(Portland) Thousands of anti-racism and discrimination protesters gathered outside the US Federal Court building in Portland, Oregon.
Posted on 25 July 2020 at 8 o'clock25
Associated Press
The situation escalated in the early hours of Saturday when demonstrators threw glass bottles and fireworks at the building, while federal police responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The demonstration lasted several hours, that is, until the federal police decided to disperse the last protesters around 2 a.m. 25 in the morning. They also extinguished a large fire that had been lit in the street in front of the Federal Court building.
PHOTO MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A protester walks past a bonfire set at an intersection during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Federal Protective Service officials said it was an “illegal assembly” and police officers were injured.
Most of the demonstrators had left the scene around 3 a.m., but there were still a few small groups circulating in the streets.
Earlier on Friday night, the protest drew people from different organizations, including healthcare workers, teachers, and lawyers associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. As the crowd grew, people chanted slogans like “Black Lives Matter” and to call for the withdrawal of federal agents, among other things, to the sound of drums.
PHOTO MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic leaders in Oregon believe that the federal police officers deployed by President Donald Trump to deal with the crisis have only worsened the situation for two months.