Police declare riot as Portland protesters set fires, attack government building
Protesters lit fires, threw rocks and smashed windows at county government offices in the US city of Portland early Wednesday, prompting police to declare a riot, after weeks of mostly peaceful anti-racism demonstrations.
The protesters, some wearing gas masks and carrying shields, lit fires in dumpsters and used lighter fuel to start a fire inside the Multnomah Building big enough to set off the sprinkler system, police said.
TV footage showed debris on the street in flames and people throwing stones at the building. The fire in the building was put out by police, media said.
Black Lives Matter protests have been held across the United States in recent months after the May 25 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Protests, including in Portland, have at times erupted into arson and violence, and federal officers sent into the Northwestern city have repeatedly clashed with crowds targeting the federal courthouse there.
Police said some officers were targeted a night earlier with a "powerful green laser" capable of causing permanent eye damage when some protesters marched on the Portland Police Association building.
"Portland Police has declared the gathering near the Multnomah Building a riot after individuals vandalized, repeatedly smashed first floor windows with rocks and threw burning material into an office," the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter.
Police said some crowd control "munitions" were used to disperse the protesters, but no tear gas.
Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury released a statement at midnight, saying a small group of protesters had set fire to the Office of Community Involvement.
Police said on Wednesday an officer sustained a minor injury and there were two arrests, one on charges of rioting, unlawful use of a weapon and assaulting a public safety officer, and another on charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangering.
Source: Reuters
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