A Portland police officer was injured when a mortar exploded near her during violent demonstrations as Portland’s top police official railed against “nightly criminal activity that destroys the value and fabric of our community.”
Nightly violent demonstrations have continued unabated for weeks in Oregon’s largest city as vandals try to break into government buildings and force radical change within the Portland Police Bureau.
The situation became so bad overnight July 4 that the bureau stopped handling non-emergency calls because so many officers were dealing with the riot.
Several hundred demonstrators gathered and fired dozens of fireworks, including mortars, at the Justice Center, which houses a police precinct, and the nearby federal courthouse, police officials said. The group also lit several fires.
Officers declared a riot just after 11 p.m. and used munitions, including CS gas, in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
During the attempt, one group of officers had mortars thrown at them and, as they retreated, people chased them and threw more projectiles such as bricks and lit fireworks.
This is some of the video taken by an Officer who was embedded with a Rapid Response Team tonight. The Officer sustained injury from a mortar that exploded near her feet while she was recording. pic.twitter.com/S4JvlXioZc
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) July 5, 2020
Video footage from the area showed demonstrators repeatedly clashing with police.
In updates issued to the public every hour, a police spokeswoman urged people to clear the area, warned against locals from traveling to anywhere downtown, and said people who didn’t follow orders would be arrested.
Over a dozen people were arrested, the bureau said in a press release. One male who was arrested had a loaded firearm and a knife on him. Possession of the firearm violated city code, police officials said.
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell, sworn in on June 11, said in a video message released around 4 a.m. Pacific Time that the actions of people in the crowd put lives at risk.
“We want community members to feel free to express themselves peacefully,” he said. “Some of what I witnessed tonight by a small group of individuals was not peaceful. It was aggressive and dangerous.”
“Our community deserves better than nightly criminal activity that destroys value and the fabric of our community,” he added.
Portland officials have given little insight into how they’re planning to quell the ongoing demonstrations and riots.
Focus News: Officer Injured From Mortar Explosion During Riot in Portland