UPDATE (1:52 p.m. PT) — Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets Saturday night as Portland entered its third week of protests.
Portlanders have marched each night challenging police brutality and racism following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who suffocated under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
#160;
Several thousand demonstrators marched from Revolution Hall to Cleveland High School in southeast Portland, where they heard speeches for several hours.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, a car “became entangled” with protesters Saturday evening in the area of Southeast 31st Avenue and Southeast Powell Boulevard, as a motorist drove toward a large crowd.
According to a person who filmed the incident, the driver ran through a group of cyclists who were blocking the road to protect protesters as they walked on the street.
In the video, demonstrators are seen puncturing the car’s tires, breaking windows and pounding its sides. Part of a monowheel or bicycle can be seen stuck under the vehicle as it drives away. It’s not clear whether the driver did anything aggressive towards protesters, either before or after the vandalism of the car. Portland police are investigating the incident.
According to a Portland Police Bureau press release, another large group of demonstrators gathered at the Justice Center in downtown Portland at 10 p.m. People attempted to cut through the surrounding fence and climb over it, throwing items such as “glass bottles, full beverage containers, rocks, and other projectiles” over the fence. Police declared a civil disturbance and began dispersing the crowd just after 10:50 p.m.
Several MAX Lines were disrupted within minutes of the incident, including the Green, Blue, Orange, Yellow and Red Lines in the downtown area.
At about 12:30 a.m. another group of over a hundred demonstrators marched along Vista Avenue toward Jackson Street, where some protesters “threw mortars and fireworks” at officers. Protesters were dispersed back toward downtown.
Police said Sunday afternoon that five people had been arrested in the previous night’s protests. In most cases, the people who were arrested face charges of interfering with a peace officer, disorderly conduct, or for “unlawful directing of light from a laser pointer.”
An earlier police bureau press release stated that no CS gas was used during the event.
Large crowd rallies in Salem Saturday
Hundreds of people rallied in downtown Salem Saturday to take part in an“End White Silence” event, The Statesman Journal reports.
The large rally began with speeches outside the Capitol, followed by a march downtown to Salem City Hall. The event ended with a question-and-answer session on the Capitol steps; people in the crowd submitted questions to a panel, which read and answered questions over a loudspeaker.
Organizers described the event as a “socially distanced, peaceful gathering to dismantle the racist systems that have. . .[kept] the Black community at a disadvantage for far too long.”
They said the focus was to give white people practical ways to be allies to Black communities.
“It’s important to have uncomfortable conversations with people in your community, and it’s important to learn how to be an ally,” organizer Julianne Jackson said. “We don’t need saviors, we need allies.”
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting