The Red insurrection in Portland ended its 84th day yesterday, and police again declared a riot as federal authorities battled Black Lives Matter and presumably Antifa in yet another skirmish with the anti-American forces.
The “protestors” hurled rocks and water bottles at cops while destroying property and otherwise vandalizing the office building of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other places in the city.
The rioters brought martial music as inspiration and left the usual signs of their hatred for police and law and order.
Renewed Federal Force
The confrontation between the federal officers and the leftists was the first in some time, the Oregonian reported.
“Federal officers haven’t been seen policing protests since Gov. Kate Brown helped negotiate a deal in late July to move them out of the city and instead, provide Portland police with reinforcements from Oregon State Police,” the newspaper noted.
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“Throughout the night Wednesday, protesters tagged the ICE building with graffiti and broke several windows,” the Oregonian reported:
The police response quickly developed a pattern Wednesday as federal officers would come out of the building and push protesters into the street, where Portland police would arrive and directed the crowd back to Caruthers Park.
After several such rounds, officers used the stun grenades and gas around midnight to break up the crowd. It was unclear which law enforcement agency used the gas and grenades. The action drew complaints from residents, some who complained they were having trouble breathing as gas wafted into their open windows.
The rioters gathered at Elizabeth Caruthers Park, the newspaper reported, then a force about 200-strong attacked the ICE building at 9:30 p.m. Officers watched from windows as “marchers arrived, beating drums and playing guitars, chanting and singing. A dozen or so briefly pounded on the windows.”
Then came a warning:
A Federal Protective Service announcement warned protesters against damaging the building or setting fires. Failure to comply, the announcement continued, could lead to arrest or crowd-control munitions.
Protesters then spray-painted expletives on the building’s windows, shoved traffic cones over security cameras and attempted to break windows. For much of the night, protesters blocked Bancroft Street, Moody Avenue and an off-ramp from Macadam Avenue.
Around 10 p.m., about three dozen federal officers flowed from the building, rushed the crowd into the street and shot less-lethal munitions. A few protesters responded by throwing water bottles and toilet paper rolls at the officers. Police said glass bottles and rocks were thrown, as well.
About the same time, Portland police declared the gathering an “unlawful assembly.”
In other words, it was yet another riot in the besieged metropolis. Playing over loudspeakers was the “Imperial March” from the Star Wars films. The psywar tactic also included the theme song from Britain’s television comedy Benny Hill, Boots Randolph’s “Yakety Sax.”
Federal officers reacted again when the rioters broke windows at the ICE building.
After that, the rioters attacked local police with “rocks, full soda cans, and a hammer.”
Fires Set
They then began the usual destruction of property, the newspaper reported:
Close to midnight, a crowd of about 100 gathered near Gaines Street and Bond Avenue, where protesters set a fire in the middle of the intersection.
They tossed two restaurant benches into the blaze, drawing ire from some living in the dense neighborhood with low-income housing, market-rate apartments, high-end condos and a retirement/assisted living facility.
While some residents had yelled encouragement throughout the night, others began to order protesters to be quiet and some threw liquids out their windows.
The rioters also set fire to the Multnomah County Office Building.
Among the messages they left on buildings were “F**k the police,” “F**k ICE,” and ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards).
A fellow with a group called Portland United for Justice and Equality said he was one of two black people at the riot.
“There’s a reason why Black people aren’t down here,” he said. “No justice, no peace. And this ain’t peaceful.”
Somehow, cops only arrested two rioters.
Photo: AP Images
R. Cort Kirkwood is a long-time contributor to The New American and a former newspaper editor.
