In Portland, on Sunday, June 14, two vastly different Black Lives Matter protests unfolded. The protests contrasted each other in energy, police presence, crowd makeup and message. The first protest was held in NE Portland, with roughly 5000 people in attendance, while the second one, which was declared “unlawful” by the Portland Police Bureau [PPB] occurred by the Justice Center in downtown. Here is our photographic coverage of those two events.
Protest in NE Portland
The protest in NE Portland was organized by younger members of the community and people came together to make sure that protestors were safe and had any necessary supplies, such as food, water and basic medication. Despite the large crowd, there were no visible police officers at the protest. The protest consisted of a march from Jefferson High School to Alberta Park and a rally at that park.
Protest by the Justice Center
Around the same time as the end of the rally in NE Portland, protestors gathered at the Justice Center, as they do nightly. A little before 9 p.m., the protest was declared “unlawful” when protestors began throwing things over the fence at officers, including a commercial grade firework. Over the next several hours, protestors roamed through the streets of downtown, with the occasional standoff with police. Fourteen arrests were made over the course of this protest.
Messages From Protestors Around Portland
There were graffiti messages and paper fliers all over both NE Portland and downtown. Many of these messages called for the disbanding of the PPB or had various other negative messages about police, such as ACAB [all cops are bastards]. The largest collection of graffitied messages were at the County Courthouse next to the Justice Center.
