Protesters and federal officers clashed for the first time in several weeks after crowds gathered Wednesday night at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in South Portland.
Portland’s protests in July took their most violent and destructive turn, when federal officers regularly clashed with protesters at two federal buildings in downtown Portland. At the time, federal officials said they were policing the protests to protect the buildings.
Federal officers haven’t been seen at protests since Gov. Kate Brown helped negotiate a deal in late July to move them out of the city and, instead, provide Portland police with reinforcements from Oregon State Police, who remained for two weeks.
Police declared the city’s 84th night of protests a riot about 11 p.m. Wednesday, but tensions did not hit a fevered pitch regularly seen at the Justice Center just a month ago. Throughout the night, protesters tagged the ICE building with graffiti and broke several windows. The police response quickly developed a pattern as federal officers came out of the building and pushed protesters into the street, where Portland police arrived and directed the crowd back to Caruthers Park.
After several such rounds, officers -- it was unclear which law enforcement agency -- used the stun grenades and gas about midnight to break up the crowd. The action drew complaints from residents, some who complained they were having trouble breathing as gas wafted into their open windows.
Two people were arrested during the demonstration.
Protesters gather outside of the ICE building in South Portland on the 84th night of protests.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
The night began at Elizabeth Caruthers Park, where people gathered in the middle of the park to hear several speakers. Neighbors milled around the perimeter, watching the crowd gather. Above, several windows displayed Black Lives Matter signs.
About 9:30 p.m., more than 200 protesters marched to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on Macadam Avenue, where federal officers looked out of the windows as marchers got closer.
Demonstrators arrived, beating drums and playing guitars, chanting and singing. A dozen or so briefly pounded on the windows. Soon after, a Federal Protective Service announcement warned protesters against damaging the building or setting fires. Failure to comply, the announcement continued, could lead to arrest or crowd-control munitions.
Protesters then spray-painted expletives on the building’s windows, shoved traffic cones over security cameras and attempted to break windows. For much of the night, protesters blocked Bancroft Street, Moody Avenue and an off-ramp from Macadam.
About three dozen federal officers flowed from the building about 10 p.m., pushing the crowd into the street and shooting less-lethal munitions. A few protesters responded by throwing water bottles and toilet paper rolls at the officers. Police said glass bottles and rocks were thrown, as well.
About the same time, Portland police declared the gathering an “unlawful assembly.”
As Portland police began moving the group slowly north toward the park, protesters chanted “Black Lives Matter” and played Star Wars’ Imperial March over loudspeakers along with the Benny Hill theme song.
Danialle James, who has protested since the day George Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, teased a Portland police officer as the crowd moved down the street. She said, “Bet your momma’s real proud.”
The officer yelled back, “My momma’s brown!”
A window was broken at the Federal ICE building in South Portland during a protest.Eder Campuzano/The Oregonian
Protesters eventually circled back and returned to the ICE building, where one protester took to a loudspeaker to describe Oregon’s long history of racism and racist policies. Just before 11 p.m., a few people broke at least three front windows, drawing federal officers back out.
Once protesters were in the street, federal officers again appeared to hand off to Portland police, who then pushed the group north. Police said officers were hit with thrown rocks, full soda cans and a hammer.
“Because of the risk to life safety caused by these dangerous projectiles,” police said, they declared the protest a riot. Police also warned media and residents to leave or go inside and announced that tear gas would be deployed.
Close to midnight, a crowd of about 100 gathered near Gaines Street and Bond Avenue, where protesters set a fire in the middle of the intersection. They tossed two restaurant benches into the blaze, drawing ire from some living in the dense neighborhood with low-income housing, market-rate apartments, high-end condos and a retirement/assisted living facility.
While some residents had yelled encouragement throughout the night, others began to order protesters to be quiet and some threw liquids out their windows.
After a third trip back to the park, officers used the stun grenade, deployed tear gas and appeared to detain several protesters.
Several protesters complained throughout the night that they had been hit by projectiles or unnecessarily shoved by police. Police said officers suffered minor injuries from thrown rocks.
Demonstrators gather at a park on the South Waterfront on Wednesday for the 84th consecutive night of protests in Portland.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Earlier in the night, before the march to the ICE building, Jamal Williams, a 50-year-old who said he was born and raised in Portland, lectured some of the people gathering for the night.
He said his group, Portland United for Justice and Equality, had regularly attended protests at the Justice Center in downtown Portland until it got “too violent.”
“There’s a reason I’m only one of two Black people down here. There’s a reason why Black people aren’t down here,” Williams said. “No justice, no peace. And this ain’t peaceful.”
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