Demands for reforms to protect African Americans from police brutality echoed through parts of Portland for a ninth consecutive night Friday.
The Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd has prompted calls for change nationwide. Floyd, who was black, died May 25 after he was restrained on the ground by a white officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. That officer, and three others who were there, have since been charged.
The protests have brought thousands of people together in downtown Portland.
The ninth day of demonstrations ended like many before it: in a wave of smoke and stun grenades as police moved in to break up crowds. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said some protesters pushed down a fence outside the downtown jail. Portland police said people threw things over the fence at officers.
The sheriff’s office confirmed in a tweet that law enforcement used gas to disperse the crowds, but did not specify the exact type of gas.
Until then, police remained distant from the peaceful demonstrations.
The crowd-control tactics at the end of the night overshadowed pledges by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler earlier in Friday to limit the ways police respond. The police bureau’s use of tear gas, stun grenades and a device that emits ear-piercing sounds on protesters in recent days had resulted in even greater scrutiny of police actions.
Wheeler said late Friday on Twitter that he would stop the police bureau from using its extra-loud sound equipment to clear crowds. Later, the mayor told demonstrators gathered near a barricaded City Hall that he would make an “announcement” Saturday about the use of tear gas. He referenced the Seattle mayor’s decision to ban tear gas.
“The city of Seattle today, late this afternoon, banned the use of tear gas for 30 days, except in limited circumstances," he said. "We should do the same. Tomorrow, my colleagues and I will make an announcement.”
A spokesman for the mayor did not respond to messages about the exact details of Wheeler’s plan.
As recently as earlier Friday afternoon, the mayor and police leaders defended the bureau’s use of tear gas as necessary. At his daily press conference, Wheeler said he would support a ban on tear gas if police had a viable alternative.
Hours after the news conference, the community board that oversees Portland police denounced the bureau’s decision to use force against demonstrators.
“While these demonstrations are first and foremost about the worth of black lives, the response to them is also illuminating a troubling pattern of police violence against protesters that interferes with public safety and freedom of speech,” the Citizen Review Committee said in a statement.
Shay Morgan joined the demonstrations Friday. Morgan said her ex-husband’s nephew, Aaron Campbell, was shot and killed by Portland police in 2010. The 25-year-old’s death prompted intense scrutiny, national attention and a march on City Hall.
After fatal shootings make the news, support usually fades, Morgan said. This movement is different, she said, because there is so much support.
"It makes me feel prayerful for my grandchildren and great-grandchildren that they’ll be able to live in a free land truly,” she said.
Thousands of people marched Friday across the Hawthorne Bridge to downtown Portland. The evening march, which drew thousands of people, appears to have been the largest event among several demonstrations throughout the Portland area.
As people began to gather for the march in Southeast Portland, a food and water station was set up near Stark Street and 12th Avenue. Stacks of donated water bottles and jars of peanuts awaited protesters.
Bianca Estrella prepared mashed potatoes and puréed shrimp and chicken gumbo gravy.
“Everybody doesn’t have to mobilize to make a difference," Estrella said.
Axel Gonzalez, 20, of Beaverton, attended the protests for a second time Friday to show solidarity and to protest the criminal justice system
“I don’t want to miss out," Gonzales said. "This is an important moment in history.“
Shortly after 6 p.m., it began to rain.
Mitch Thompson, 28, of Portland, and a few others worked at a voter registration booth. More than 100 have signed up since Thursday, Thompson said.
As the event got underway, Wheeler said on Twitter that Portland police could now only use the bureau’s long range acoustic device to “share information and not as a sonic warning tone function.”
Around 6:30 p.m., several women began giving speeches at the Southeast Portland gathering place. Hundreds of people, many wearing raincoats, stood nearby and listened.
“Tonight is about black women,” one speaker said.
Friday would have been the 27th birthday of Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in Kentucky when they served a no-knock search warrant on her home. The Southeast Portland crowd sang happy birthday in Taylor’s memory, then began to march toward downtown around 6:45 p.m.
A half-hour later, the crowd of more than 1,000 people continued to make its way in the rain toward the Hawthorne Bridge.
Abhishekh Vasa, 28, decided to protest Friday for the first time to support others and to push for greater transparency in the justice system overall.
