Trump: They're 'Anarchists,' Not 'Protesters'

Demonstrations, confrontations continues in Portland, elsewhere
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 27, 2020 6:28 AM CDT
Trump: They're 'Anarchists,' Not 'Protesters'
A demonstrator lays down in front of federal officers during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Portland, Ore.   (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Another volatile weekend of protests are over, particularly in Portland and Seattle. Developments:

  • Portland: A bag containing loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails was found at a park near where protests have been staged for two months in Portland, police said. A photo of the items was shared in a tweet from police that said someone pointed out the bag to officers at Lownsdale Square Park, per the AP. Meanwhile, the city's protest late Sunday started peacefully, but intensified early Monday. US agents declared an unlawful assembly and deployed several rounds of what appeared to be tear gas, flash bangs, and pepper balls from the federal courthouse downtown.
  • Shots fired: The discovery came just hours after two people were arrested following reports that a shot was fired in the same Portland park. Officers responded just before 7:30pm. A person believed to be the gunshot victim arrived later at a hospital via a private vehicle with non-life threatening injuries, police said. It wasn't clear if either incident was connected to the demonstrations.
  • Trump: "The 'protesters' are actually anarchists who hate our Country," the president tweeted Sunday evening. He also took issue with the "wall of moms" in Portland, a group of women who stood together between federal officers and protesters, notes the Daily Beast. "The line of innocent 'mothers' were a scam that Lamestream refuses to acknowledge, just like they don’t report the violence of these demonstrations!"

  • Oakland: A protest in Oakland, Calif., in support of racial justice and police reform turned violent Saturday night when a small group of demonstrators wearing helmets and goggles and carrying large signs that doubled as shields set fire to a courthouse, vandalized a police station, and shot fireworks at officers, authorities said, per the AP.
  • Richmond: In Virginia's capital, a dump truck was torched as several hundred protesters and police faced off late Saturday during a demonstration of support for the protesters in Portland. Police declared it to be an “unlawful assembly” at around 11pm and used what appeared to be tear gas to disperse the group.
  • Atlanta: In downtown Atlanta on Sunday, federal agents examined damage to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where windows were shattered late Saturday.
  • Baltimore: People from a group of nearly 100 demonstrators spray-painted anti-police messages on a Fraternal Order of Police building and adjacent sidewalks on Saturday night in Baltimore.
(More Portland, Oregon stories.)

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