Rioters in Portland on Thursday targeted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building for the second consecutive night, hurling objects at officers and disabling security cameras.
The group of about 100 marched in south Portland, arriving at the facility soon after 10 p.m.
The group disabled security cameras with spray paint, vandalized the building with graffiti, tampered with a control panel to the entrance gate, and kept banging on exterior doors. They shouted continually at one officer who was visible through glass walls, urging him to quit his job.
When federal officers exited the building, the mob hurled rocks and bottles at them, while others shined lasers and still others launched commercial-grade fireworks.
Some of the group had positioned vehicles to block traffic from the street, a common tactic used by Portland agitators. A dumpster fire was lit a few blocks away.
People became upset when a man approached them and urged them not to set buildings on fire.
“You’re 53, right? I’m 22 and I’m changing more than you have,” one told him, adding later: “You are not the same skin tone as me. You cannot tell people how to protest.”
“White privilege, dude,” another told him.
Because the group, which at one point chanted “Black Lives Matter!” was blocking traffic, vandalizing the ICE building, setting fires, and throwing projectiles at officers, officers warned them to disperse or face arrest or crowd control methods, according to a Portland Police Bureau incident summary.
Portland officers and federal officers then worked together to disperse the crowd, with federal officers appearing to use tear gas. Three arrests were made. Christopher Wise, 30, was charged with interfering with a peace officer and disorderly conduct. Riley Haralson, 18, was charged with interfering with a peace officer and harassment. Courtney Pace, 27, was charged with interfering with a peace officer.
More projectiles were hurled at officers during the dispersal, including rocks, glass bottles, and paint balloons.
The crowd ultimately dispersed by 2 a.m.
Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf denounced the rioting that took place the previous evening, describing the rioters as “violent criminals.”
“After 80+ straight nights of violence, Portland clearly remains a city in crisis,” he said in a statement.
A separate event organized by the PDX Black Youth Movement started in the daylight hours, with a crowd following a truck. People stood on the back and alternated speaking to those assembled. They periodically stopped but often kept moving through city streets.
“Listen to every [expletive] black person who wants to talk. And if none of us want to talk, sit here in silence and think about why we’re here. Think about every night. Think about what they could have accomplished if they weren’t murdered in cold blood,” one speaker said.
Another called on people to “get angry!”
“Be as angry as I am! That’s why you’re out here. I should hear you screaming and being mad. Not cheering. Do not cheer for me. Do not clap for me. I don’t want to be up here. I don’t have a choice but to be up here. But people who look like me are [expletive] dying.”
The group released a list of demands in early August. The demands include abolishing the police, ending the death penalty, creating a fund specifically for businesses owned by black people, and reserving two areas for black-owned companies.
