Downtown Portland braces for opposing rallies at noon Saturday near the Justice Center (live updates) trib.al/qIGBlE8
After about an hour of the increasingly tense standoff, no police were present.
Early on, Portland police asked the groups via LRAD to remain peaceful and “self monitor for criminal behavior.” By around 12:30 p.m., police asked the groups to separate.
Photos by Brooke Herbert
Our reporters on the ground have heard the sounds of tasers, seen paintball guns being fired and smelled mace.
There has also been several items being thrown back and forth including rocks and smoke grenades.
The right wing group has smashed the windows of the Snack Van as the two sides continue to clash.
Video from a bit earlier:
The right wing crowd rushed left wing protesters, one of them spraying mace indiscriminately as they pushed into Chapman Square. The blue lives matter group quickly retreated. One of them then tossed a commercial grade firework into the opposing crowd.
The right wing group is retreating as the crowd pushes them south/west.
Most of the right wing group is gone. The remaining counter protesters are focused on a few of them as well as a line of federal agents in Terry Schrunk Plaza.
The Portland Police just made an announcement over their LRAD that federal officers have declared this an unlawful assembly.
Federal agents advance to push protesters out of Terry Schrunk Plaza.
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