtown Portland, police said, and more were arrested.

Ten people were arrested over the course of the demonstrations, according to police. Several of those people are accused of assaulting or trying to assault officers, police said.

Beth Nakamura, Jayati Ramakrishnan and Jim Ryan of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212; @maxoregonian

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