‘Feds go home’: Hundreds of protesters gather outside federal courthouse in downtown Portland
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PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — Hundreds of people gathered outside the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland Sunday evening.
Demonstrators have been protesting racial inequality and police brutality after the brutal killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis. Sunday’s protest also came after lawsuits over federal officers arresting demonstrators last week.
Hundreds of people gathered outside of the courthouse and blocked Southwest 3rd Avenue for several hours, according to Portland police.
Police said people in the crowd tampered with the fence around the courthouse, and at 9:40 p.m., some breached the fence enough to get inside the fenced off area.
The crowd chanted “feds go home” and pulled at the fence for about 90 minutes.
Federal officers came out of the courthouse at around 11:20 p.m. to repair the fence, then went back inside, according to police.
Fifteen minutes later, people began climbing the fence. Not long after, part of the fence was pulled down and the crowd gained access to the area in front of the courthouse.
Police said dozens of people with shields, helmets, gas masks, umbrellas, bats and hockey sticks approached the front doors.
Federal officers came out of the courthouse again at around 11:50 p.m. and dispersed the crowd.
According to police, hundreds of people wandered around the downtown area for the next two hours. Many regrouped on SW 3rd Avenue in front of the courthouse, while others met in nearby parks and around the Justice Center.
One person was seen climbing onto the northwest corner of the Justice Center just after 1:30 a.m. and tampering with a security camera, police said.
A few minutes later, a fire was lit within the portico in front of the courthouse. People from the crowd gathered around the fire adding wood and other debris, according to police.
Federal officers came out of the courthouse, dispersed the crowd and extinguished the fire.
According to police, federal officers did deploy tear gas during the protest.
Portland police said they were not present during the activity and did not engage the crowd or use tear gas.
It is not known at this time if any arrests were made overnight.
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