Oregon Police Prepare for Weekend Breonna Taylor Protests
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Friday she’s sending state troopers and sheriffs deputies to Portland through the weekend to help police in the state’s largest city monitor a weekend rally in the city by the right-wing group Proud Boys and counter protests by liberal groups.
Portland has been roiled by often violent protests for more than three months following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Demonstrations that went into a lull during Oregon’s recent wildfires resumed this week, fueled by a Kentucky grand jury’s decision to not indict officers in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Brown told reporters she is exercising her gubernatorial authority to place Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese and Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton in charge of Portland’s public safety on Saturday and Sunday. Brown said that Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler supports the plan.
Similar competing demonstrations have ended with fistfights and bloodshed, including the fatal shooting on Aug. 29 of Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a supporter of a right-wing group, who was killed in Portland after a caravan a pro-Trump supporters drove pickup trucks in a caravan downtown.
The suspect, antifa supporter Michael Reinoehl, was shot in a hail of gunfire by federal officers as they moved in to arrest him in neighboring Washington state.
Ahead of the planned Proud Boys rally set for Saturday, Brown said, “Our law enforcement is absolutely committed to protecting free speech and they are going to work extremely hard to de-escalate the situation by keeping the groups apart.”
Hampton said officers sent to Portland could use tear gas and less-lethal ammunition to disperse crowds if the protest and counter protests becomes violent or if people’s lives are in danger.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has banned local police from using tear gas.
Organizers have said that the Proud Boys rally will support President Donald Trump and the police and condemn anti-fascists that the group accuses of “domestic terrorism.”
The city denied a permit to protest organizers, citing estimated crowds of thousands amid the coronavirus pandemic. But police said they will not try to stop the Proud Boys from gathering at a park in northern Portland.
“If you want to come to Oregon, to Portland, to peacefully protest, to assemble, to voice your outrage, to voice your concern – we welcome you for that,” Hampton said. “If your job and your intent is to come to Oregon to commit crimes, to provoke, to make people feel unsafe in their homes then we do not want you to come here. ”
Protesters in Portland late Thursday set fire to plywood attached to the front door of a police union building and clashed with officers, who made 14 arrests, police said in a statement.
The protesters who were detained were arrested on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to interfering with officers and trespassing.
The violence came a day after people hurled several firebombs at officers during a demonstration in which 13 were arrested.
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