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Oregon Trooper Injured, 24 Arrested in Portland Protests

Associated Press

   PORTLAND, OREGON - Protesters in Portland, Oregon, defied police orders
   to disperse and threw rocks, frozen or hard-boiled eggs and
   commercial-grade fireworks at officers as unrest in the Northwest city
   continued early Saturday.

   An Oregon State Police trooper was hit in the head by a large rock and
   suffered a head injury, police said in a release. The trooper's
   condition was not immediately known.

   Some demonstrators filled pool noodles with nails and placed them in
   the road, causing extensive damage to a patrol vehicle, police said.
   Oregon State Police worked with Portland officers to clear the
   protesters.

   "Officers are having rocks and chunks of concrete thrown at them,"
   police said on Twitter. "Individuals in the crowd are shining lasers
   trying to blind officers."

   Since George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, protests over
   racial injustice and police brutality have occurred nightly for 70
   days.

   Portland police declared an unlawful assembly Friday night at the
   Penumbra Kelly public safety building, ordering everyone in the area to
   leave. Authorities had previously warned people not to trespass on the
   property.

   Protesters remained for several hours before officers began to rush the
   crowd away from the building using crowd-control munitions early
   Saturday. Several people were arrested, police said.

   "As arrests were made, certain crowd members began throwing rocks
   towards officers," police said in a statement. "As this criminal
   activity occurred, the crowd also blocked all lanes of traffic on East
   Burnside Street, not allowing vehicles to pass by. Several people in
   this group wore helmets and gas masks as well as carried shields."

   Police said Saturday that they arrested 24 people during the overnight
   demonstration. Most of those arrested were from Portland, while one man
   was from Oakland, California, and another was Tulsa, Oklahoma. Most
   were in their 20s or 30s.

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