Portand, Oregon, police make arrests at downtown rally

Portland police Saturday night arrested anti-police brutality protesters who had gathered downtown

Portland Protests (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Portland police Saturday night arrested anti-police brutality protesters who had gathered downtown.

Shortly after 9 p.m., video on social media showed the officers tackling protesters and making arrests as the crowd of several hundred people yelled at them. Police told protesters to move back and get out of the street as they made the arrests.

Protesters chanted: “No good cops in a racist system!”

Earlier Saturday police said a right-wing rally and counter-protests largely dispersed without serious violence, though they are investigating an assault after one person who was documenting the event was pushed to the ground and kicked in the face.

Separately, police said a criminal citation was issued after officials confiscated firearms, paintball guns, baseball bats and shields from a pick-up truck that was initially stopped for having obscured license plates as it left the rally.

Several hundred people, dozens of them wearing militarized body armor, gathered to support President Donald Trump and his “law and order” reelection campaign Saturday afternoon. The attendance was far fewer than the 10,000 organizers had expected after tensions boiled over nationwide following the decision not to charge officers in Louisville, Kentucky, for killing Breonna Taylor.

Organized by the Proud Boys, a group that has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the rally was described as a free speech event to support Trump and police and condemn anti-fascists and “violent gangs of rioting felons” in the streets.

Local and state elected officials condemned the event and rushed to shore up law enforcement ranks as left-wing groups organized several rallies to oppose the Proud Boys’ message. About 1,000 counter-protesters gathered at another park.

The events began at noon and were largely dispersed by 3 p.m.

The rally came as Portland has seen nearly nightly protests since the police killing of George Floyd in late May.

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Ho reported from Seattle.