Portland saw street violence Saturday night, including the fatal shooting of a man with ties to Patriot Prayer, a far-right group that attracts white supremacists and has engaged in violence. It was also one of several groups that drove through Oregon’s largest city Saturday in a show of support for President Donald Trump. Participants fired paintball guns and brandished other weapons.
Trump has repeatedly characterized Portland as a city overrun by violence — a view that was bolstered Saturday, as cars adorned with American flags drove through protesters, and demonstrators on opposing sides of the political spectrum pummeled and maced each other on downtown streets and sidewalks.
Related: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler blames President Trump for downtown violence
Sunday night in Portland lacked far-right demonstrators, such as Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys, and was instead a return to Portland Police confronting Black Lives Matter supporters outside a law enforcement building. At 10 p.m. Sunday, the adversaries and the location were familiar: protesters squaring off with police outside the Kelly building on East Burnside Street — one of several Portland Police buildings that protesters have gathered outside in recent weeks.
Before the night’s protests, state and local leaders argued that the shooting and violent confrontations were the fault of President Trump, but would be solved by leaders in Oregon. Gov. Kate Brown announced a “unified law enforcement plan” to support Portland Police, who have said they’re stretched thin after three months of nightly protests.
It wasn’t always certain that the violent, deadly clashes on Saturday wouldn’t be followed by more violence from far-right groups Sunday night. Internet sites such as 4chan saw anonymous participants threatening further violence in Portland, directed at protesters or elected leaders. But by late Sunday night, those threats didn’t turn to violence.
Related: Person shot and killed during pro-Trump car caravan through downtown Portland
However, the conflicts between police and Black Lives Matter protesters picked up with just as much as intensity as they have in recent weeks. Shortly after 10:30 p.m., Portland Police declared an “unlawful assembly” outside the Kelly building, calling on the crowd to disperse or move out of the street. As on numerous occasions previously, the declaration came with a threat — that officers would arrest, cite or use “crowd control agents [...]” such as “tear gas and/or impact weapons.”
According to video and eyewitness accounts on Twitter, Portland police pushed activists off East Burnside, appearing to make numerous arrests. That continues a pattern in the last week or two, as police have made more arrests in response to prolonged protests. In some cases, witnesses posted video to Twitter showing police repeatedly hitting protesters in the course of arresting them.
The Sunday demonstrations also came three days after a 2-1 vote by a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed law enforcement to restrict members of the media and legal observers at protests. Some observers took to Twitter to say police were pushing around members of the media, and appeared to be arresting them. However, others posted video showing that police were attempting to distinguish between members of the press and protesters — as they focused on pulling protesters off the sidewalk, handcuffing them and pushing them into police vans.