Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
A persistent crowd of protesters remained outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, into the early hours of Saturday as fireworks were shot at the building and plumes of tear gas, dispensed by U.S. agents, lingered above.
Thousands of people gathered in Portland streets hours after a U.S. judge denied Oregon’s request to restrict federal agents’ actions when they arrest people during protests that have roiled the city and pitted local officials against the Trump administration.
By 8 p.m., a few hundred people, most wearing masks and many donning helmets, had already gathered near a fountain, one spot where groups meet before marching to the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and the federal agents there. They chanted and clapped along to the sound of thunderous drums, pausing to listen to speakers.
Among various organized groups, including Healthcare Workers Protest, Teachers against Tyrants, Lawyers for Black Lives and the “Wall of Moms,” was Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who spoke to protesters outside the Justice Center.
Beginning at 9 p.m., the crowd of people, pressed shoulder to shoulder, packed the area and overflowed into the streets as they chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “Feds go home” to the sound of drums.
As the night carried on, protesters vigorously shook the fence surrounding the courthouse and shot fireworks and threw glass bottles. Many times, these actions were met by federal agents with tear gas and flash bangs.
The flow of tear gas caused many protesters to retreat or disperse, some becoming sick as others remained with leaf blowers directing the gas back to the court house.
As the clouds of gas floated down the street, protesters returned to chant and vigorously shake the fence that separates the people on the street from federal agents and the courthouse
The federal agents, deployed by President Donald Trump to tamp down the unrest, have arrested dozens during nightly demonstrations against racial injustice that often turn violent. Democratic leaders in Oregon say federal intervention has worsened the two-month crisis, and the state attorney general sued to allege that some people had been whisked off the streets in unmarked vehicles.
U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman said the state lacked standing to sue on behalf of protesters because the lawsuit was a “highly unusual one with a particular set of rules.”
Oregon was seeking a restraining order on behalf of its residents not for injuries that had already happened but to prevent injuries by federal officers in the future. That combination makes the standard for granting such a motion very narrow, and the state did not prove it had standing in the case, Mosman wrote.
