Another riot declared in Portland as focus returns to the courthouse

Yesterday I pointed out that the nightly riots in Portland were starting to earn the mob some bad feelings from neighborhoods and even a bit of bad press. Last night they decided to return to downtown and the scene of their greatest “victory,” the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse. Returning to their roots meant throwing fireworks and at least one Molotov cocktail at the courthouse and once again a riot was declared:

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Protesters shifted back downtown Wednesday, joining other demonstrators who never left. The two groups have been divided over tactics, namely whether or not to confront police. Several activists implored the crowd not to draw out police. But other people threw things, set off fireworks and gathered outside a parking garage where drivers were waiting to exit near the Justice Center.

Portland police ultimately labeled the gathering a riot, then set off tear gas on the crowd. Police made multiple advances on the crowd, once pushing the crowd for more than seven blocks. State troopers joined Portland police during at least one of the pushes.

KOIN News reporters Hannah Ray Lambert and Jennifer Dowling were following the situation for most of the night and captured a lot of video from the scene. What follows is a rough breakdown of last night in rough chronological order.

You may remember that the courthouse was a mess after weeks of protests and vandalism. But as of last night a lot of that had been cleaned up.

The night actually started with some BLM protesters telling the “opportunists” who just want chaos (Antifa) to go home.

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But there’s a clear division in the crowd between those who want to keep it peaceful and those who think the peaceful approach won’t accomplish anything. Notice she’s comparing these riots to Hong Kong and Belarus.

The difference of course is that those places are dictatorships where people have no rights of free speech or assembly. In Hong Kong you can be arrested and jailed for life for writing “Free Hong Kong” on social media. By contrast, Portland is one of the most liberal cities on the west coast. These people are seriously delusional.

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Someone burned a (fake?) pig head and a Trump flag:

Lambert said the pig head was fake:

Some kind of fight broke out. Reason? Who knows:

Back at the courthouse it was time to start throwing explosives:

The battle of the parking garage will be remembered forever, comrades:

Warnings were issued:

Police move in to push the crowd back:

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At some point around midnight a riot was declared and police ordered people to move north or west:

There were several arrests including this one. Plus police got physical with a few people who wouldn’t clear the road:

Here’s protest leader Demetria Hester haranging police with a bullhorn near the courthouse:

This sort of thing is what Hester spends a lot of her time doing. This next clip is not from last night it’s from early Tuesday morning. Hester is once again hectoring police. In this case she’s telling a line of officers that their wives are busy sleeping with other men while one of her comrades holds up a large dildo. She’s a class act.

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Back to last night. The mob is still fighting the battle of the police parking garage.

And that’s about it. Another pointless riot but at least the mob won’t get bad press for disturbing suburban neighborhoods this time.

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Jazz Shaw 7:20 PM | March 18, 2024
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