PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — One person was shot and killed late Saturday in Portland, Oregon, as a large caravan of President Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed in the streets, police said.
It wasn’t clear if the shooting was linked to fights that broke out as a caravan of about 600 vehicles was confronted by counter-demonstrators in the city’s downtown.
Police said the caravan had left the area around 8:30 p.m., and officers heard gunshots at about 8:46 p.m., according to a statement. Officers arrived at the shooting scene “within a minute,” police said, but the man who was shot did not survive.
An Associated Press freelance photographer heard three gunshots and then observed police medics working on the body of the victim, who appeared to be a white man. The freelancer said the man was wearing a hat bearing the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a right-wing group whose members have frequently clashed with protesters in Portland in the past.
Police said the man was shot in the chest. He was not immediately identified. It’s unclear who shot him.
Homicide detectives were looking for more evidence, acknowledging that several images and videos had been posted on social media.
“It is important for detectives get a full and accurate picture of what happened before, during, and after the shooting,” a police statement said. “If anyone was a witness, has video, or has information about the homicide, they’re asked to contact the primary detectives.”
“This violence is completely unacceptable and we are working diligently to find and apprehend the individual or individuals responsible,” Chief Chuck Lovell said.
Portland has been the site of nightly protests for more than three months since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Many of them end in vandalism and violence, and hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested by local and federal law enforcement since late May.
In the two hours following the shooting, protesters gathered downtown and there was sporadic fighting and vandalism, police stated. Some gave speeches in Lownsdale Square Park before the protest petered out. Ten people were arrested, police said.
The caravan had arrived downtown just as a protest planned for Saturday was getting underway. The chaotic scene came two days after Trump invoked Portland as a liberal city overrun with violence in a speech at the Republican National Convention as part of his “law and order” re-election campaign theme. The caravan marked the third Saturday in a row that Trump supporters have rallied in the city.
Trump and other speakers at last week’s convention evoked a violent, dystopian future if Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden wins in November and pointed to Portland as a cautionary tale for what would be in store for Americans.
The pro-Trump rally’s organizer, who recently coordinated a similar caravan in Boise, Idaho, said in a video posted on Twitter Saturday afternoon that attendees should only carry concealed weapons and the route was being kept secret for safety reasons.
The caravan had gathered earlier in the day at a suburban mall and drove as a group to the heart of Portland. As they arrived in the city, protesters attempted to stop them by standing in the street and blocking bridges.
Videos from the scene showed sporadic fighting, as well as Trump supporters firing paintball pellets at opponents and using bear spray as counter-protesters threw things at the Trump caravan.
The Black Lives Matter demonstrations usually target police buildings and federal buildings. Some protesters have called for reductions in police budgets while the city’s mayor and some in the Black community have decried the violence, saying it’s counterproductive.
Early Saturday morning, fires set outside a police union building that is a frequent site for protests prompted police to declare a riot.
An accelerant was used to ignite a mattress and other debris that was laid against the door of the Portland Police Association building, police said in a statement. At least one dumpster had also been set on fire in the street nearby.
The commotion followed a sit-in in the lobby of the Portland mayor’s condominium building Friday night.
I’m glad this death had nothing to do with Donald Trump’s rhetoric. /s
It needs to be made clear to everyone that this is Trump’s America. This is not Biden’s America. The White House seems to be confused about who’s been President for the last three-and-a-half years.
Trump will over-play this, and that is because he is an unfeeling, sadistic, insane individual.
One really hopes that this was some kind of internal dispute, the rise in the violence is handing Trump a rhetorical gift,
Drawing attention to the Vox review of studies that violent protest in past has played into backlash and ended up harming goals (https://www.vox.com/2020/6/2/21275901/police-violence-riots-jacob-blake-kenosha-wisconsin) there really needs to be a stepped up efforts to make sure any protests are self-policing, strictly non-violent and that includes vandalism (Judis comment in Ed Blog a week ago about the Lefty academics excusing such as ‘legitimate political’ acts was spot on that the minority (or not) business owner in these districts or just the poor bastard whose car was parked in the wrong place and gets burned, none of whom have anything to do with what the police do suffer to no good effect for us.)
And whatever the “they’re violent too” excuses: One can’t control what the other side is doing or will do, but one can push on the Anti-Trump side to show discipline and understand to win we have to have the high ground (high ground not being the passive do nothing ground, but high-ground in a very military tactical sense).
I am starting on social media with this crap to remind people that the election hasn’t happened yet, Joe isn’t in charge now, Donnie is and no amount of projection will change that. Was it clear that the BLM were unarmed? I didn’t see that yet.
BTW, Don is coming to Kenosha this week. Lucky them. I wonder if he’ll bring paper towels. Nothing on the agenda about visiting Blake, but I bet he makes an unannounced visit to Antioch, IL, where the shooter remains.
Any idea who’s on the morning talk shows?