Portland demonstrators have been accused of “attempting to commit murder” by the city’s mayor after setting a police precinct building with officers still inside on fire.
The incident occurred at Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct where violent clashes between the authorities and demonstrators broke out on Wednesday night.
During the 71st night of civil unrest in Oregon’s largest city, some 200 demonstrators reportedly clashed with the police before their gathering was declared an unlawful assembly.
According to the police, the demonstrators’ intention was to vandalize the precinct.
At one point, the protestors gathered in front of the local police precinct building and barricaded the doors. They allegedly also broke windows, taunted police officers, and disabled security cameras within their reach.
According to Capt. Tony Passadore, who expressed his concern that people would confuse this act as something related to the Black Lives Matter movement, some 20 officers were trapped inside the building when demonstrators set it on fire.
The assembly was suppressed by hordes of police officers who were forced to resort to the use of tear gas for the first time since federal agents were pulled from the city.
On Thursday, following the 71st night of civil unrest in Portland, Mayor Ted Wheeler accused the demonstrators responsible for setting the police precinct building on fire of attempted murder.
“When you commit arson with an accelerant in an attempt to burn down a building that is occupied by people who you have intentionally trapped inside, you are not demonstrating, you are attempting to commit murder,” Wheeler said in a virtual news conference.
“I believe that city staff could have died last night. I cannot and I will not tolerate that. This is not peaceful protests. This is not advocacy to advance reforms.”
Slamming the act was also Police Chief Chuck Lovell who previously insisted that violent demonstrators are “dedicated to just provoking a police response.”
“This is not forwarding the goals of things that are going to lead to better outcomes for people of color,” Lovell expressed.
“This movement is very powerful and I feel like the violence has taken away from it in a really kind of concerning way. I think it’s really dependent on Portland as a community to really say we’re not going to tolerate this.”
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