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Portland police declared an unlawful assembly Friday night and ordered protesters to leave, saying people were throwing things at officers
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland police declared an unlawful assembly Friday night and ordered protesters to leave, saying people were throwing things at officers.
Anyone ignoring the order could face arrest or crowd control methods such as tear gas, police said. Police have been targeted with “paint bombs and other projectiles,” according to authorities.
Demonstrations, often violent, have happened nightly in Oregon’s biggest city for more than two months following the killing of George Floyd. Floyd, a black man, died in Minneapolis after a white officer pressed a knee to his neck.
Wednesday night and early Thursday morning authorities say protesters set a fire and exploded commercial grade fireworks outside the downtown federal courthouse. Several officers were injured and two people were arrested.
The protests in Portland last month outside the federal courthouse saw demonstrators clashing nightly with federal agents dispatched to the city to protect the facility.
The demonstrations dwindled after a drawdown of the agents, who were replaced by Oregon state troopers. But protests turned violent over the last week, mostly near a police union headquarters building miles from the federal courthouse.
