Portland riot declared as fire burns in police union offices

[Michie]

From the article.
Once the riot was declared, officers used flash bangs and smoke canisters to clear the crowd

PORTLAND, Ore. — A fire inside a police union building led authorities in Portland, Oregon, to declare a riot and force protesters away from the offices as violent demonstrations continue in the city that had hoped for calm after federal agents withdrew more than a week ago.

A group of demonstrators broke into the Portland Police Association building, set the fire and were adding to it when officers made the riot declaration late Saturday, police tweeted. Video shot by a journalist shows smoke and flames arising from inside the building.

Several hundred people had gathered outside the offices, which are located about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of the federal courthouse that had been the target of nightly violence earlier this summer. The Portland Police Association is a labor union that represents members of the Portland Police Bureau.

Continued below.
Portland riot declared as fire burns in police union offices

 

[eleos1954]

From the article.
Once the riot was declared, officers used flash bangs and smoke canisters to clear the crowd

PORTLAND, Ore. — A fire inside a police union building led authorities in Portland, Oregon, to declare a riot and force protesters away from the offices as violent demonstrations continue in the city that had hoped for calm after federal agents withdrew more than a week ago.

A group of demonstrators broke into the Portland Police Association building, set the fire and were adding to it when officers made the riot declaration late Saturday, police tweeted. Video shot by a journalist shows smoke and flames arising from inside the building.

Several hundred people had gathered outside the offices, which are located about 5 miles (8 kilometers) north of the federal courthouse that had been the target of nightly violence earlier this summer. The Portland Police Association is a labor union that represents members of the Portland Police Bureau.

Continued below.
Portland riot declared as fire burns in police union offices

A group of demonstrators

A group of people committing violent crimes ...

 

[chevyontheriver]

A group of people committing violent crimes ...

But they are peaceful protesters. At least that was what the mayor of Portland had been saying. So why all of the concern all of a sudden?

Was the mayor of Portland blowing smoke by calling these protesters 'peaceful'?

 

[Bob Crowley]

I've generally refrained from commenting on the BLM riots since I'm Australian (we had a few here too but they've petered out), but I wondered why Portland, USA, seems to figure so much in the riots scene.

I had a quick look on the net and came across this item. I assume the reporting is accurate, since I believe it's the New York Times.

How One of America’s Whitest Cities Became the Center of B.L.M. Protests

Reading the item, I get the impression that Portland has a long history of being "white". I'm not au fait with American history, and I believe you've got to live in a place for some time to get a real sense of the people and their background. Even the most educated historian lacks something if he or she hasn't lived in the country whose history and traditions they're describing (and how much harder it must be to get a sense of ancient communities which we cannot visit).

What intrigues me with my rather basic understanding of the US white-negro issue is that I thought the US civil war was fought largely on a north-south divide and so I assumed the main centres of Ku Klux Klan power and the like would be in the deep south.

But Portland is almost in the north west of the USA, not all that far from Seattle (assuming I've got the right Portland, and not some other Portland. Bart Simpson apparently lives in Springfield, Oregon (which probably doesn't even exist) but there are apparently 33 Springfields in the USA spread over 25 states, so it's possible that I might have the wrong Portland in my ignorance).

As I said, I'm not au fait with American history or politics, other than the popularised version we see in the media, or the Hollywood version.

 

[Radagast]

I wondered why Portland, USA

Portland, Oregon has long had a reputation for being a trifle, shall we say, nutty.

It's also, statistically, the least religious city in the US, according to the Huffington Post (31,591 religious adherents per 100,000 persons).

 

[iluvatar5150]

I've generally refrained from commenting on the BLM riots since I'm Australian (we had a few here too but they've petered out), but I wondered why Portland, USA, seems to figure so much in the riots scene.

I had a quick look on the net and came across this item. I assume the reporting is accurate, since I believe it's the New York Times.

How One of America’s Whitest Cities Became the Center of B.L.M. Protests

Reading the item, I get the impression that Portland has a long history of being "white". I'm not au fait with American history, and I believe you've got to live in a place for some time to get a real sense of the people and their background. Even the most educated historian lacks something if he or she hasn't lived in the country whose history and traditions they're describing (and how much harder it must be to get a sense of ancient communities which we cannot visit).

What intrigues me with my rather basic understanding of the US white-negro issue is that I thought the US civil war was fought largely on a north-south divide and so I assumed the main centres of Ku Klux Klan power and the like would be in the deep south.

But Portland is almost in the north west of the USA, not all that far from Seattle (assuming I've got the right Portland, and not some other Portland. Bart Simpson apparently lives in Springfield, Oregon (which probably doesn't even exist) but there are apparently 33 Springfields in the USA spread over 25 states, so it's possible that I might have the wrong Portland in my ignorance).

As I said, I'm not au fait with American history or politics, other than the popularised version we see in the media, or the Hollywood version.

The clear north-side divide existed primarily east of the Mississippi river, due to where certain groups of Europeans landed, built settlements and then migrated more-or-less due west and southwest towards the interior. However, that geographic distinction muddies once you get to the midwest and far west because those regions were settled later and rather out-of-order. California and Oregon, for example, didn't become states until the 1850's, when the jockeying for a new territory to be designated as free or slave was well underway.