On the evening of July 17, over 1000 people gathered in front of the Justice Center in Portland for the 51st night of Black Lives Matter rallies. The rally began early in the evening and the crowd did not fully disperse until the early morning.
This event comes as Portland receives national attention due to President Trump’s deployment of federal officers to the city. These officers, who have been in the city since early July, have faced criticism from across the country for indiscriminate violence resulting in life-threatening injuries, as well as, their use of unmarked vehicles and unidentifiable uniforms when taking people into custody.
The crowd held signs, many calling for the removal of the federal officers, as they listened to the speakers. The signs included messages such as “DHS Out” and “Feds Out.”
This sentiment was not only confined to signs. The protestors chanted “Feds out now” multiple times throughout the night. Graffiti downtown and at the Federal Courthouse now has messages reflecting these same sentiments, along with the common slogans of “ACAB [All Cops Are Bastards],” “F*** 12,” “PorKKKland,” “No Justice, No Peace,” and “Eat The Rich.”
The crowd peacefully listened to the speakers, who stood on the steps of the Justice Center, for hours and many of them expressed this sentiment. Several called for the removal of the federal officers from the city. They also condemned the use of tear gas. also known as CS Gas, which has been deployed routinely by the federal officers since they arrived in the city.
“Number one, we need to get the feds out! Get out! We don’t want you here,” Candace Avalos told the crowd during her speech.
Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who was one of the main organizers of the event spoke a few times. Her message highlighted calls to remove federal officers and she told “federal occupiers to go home,” in one of these speeches. She also encouraged protestors to stay strong and united.
Hardesty was joined by several members of the Portland Interfaith Clergy Resistance.
Speakers also called for the defunding of Portland Police Bureau [PPB], which has repeatedly come under criticism for their handling of both protestors and media. Speakers criticized what they believe is clear escalation of situations by PPB on a nightly basis. They discussed that PPB’s treatment of largely peaceful protestors is entirely unjustified.
“If you think force is justified because people are yelling then quit your f***ing jobs,” Rabbi Debra Kolodny said in her speech. She went on to say that if therapists, teachers, nurses and social workers can handle angry people peacefully, so can the police.
These speeches were interspersed by musical performances. Several Black, hip-hop artists performed pieces as the crowd cheered, danced and sang along with them.
At approximately 8:45 p.m., Hardesty made an announcement that she had just received news that U.S. Representative John Lewis, a civil rights leader, had passed away. The crowd took a moment of silence to honor him.
One of the following speakers called on the city to invest in Black children. He discussed that Black children are good given the same opportunities and treatment as white ones. As he talked about this, almost everyone in the crowd raised their fists in solidarity with this message.
More speeches and musical performances followed. Protestors also held candles and lights in solidarity with the movement.
The protest remained this way for a couple hours. Volunteers distributed free sandwiches and water. Someone held a sign reading “Register To Vote Here” and someone else held a sign offering mental health and crisis support. There was also a team tasked with keeping the peace and lots of medics to treat any injuries.
The only conflict that occurred was when a street preacher came to agitate the crowds, around 9 p.m. He began yelling loudly and attempting to move towards the center of the crowd. The group of protestors around him were split on how to handle the situation with some advocating for ignoring him and others physically blocking him. One protestor was loudly yelling that the agitator was a “white people problem” that the crowd should let the white people deal with.
One protestor attempted to drag him away, however, he was quickly stopped by the others, including medics. Ultimately the crowd decided to carry him away. So, several members of the crowd picked up and carried him out of the rally.
At the same time, a group of protestors was working to take down all the fencing around the parks in front of the Justice Center. The job was completed within 15 minutes and people walked freely through the park. The fences were then taken and placed on the road that runs in front of the Justice Center in an attempt to slow federal and PPB officers when they arrive.
A small fire was lit in the middle of one of the parks around 9:45. At this time a PPB car driving around made an announcement telling people not to tamper with the fencing, but other than that did not say anything.
At this point, the rally was still happening on the steps of the Justice Center and most of the protestors were listening to music. Although a small cohort gathered by the remnants of the elk statue and chanted Black Lives Matter.
At 10:05 protestors had their first encounter of the night with police. Protestors had placed some fencing in front of a side door to the Justice Center. Approximately a dozen PPB officers came from another side door to move it. A couple pointed crowd control munition guns at protestors, as the rest moved the fencing segment. Protestors yelled at them to “Go home, you facist pigs” and “You guys failed.” Neither side engaged physically and PPB officers went back inside the Justice Center.
