Two of them remained peaceful, but the others resulted in “property damage and arrests,” he said. CNN is trying to find out more about who organized the demonstrations.
A group of about 150 people gathered in the ICE building in the South Waterfront neighborhood on Wednesday night around 9 p.m., Allen said.
Some protesters carried pepperball guns, fireworks, shields, stones, and “electronic control weapons similar to Tasers.”
In an updated statement Thursday morning, police said many in the crowd were wearing gas masks and helmets, and within minutes people began tagging the ICE building with graffiti.
KOIN, a member of CNN, reported that the graffiti contained messages such as “Reunite families now” – a possible reference to the separation of migrant children from their parents. There were other reports of anti-law enforcement sentiment, calling for the abolition of ICE with a different anarchy symbol. One message read, “Kill police !!!”
Federal officials declared it an illegal meeting after protesters began throwing stones and destroying the building,
Allen said.
Federal law enforcement officers used “crowd control ammunition,” Allen said, although he didn’t say what kind, deferring to federal officials. Portland police have not deployed CS gas (commonly called tear gas), Allen added.
KOIN, an affiliate of CNN, reported that his reporters at the scene saw law enforcement using what appeared to be tear gas, along with anesthetic grenades and pepper balls. According to KOIN, several people were taken into custody.
Allen said Portland police were nearby and “some arrests had been made.”
The city and the ICE building have been the scene of repeated clashes between protesters and federal authorities in recent months. Police did not characterize the makeup of the groups involved in Wednesday’s protests.
8 arrests after vandalism at Democratic Party headquarters
The demonstration in the ICE building followed another earlier in the day, when a crowd of about 150 people gathered in Revolution Hall before marching to Oregon State Democratic Party headquarters.
Officers on bicycles ran into protesters in a parking lot near Revolution Hall, where “(d) ozens people pressed the officers and then took one of the officers’ bicycles,” Portland police said in a statement. More officers came to help and managed to get the bike back. The crowd blocked the way for officers when they tried to leave.
The group then left Revolution Hall and marched to Democratic Party headquarters, where some protesters “smashed windows and destroyed the building,” Allen said.
At one point, the crowd showed “aggression by swarming officers and throwing objects,” Allen said.
Images from CNN affiliate KATU showed an anarchy symbol sprayed next to the building’s front door with a blasphemous reference to the newly inaugurated President Joe Biden on the other side. Another showed the crowd running into the street, many of them dressed all in black, holding a sign that read, “We Are Ungovernable.” The station reported that the demonstration had been heralded as a protest against Biden and law enforcement while supporting the rights of the indigenous people.
At least 8 people were arrested on a variety of charges, including felony criminal mischief, possession of a destructive device and riots, Allen said.
In a statement, the Oregon Democratic Party said there were no staff in the building at the time, but they were “frustrated and disappointed.”
“This isn’t the first time our building has been vandalized in the past year – none of the previous incidents have stopped us from doing our important work of electing Democrats up and down, and this will be no different,” the statement said. said.
Federal courthouse in Seattle also damaged
Seattle police also reported vandalism to several downtown buildings on Wednesday evening, including a federal courthouse.
Seattle police shared photos on Twitter saying “multiple windows” had been smashed at the William Kenzo Nakamura Courthouse, which was primarily used by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
KOMO, an affiliate of CNN, reported that the group also set fire to the American flag and threw objects into the streets to block motorists’ roads. Participants also damaged several vehicles before police ordered them to disperse, KOMO reported.
Other photos shared by police showed a
Amazon Go store with anarchy symbols and anti-Biden and anti-police graffiti. Several windows were shattered. Other photos showed broken glass in a Starbucks store.
Police say several arrests have been made, including some for property damage and assault. Another man was arrested in connection with a Starbucks burglary investigation.
CNN’s Dave Alsup, Andy Rose and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
