Hundreds of Rioters Attack Portland Police, Throw 'Commercial Grade' Fireworks at Officers
On Thursday night into Friday morning, a group of far-left rioters attacked Portland police with fireworks.
In addition to more conventional tactics to deal with the problem, the police took an odd tack to deal with it: They went on Twitter and threatened the troublemakers.
“A riot is still declared in the area of the Federal Courthouse and Justice Center,” one tweet stated. “You must leave the area now by moving to the west. Tear gas and other crowd control munitions may be deployed. Leave the area now.”
“There are several people in this crowd starting fires, throwing rocks at officers, pointing lasers at officers, and launching projectiles with slingshots at officers,” a follow-up tweet stated. “Leave the area now or you will be subject to arrest.”
There are several people in this crowd starting fires, throwing rocks at officers, pointing lasers at officers, and launching projectiles with slingshots at officers. Leave the area now or you will be subject to arrest.
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) July 3, 2020
That’ll work, right?
This set the tone for the weekend, particularly given that those committing violence on the street didn’t seem particularly interested in just checking their phones or shouting empty bromides.
Here was a quick rundown on the Portland police Twitter account — in the form of a video warning, because of course that’s what insurgents check before they go out and wreak havoc.
“While many [protests] have been peaceful and non-violent, we continue to experience one group with many participants who engage in nightly violence and destruction directed at police and public safety facilities,” the video relayed.
“In the past week, individuals have deliberately set fires to and near occupied buildings. Individuals have thrown baseball-sized rocks, full aluminum baseball bats and frozen water bottles at officers.
“Projectiles have also been launched at high speeds from sling shot devices, including marbles, blades, rocks and other items. On numerous occasions, commercial-grade fireworks have been directed at police.”
Public safety message about demonstrations this holiday weekend. pic.twitter.com/UlcrwJGuot
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) July 4, 2020
Andy Ngô, an independent journalist who chronicles far-left violence in the Pacific Northwest, took plenty of videos of the violence in Portland over the weekend.
Law enforcement in downtown Portland have been under attack for hours at the federal courthouse by antifa extremists. They hurl projectile weapons at police & when officers respond, go on social media tagging politicians & lawyers claiming police brutality pic.twitter.com/K6I3sxw7jS
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 3, 2020
The Portland Police Bureau detailed the events: “Around 12:46 a.m., demonstrators returned to the west side of the federal courthouse. Once again, demonstrators were warned by the sound truck that the riot declaration was still in effect and they needed to leave the area,” police reported in a news release.
“At this time, demonstrators started launching mortars towards the federal courthouse and a fire erupted inside of the building where the glass doors had been broken.
“Because of this immediate life safety issue, officers once again began to disperse the crowd. As they dispersed the crowd, demonstrators continued to throw rocks, cans, and commercial grade fireworks and mortars towards officers. Because of the violent nature of the demonstrators while officers cleared the area, crowd control munitions were used and several arrests were made. As officers began to disengage the crowd at Southwest Main Street and Southwest Broadway Avenue, commercial grade fireworks were once again thrown at officers.”
WARNING: The following videos contain graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
When antifa and BLM rioters began pulling down the window barricades at the @PortlandPolice central precinct, police responded and were promptly surrounded by an angry mob. pic.twitter.com/y4JvhtTfrn
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 3, 2020
These were the “commercial-grade fireworks” that were thrown by rioters:
These are the fireworks antifa are using to attack police & the public in Portland. Last night one of their own comrades was injured by their explosive outside the federal courthouse. They rioted for hours and started a fire inside the courthouse. pic.twitter.com/TO1TAoRPsN
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 3, 2020
The Portland federal courthouse, meanwhile, had to be protected by U.S. Marshals:
Correction: The men protecting the Portland federal courthouse appear to be with the US Marshals, not the military.
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 3, 2020
Here’s what happened on the night of July 4:
It’s early in the night & antifa are already shining powerful lasers & firing fireworks at the Justice Center in Portland, which houses the central precinct. These powerful lasers have also been used to blind police before others throw projectiles at them. pic.twitter.com/xiYf9ydN91
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 5, 2020
A fire has been started in downtown Portland where antifa & far-left extremists have rioted daily. They are burning American flags while shouting BLM and antifa slogans. pic.twitter.com/ao1gI5iyGs
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 5, 2020
DHS police came out of the federal courthouse in Portland after it was attacked to push back the violent antifa rioters. pic.twitter.com/jlKnQuzFG1
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 5, 2020
“At about 4 a.m., the Federal courthouse was attacked. A riot was declared and efforts were made to get the crowd to disperse, including numerous warnings to leave the area or be subject to arrest or force,” a news release from the Portland Police Bureau read.
The release noted that “PPB did not deploy CS gas at any point during the overnight demonstrations.”
This is what the left claims is just violence against property and nothing serious. If the police would just get out of these rioters’ way, everything would be fine, right? Just curious, then: How does it help damage to property?
Officers arrested a male at SW Broadway and Main St. who had a loaded firearm on his person. He fought with offices during the arrest. pic.twitter.com/RXgYHnB5ue
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) July 5, 2020
These particular events happened in Portland, but the lessons are of national importance:
These aren’t “protesters” who are content with bringing down statues, not that we ought to let that happen.
These are groups bent on violence that want nothing less than to bring down our system and our way of life. To say that the kind of hooliganism we’ve seen over the past few weeks in cities like Portland is something we ought to countenance because all they want to do is damage property neglects the facts that who — not what — they’ve gone after, when given the chance, is police officers.
Police officers are the living symbol of law in a nation that prides itself on living by law — not the whims of tyrants or the tyranny of mobs.
The implications of those attacks ought to chill us more than it does.
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