Unruly Portland Protests Not Abating After 100 Straight Days

Hundreds of people gathered for Black Lives Matter rallies and marches Saturday night in Portland, Oregon, as often violent nightly demonstrations that have happened for 100 days since George Floyd was killed showed no signs of ceasing.

Molotov cocktails thrown in the street during a march sparked a large fire and prompted police to declare a riot. Video posted online appeared to show tear gas being deployed to clear protesters from what police said was an unpermitted demonstration. Arrests were made, but it wasn’t immediately clear how many.

At least one community member was injured, police said. People were “engaging in tumultuous and violent conduct thereby intentionally or recklessly creating a grave risk of causing public alarm,” the department tweeted. “Fire bombs were thrown at officers.”

Protesters, most wearing black, had gathered around sunset Saturday at a grassy park in the city. Wooden shields were placed on the grass for protesters to use as protection.

Demonstrations in Portland started in late May after the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis. During the clashes, some have broken windows, set small fires and pelted police with rocks and other objects.

On the 100th day of protests in Portland, demonstrators vowed to keep coming into the streets.

Earlier Saturday, hundreds of people gathered in a park just north of Portland in Vancouver, Washington, for a memorial service for Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a supporter of a right-wing group called Patriot Prayer, who was killed Aug. 29. The suspect was himself shot and killed by police Thursday.

Many of the crowd were President Donald Trump supporters, wearing MAGA hats and shirts or holding Trump-Pence flags. Some also waved flags and wore T-shirts showing support for the police.

The crowded regularly erupted in boos with any mention of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, whom Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson demanded apologize to Danielson’s family because they felt he had been unfairly portrayed.

“This is about truth and lies,” Gibson said. “Jay was not a white supremacist.”

Authorities released additional court documents late Friday detailing the moments before Danielson’s slaying.

The documents included shots of security footage that showed the suspect, Michael Forest Reinoehl, ducked into a parking garage and reached toward a pocket or pouch at his waist before emerging to follow the victim. Danielson was holding bear spray and an expandable baton and had a loaded Glock handgun in a holster at his waist, according to the documents.

Witnesses told police that just before they heard gunshots someone said something like, “wanna go,” which is frequently a challenge to a fight. Danielson, 39, was shot in the chest and died at the scene.

The court documents were filed to support second-degree murder charges against Reinoehl, who was a supporter of antifa — shorthand for anti-fascists and an umbrella description for far-left-leaning militant groups.

Late Friday and early Saturday morning protests continued in Portland, with police declaring an unlawful assembly and arresting 27 people.