Officers Suffer Burn Injuries During Demonstration

Demonstrators shot fireworks at Portland Police during a demonstration last night injuring two police officers.

Here's the account from Portland Police:

At about 8:00p.m., a gathering began in Kenton Park, 2351 North Kilpatrick Street. The group of about 200 people began marching at 9:30p.m. in the direction of the Portland Police Association (PPA) Offices in the 1800 block of North Lombard Street. It is located in a residential neighborhood and was the site of a riot Saturday evening in which individuals broke through a door and started a fire in the building.

When the march reached the PPA, Portland Police made sound truck announcements to the crowd warning them not engage in criminal activities such as vandalism or attempting to set the building on fire. These types of activities would not be permitted and will result in arrest and potential use of force such as riot control munitions and tear gas.

Within 3 minutes, participants began barricading streets with dumpsters and fencing. A fire was lit on the sidewalk outside the PPA office. Fire and an ambulance was enroute to a medical call and had to reroute to get around the street blockage.

An unlawful assembly was declared, and the crowd was given multiple warnings over loudspeaker to disperse to the west. They began to launch eggs at the officers. People who did not leave were moved away by officers with Portland Police and Oregon State Police. The majority of the group went north to Kenton Park. During the movement, commercial grade fireworks were thrown at officers and at least one injured two officers.

Due to the direct attacks on officers, a riot was declared at 10:10p.m.

The group continued into Kenton Park and began to reconvene. More warnings were given, and those that did not leave were moved out of the park.

A smaller group made their way back to the PPA offices where they were again warned that it was a riot and they were to disperse. Multiple arrests were made.

In an effort to deescalate, police left the area. Some individuals moved back out onto Lombard Street, blocking traffic with dumpsters, pieces of fencing, and other items. Some small fires were lit in the roadway. Those in the street were warned to move to the sidewalk. After some time, they moved aside and reopened the street.

The injured officers were treated at the scene by paramedics. One officer was burned on her neck and her facemask partially melted (see photos). A Sergeant standing about 10 feet away was injured in the leg by a piece of a firework impacting his leg (photos).

No CS gas was deployed.

16 people were arrested.


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