Portland Protesters Clash With Federal Agents at Ice Building

By Associated Press

20 August 20

Authorities used teargas and stun grenades after protesters spray-painted and broke windows, and shined laser lights inside

rotesters in Portland clashed with federal agents in a demonstration targeting a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that started on Wednesday night and lasted until it was broken up early Thursday, officials said.

The demonstrators spray-painted windows on the building, broke several windows and shined laser lights at agents inside – prompting local police to declare the event a riot, meaning authorities could use teargas and other riot control methods to break up the crowd, Portland police said in a statement.

Clashes ensued, with protesters hurling rocks and bottles at agents who came out of the building and at police, the statement said.

Teargas and stun grenades were used by authorities around midnight to break up the crowd but it wasn’t clear which law enforcement agency used them, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

The gas wafted through the open windows of residents living near the locations where the protesters and police confrontations took place, prompting complaints from the residents, the newspaper said.

Police arrested two people and several officers suffered minor injuries after they were hit with rocks, the Portland police statement said.

Demonstrations in which fires have been set, objects have been thrown and police have fired “crowd control munitions” have gripped Oregon’s biggest city for more than two months following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Participants have repeatedly broken into the offices of a police union headquarters building and last month clashed for weeks with federal agents dispatched to protect a US courthouse targeted by protesters.

In another Portland protest that started late on Tuesday and lasted into early Wednesday, demonstrators broke out the windows of a county government building, sprayed lighter fluid inside and set a fire.