PORTLAND, OREGON — Following the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, demonstrators took to the streets and continued to protest against police brutality and systemic racial injustice.
As a result, authorities were forced to declare an unlawful assembly and even made two arrests — one of them for felony assault of an officer — during a downtown gathering on Tuesday, April 20 evening.
According to Pamplin Media, the protest took place after Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was convicted of murdering George Floyd, whose death sparked a violent uprising in Portland that lasted for over 100 days.
Reports emerged of violence breaking out near a TriMet bus stop at Southwest Sixth Avenue and Jefferson Street, with one protester landing a punch on a bike officer and sending him sprawling onto the ground. Police subsequently tackled the protester and struck him numerous times in response, later announcing he had been charged with assaulting a public safety officer and other offenses. The identity of the officer is yet to be confirmed.
According to a PPB press release, another protester was taken into custody near the bus stop around 10 pm after being accused of breaking windows. He was allegedly arrested “with glass punch tool and cans of spray paint” on his person. “One thing to note, the area affected by the criminal activity was contained within few blocks of downtown Portland,” police said. “This is not to minimize the impact to those who were victimized by the property damage, as we take any damage seriously.”
However, authorities faced considerable backlash after posting online about what really happened at the scene. “An Officer is surrounded and punched in the face and ends up on the ground on his back with the suspect on top. This was a very dangerous situation. Subject was arrested,” Portland Police wrote alongside a video of the incident on Twitter.
Netizens, however, appeared to disagree with the explanation. “Some people have said that they were made quite upset By this act of grievous escalation. We’ve examined ourselves and we’ve found nothing wrong, So we’ve concluded our investigation,” one joked.
“Not sure this video is something you should be proud of,” another added. “Settle down. You’re trying making that sound way more dramatic than what the video is showing….” a third wrote. “So PPB’s game plan is still just shove enough protesters until one retaliates then wail on them and try not to get filmed… How do you think this is going to end for you?” another chimed in.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler declared a state of emergency in the city on April 19, 2021, one day before the Chauvin verdict was reached. The declaration came as the world awaited the verdict in the Chauvin trial, and Wheeler was joined by other city leaders to address the violence in Portland, which has been a hotbed of violent protests for over a year. During a press conference, Wheeler called the verdict reading a “high-intensity moment” and insisted that the city needed to be “ready as possible for anything.”
*story by MEAWW
