Portland Police arrest multiple protesters during 99th night of unrest

‘Multiple’ protesters were arrested in Portland overnight after police declared an unlawful assembly during the 99th consecutive night of unrest in the city. 

A few hundred demonstrators had met at Kenton Park earlier Friday evening before making their way to the Portland Police Association building on N Lombard St where cops in riot gear and state troopers stood waiting outside.   

Police warned protesters to stay off the streets and private property, threatening them with citations, arrest, the use of tear gas and crowd-control agents. 

The faced off with officers, chanting and tossing balloons, Oregon Live reported.

Just before midnight, about an hour after demonstrators arrived, cops declared an unlawful assembly and began moving in on crowds, pushing people out of the area.

Police ran down the street, knocking people down and arresting those who they say were not following orders. 

As some people were being detained, they were pinned to the ground and blood could be seen marking the street pavement.

At least six people were seen being detained during the clash, according to Oregon Live.  

Portland Police confirmed they made ‘multiple arrests tonight’ but did not give a specific number. 

‘Officers will continue to make targeted arrests of those who fail to adhere to this order. The gathering at N Lombard St and N Campbell Ave has been declared an unlawful assembly’, police said.   

Demonstrations in Portland, which started in late May after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, are reaching 100 straight nights of protests that have been marked by vandalism and violence.

These have at times turned into clashes between demonstrators and officers, as well as between right- and left-wing groups. 

The slaying of a right-wing Trump supporter, Aaron ‘Jay’ Danielson, shot and killed after he came downtown last weekend with a pro-Trump caravan of pickup trucks further roiled things in the liberal city. 

The prime suspect in the shooting, self-described anti-fascist Michael Forest Reinoehl, was killed Thursday night by law enforcement.

Since Floyd’s killing, nights of unrest that increasingly targeted a federal courthouse prompted President Donald Trump to dispatch U.S. agents to guard the building in July.

His Democratic challenger in the November 3 presidential election, Joe Biden, has accused Trump of stoking violence with his rhetoric.