A few minutes later, as music was still playing on the steps, the first federal officers emerged. The federal officers in Portland are from the Department of Homeland Security [DHS], the U.S. Marshals and Customs and Border Patrol [CBP]. However, they have consistently used unidentifiable uniforms, including military fatigues and outfits that simply read “police.” This makes it nearly impossible for crowd members to determine which agency the officers are from.
DHS and other federal officers emerged from the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building. Six went over and aggressively moved fencing out of the street. As this was occurring a protestor played the Imperial March from Star Wars.
Dozens of federal officers then lined up on SW Third St. on the side closest to the Justice Center. They shined flashlights in protestors’ faces for a little while. Then they began to charge at anyone who was still in the street, both protestors and media. The first arrest of the night occurred at this point, when officers grabbed a man by the arm and pinned him to the ground. He was arrested for seemingly no reason other than a failure to move out of the way fast enough.
The federal officers did not give any specific orders to protestors and made no announcements as to why they had emerged from the buildings. Without any warning, they began to use crowd control munitions. They shot protestors with pellets and used a pole with a smoke canister to keep protestors away. Several officers had guns which shot a stream of pepper spray. They then used flash bangs, also known as stun grenades, and tear gas.
Federal officers used so much tear gas that they filled the entire park with it and forced everyone away from the immediate vicinity, momentarily. There was so much tear gas in the air that it could be felt from blocks away.
This effectively split the crowd. Several hundred began to march, while the rest remained near the Justice Center. The crowd which marched went to what is Mayor Ted Wheeler’s condo. When they arrived they chanted “F*** Ted Wheeler” and “Tear Gas Teddy.”
The crowd then voted on if they were going to stay there or return to the Justice Center. The vast majority favored returning and so they marched back.
The marchers arrived back at the Justice Center and Federal Courthouse around 11:30 p.m. and joined the protestors who were still there. Riot Ribs provided food for people to eat. The officers had gone back inside.
Soon after this reunion of protestors, a group began to barricade the doors and peepholes at the front of the Federal Courthouse, where federal officers have emerged from on past nights. They used fencing and tape to block them.
At midnight, officers shot a smoke canister from a peephole that protestors had not adequately blocked. Protestors proceeded to point lasers and flashlights at the peephole in an attempt to mess with officers’ sight lines.
Several protestors ran up with fencing and placed it in front of the peephole, to stop officers from shooting more canisters out. Other protestors brought sand bags which they placed at the bottom of the fencing to reinforce the barricades they had built.
At midnight, the crowd still numbered well over 1000 people, with most of the protestors holding signs and chanting from the parks. A few protestors shot off fireworks, including 3 professional grade ones and several smaller ones.
Thirty minutes later, protestors began to barricade the doors of the Federal Building, from which federal officers had emerged from earlier that evening. After doing this with no pushback, they went over in an attempt to barricade the side doors to the Justice Center.
PPB shot riot control munitions and smoke canisters from the peephole, as protestors shone flashlights and lasers at the peephole. PPB eventually left from behind the wall and protestors began to further barricade the side doors to the Justice Center.
Portland Police made an announcement saying that this behavior was illegal and that they would be subject to arrest if they continued. Protestors continued until the doors were completely blocked.
Protestors then took the fencing and set up barricades on the West side of SW Madison and SW 2nd streets, because they received reports that PPB’s riot teams were coming from that direction. They also set up a barricade on the South side of SW Madison and SW 3rd streets to slow federal officers. As they did this they chanted “Stay together, stay tight, we do this every night.”
Then at 1:31 a.m. PPB announced that the assembly was unlawful and said that if protestors did not follow the orders they would be subject to arrest and use of crowd control munitions. They gave protestors five minutes to remove the barricades and leave the area.
After five minutes, dozens of PPB officers ran west up SW Madison, tearing down the fencing as they went. Dozens of federal officers came North up SW Third. The protestors moved into the parks. Officers used crowd control munitions, smoke canisters and flash bangs to disperse the crowd.
More than two dozen PPB officers began rapidly moving their line up SW Madison yelling at protestors to “move now.” Protestors on Madison proceeded to head a block over to Main and join another group. Officers chased them a block up SW Main and then held their line. They began to retreat and as they were leaving throw smoke canisters behind them.
A little after 2 a.m. a couple hundred protestors formed another standoff with PPB officers. PPB ordered them to leave and when protestors did not, officers chased protestors for three blocks, running with batons raised. The crowd sprinted away. However, some of the slowest members of the group were hit and shoved to the ground by officers.
At this point, most of the crowd dispersed and only minor standoffs followed between the remaining protestors and PPB.
