Arrests in Portland, New York as Unrest Picks Up: Protest Wrap
Portland Braces as Proud Boys Converge in Defiance: Protest Wrap
(Bloomberg) -- A resurgence in protests in cities from Portland, Louisville to New York prompted multiple arrests ranging from assault to violating curfews.
In Portland, Saturday’s protests by right-wing militants that included a group called “Proud Boys” prompted Oregon to declare a state of emergency. The events turned out to be largely peaceful as the rightist militants withdrew by early evening, avoiding feared clashes with anti-fascist protesters.
In the evening, police made an unspecified number of arrests after “projectiles were thrown at officers including full beverages cans, firecrackers and rocks.” Another arrested man restrained with a zip-tie briefly escaped, it said in a statement.
Arrests in New York City
In New York City, amid scattered protests, including a march over the Brooklyn Bridge, the police arrested at least a dozen people in Greenwich Village. The police called it a “large disorderly group obstructing vehicular traffic,” the New York Times reported.
That version was disputed on Twitter with video appearing to show people grouping peacefully at an intersection amid outdoor diners and Village bustle. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson called the arrests “unacceptable.”
In Louisville, the Kentucky lawmaker who sponsored a bill to end no-knock warrants and was among the protesters arrested Thursday night, held a press conference Sunday at a city park to “share our stories of unjust incarceration and issue a community call to action.” State Representative Attica Scott, the state’s only Black female legislator, was released from jail Friday morning after being charged with first-degree rioting.
Protesters continued to gather Saturday night in the city after Breonna Taylor’s family joined the call for Kentucky’s attorney general to release all information related to the investigation into her fatal shooting. A grand jury earlier in the week declined to file murder charges against any of the police officers involved.
In Wisconsin, the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back told investigators he fired the weapon because he thought he was trying to flee after kidnapping a child in the backseat of his car.
“He’s got my kid. He’s got my keys,” the officer heard a woman say, his attorney Brendan Matthews told CNN. If he had allowed Blake to drive away and something happened to the child, “the question would have been ‘why didn’t you do something?’” he added.
Blake’s shooting prompted an earlier round of protests across the country following earlier demonstrations after the killing of George Floyd.
Key Developments:
In Rochester, New York, Mayor Lovely Warren named Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan, a Black woman, as the new interim police chief. Chief La’Ron Singletary was fired after a six-month investigation into the death of Daniel Prude unearthed a video of the police putting a hood over his head. The video set off days of protest and clashes with the police.
In Southern California, a car ran into protesters in Yorba Linda Saturday, leaving at least two people injured, the Orange County Register reported. A woman was arrested. The incident took place as a Blacks Lives Matter demonstration clashed with counter protesters. Two days ago, two cars rammed into protesters in Hollywood.
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