Police in Portland, Oregon, said two officers were hospitalized Saturday after a large rock was thrown at them by protesters.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, demonstrators and agitators threw objects at officers. But one of them was a nearly 10-pound rock.
In the statement, authorities described what the demonstrators were doing.
“Some of the crowd chants included, ‘kill a cop, save a life,’ ‘What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! If we don’t get it, burn it down!’” the department said.
Later in the evening, police said that members of the crowd started launching mortars at police officers.
“For the next twenty minutes people in the crowd increased their violent actions toward police officers who were standing behind cars fifty feet or more away from the crowd. Officers reported having rocks, frozen eggs, glass bottles, and frozen water bottles thrown at them,” the department added. “Officers reported people were shining green lasers at them, which is against the law in Oregon. Somebody spray-painted over a security camera on the Penumbra Kelly Building.”
Police said that only smoke was deployed, not gas. Officers also declared a riot.
Meanwhile, it added that more than 60 calls for police service were not answered around Portland because officers were busy with riot control.
“Call types ranged from theft, vandalism, suspicious activity, hazards, hit and run, burglary, violation of restraining order, alarms, stolen cars, harassment and many others,” the department said.
Earlier in the day, police said they made four arrests overnight as they dispersed a protest that was headed toward the offices of the police union.
Demonstrations, often violent, have happened nightly in Portland for more than two months following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Participants have repeatedly broken into the offices of the Portland Police Association, vandalized them, and set fires.