“It feels good to be a part of something greater,” Vasa said.
Meanwhile in downtown Portland, a few dozen protesters gathered in Chapman Square, outside the Multnomah County Justice Center.
Wheeler walked among the group and talked with demonstrators. Wearing a hoodie and jeans, he used a handheld sound system told demonstrators that he wanted to hear from them about their demands for change.
As he spoke, people shouted questions. One person asked about tear gas. He described it as “ugly” and said he would make an announcement about it Saturday.
By 8 p.m., several marchers had made their way from the Hawthorne Bridge to the Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
Several people addressed the crowd in the park. One person led chants of, “Enough is enough.”
Meanwhile, a separate crowd kept growing outside of the Multnomah County Justice Center. By 8:45 p.m., more than 1,000 people had converged there.
A fence continued to block protesters from access to the building, which has been a target of the demonstrations. Friday marked one week since people broke into the Justice Center and set a small fire inside a first-floor office building. The event set off widespread vandalism that left businesses in parts of the downtown severely damaged.
As began to set, speeches continued at the waterfront park. A speech by a 10-year-old boy, who introduced himself as Quentin, drew enormous cheer.
“When did I become a threat?” he asked. "I just want to live. Is that too much to ask for?
Around 9:15 p.m., City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty took the stage. Hardesty is the first African American woman to serve on city council.
She said she had received more than 12,000 emails in support of police reform, more than she has received in her entire 18 months in office.
“I beg you, don’t stop!” she said, drawing cheers. “Don’t stop! Don’t stop!”
Hardesty’s speech concluded around 9:30 p.m. Many people began to leave the park.
More people began to stream into the area near the Justice Center. Shortly before 10 p.m., police used a loudspeaker to tell people to stop “tampering" with the fence.
Around 10:20 p.m., police warned that officers would use “crowd control munitions” if people did not stop touching the fence. The crowd in the area appeared to have grown to several thousand people.
Darya Mojab stood near the fence with her arms crossed. She said she moved to the United States from Iran when she was 10 years old, and later witnessed political protests when she retuned to visit family. She said she saw a young man get shot dead during the protest. She said the sense of right and wrong has been instilled with her ever since, and brought her out to the protests.
Meanwhile, many people who had marched downtown left the waterfront park and returned to the Hawthorne Bridge, where they walked back to Southeast Portland.
The crowd near the Justice Center remained massive shortly before 11 p.m.
Michael Johnson, 62, stood 6 feet from the fence. He said his friend was killed by in a fatal encounter with Portland police in the ’90s.
“I’m out here today because somebody has to clean up the sewage of America for posterity,” he said.
Plain-clothes police officers, known as liaisons, began to talk to some demonstrators nearby. In response, people started chanting, “Don’t talk to cops.”
At 11 p.m., the tension of the crowd heightened. Police said they had witnessed criminal activity and declared the gathering an “unlawful assembly.”
Over a loudspeaker, police told people to leave a wide swath of downtown. But few people left. Police started to line up in rank formation on the north and south sides of the Justice Center.
Several people began to push some sections of the fence. Police repeated demands to leave.
Around 11:10 p.m., officers set off devices that emitted loud bangs and smoke into the air. The crowd began to disperse from some parts of the fence. A large crowd remained on Southwest Third Avenue and Madison Street, on the other side of the Justice Center.
Portland police turned to Twitter to tell everyone to leave.
“This is a civil disturbance and unlawful assembly downtown,” police said around 11:20 p.m.
At Third and Madison, the crowd chanted, “We’re not leaving.”
Oregonian/OregonLive reporters saw multiple people throw things over the fencing toward cops. At some points along the fence, officers set off stun grenades.
Around 11:30 p.m., police began to advance into the crowd to try to break it up further. As police moved through the crowd, small groups began to reform in nearby blocks. Police continued to set off stun grenades and smoke devices.
By midnight, many small groups of demonstrators remained throughout the city. But few people remained in the area near the Justice Center, where the clash between protesters and police began.
Portland police have not yet said how many people, if any, were arrested.
Correction: This story originally misidentified Shay Morgan’s relationship to Aaron Campbell. He was her ex-husband’s nephew, not her nephew.
-- Dave Killen, Sean Meagher and Jim Ryan of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.