Portland Police use smoke grenades, pepper balls to control gathering of
protesters
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 [September 01, 2020]
By Deborah Bloom
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Protests flared
again in Portland overnight on Monday as demonstrators clashed with
police on the streets of the city which after months of sometimes
violent confrontations has become a focal point of the U.S. presidential
race.
Police used smoke grenades and pepper balls to control the crowd of
protesters. Officers were also seen arresting people who refused to
leave the area.
About 200-300 people gathered in the downtown to march to the apartment
of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler to demand his resignation. They were seen
lighting wooden benches and plastic trash bins on fire along the march.
Portland Police later declared the gathering a riot after protesters set
fire in an apartment building, and ordered crowds to disperse or risk
facing arrest.
The area was then secured to allow firefighters to respond to the
situation, police said.
Portland has seen nightly protests since the killing of George Floyd, a
46-year-old African-American man, in Minneapolis on May 25. In recent
weeks, tensions between right- and left-wing groups in the city have
roiled downtown.
Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested so far by the police since
the protests have begun.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump in July deployed
federal forces to Portland to crack down on the protests.
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A police officer removes a barricade erected by demonstrators during
a protest against police violence and racial injustice in Portland,
Oregon, U.S., August 23, 2020. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester
State police and law enforcement from neighboring suburbs were sent
to Portland on Monday as tensions mounted following a fatal weekend
shooting in the midst of clashes between supporters of Trump and
counter-protesters.
Trump has seized on civil disturbances in Portland and other cities
to blame state and local Democratic leaders as he amplifies his
calls for law and order ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
His opponent in the election, Democrat Joe Biden, on Monday said it
was Trump himself that was helping to stoke the violence.
(Additional reporting by Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; writing by
Kanishka Singh, editing by Angus MacSwan)
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