13 people were arrested by the police in Portland, this Saturday when a right-wing group marched to a downtown waterfront park and anti-fascist protesters fought with officers who tried to keep both groups apart.
Hundreds of supporters of the right-wing Proud Boys organization was confronted by other hundreds “Antifa” opponents, and clashes broke out between both sides and between Antifa and police. At least six people were injured, the police stated. One of them was taken to a hospital. The policemen seized different weapons such as chemical sprays, shields, metal, wooden poles, and knives.
“Charges were raised against the ones who ended up in custody and they would include disorderly conduct, interfering with police, resisting arrest, illegal use of a weapon,” said Danielle Outlaw chief of the Portland Police. This has happened a few time before in the recent month, one of such events turned out to be violent in July of last year.
The same day of the rally, U.S. President Donald Trump said: “Major consideration was being given to designating Antifa as a terrorist organization. ”
“Portland is being watched very closely. Hopefully, the Mayor will be able to properly do his job!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
The mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, said he was not paying a lot of attention to tweets from Washington. “I’m grateful that this was largely a peaceful event,” Wheeler told reporters at the news conference. “Police did an exemplary job of de-escalating the situation, keeping the extremists on both sides separated for the most part, and preventing people who wanted to engage in acts of violence from confronting each other.”
Be the first to comment