Tebag Bagasi: Portland releases report on June 1 rally that turned tense, violent

tebagbagasi.blogspot.com

The city of Portland says in a report released Monday that a June 1 anti-racism demonstration sparked by the death of George Floyd was unprecedented in its size and violence, and that police were forced to monitor social medial to try to anticipate the organizers’ intent as citizens filled the streets.

At times, officers were swarmed by demonstrators who pounded on cruiser windows; demonstrators threw rocks, plastic and glass bottles, and containers of urine, and damaged multiple businesses and city property before police arrested 23 people early the next morning. Police estimate about 2,500 turned out to protest, according to the report, a number much larger than estimates reported at the time. Several business were burglarized and other were damaged.

Police used canisters of pepper spray and air-powered pepper ball guns similar to paint ball guns to get the crowd to disperse, and dozens of officers were clad in riot gear and positioned in a line across Franklin Arterial next to police headquarters at 109 Middle Street.

It was the most violent and destructive of Portland’s mostly peaceful protests in recent weeks against systemic racism and police brutality. Portland city councilors are scheduled to discuss the report at a virtual workshop later Monday. Some councilors have already said they want an independent review of the police department’s response, while other said they wanted to see the internal report first.

The Portland Police used overtime to deploy 26 officers on duty that evening to close roadways and deal with traffic and maintain demonstrator safety, but by the evening’s end, police from 18 other departments were called to assist, the city said.

The report describes how police had no advance communication with the demonstration organizers, which hampering the ability of police to respond to the changing situation throughout the evening. Around the country, demonstrations and protests against police violence emerged organically after Floyd’s death on Memorial Day in Minneapolis. In the days that followed, millions of people gathered in hundreds of cities in the United States and across the world to demand an end to police killings of citizens.

“The June 1st protest was unprecedented in terms of its lack of advance communication, size, actions toward police, violence, failure to adhere to calls for dispersal, looting and other criminal acts,” the report says. “Because of the lack of advance communication between police and protest organizers the department was left to monitor social media to gauge how large this protest would be, what area it would cover, and whether or not its intent was peaceful.”

Floyd’s death has become a watershed moment in the Movement for Black Lives, which formed after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, and has since solidified across the country and the world. Activists say the relentless demonstrations since May are unique in the number of white allies who have turned out to support Black, Indigenous and people of color, who are demanding a broad renegotiation of how state and local governments allocate resources and police minority communities.

The four-page report was requested by the city council and will be the subject of a presentation Monday evening by the city, with a discussion to follow among councilors during a virtual workshop meeting that will be accessible via Zoom.

The report lays out a timeline of events that night. About 500 demonstrators gathered around 7 p.m. at the corner of India and Commercial Street. By 8:30 p.m., officers took a knee in solidarity.

“While the crowd cheered briefly, many then became increasingly agitated,” the city wrote. “Protest leaders encouraged the group to show respect many times.”

The crowd grew and split into groups that moved around the city and stopped at police headquarters at 109 Middle Street, City Hall, near the Central Fire Station, Commercial Street, and Franklin Street. By 9 p.m., two groups, totaling about 1,000 people, converged in front of the police station.

“Protesters became increasingly violent after this point,” the report said. Police officers on foot were “impeded,” the report said. Demonstrators surrounded or blocked police cruisers, pounding on windows.

At 9:15 p.m., organizers advised the group to go home, and about half of the people on the street left the area, leaving about 500 people near the police station.

Before 9:30 p.m., a semi-truck drove through the crowd eastbound on Middle Street toward the group, generating confusion among the crowd, the city wrote. An officer posted at Pearl and Middle Street was surrounded by protesters when the semi-truck approached the area, the report said.

By 9:45 p.m., the group again split into two, with one grouping around Franklin Arterial and Middle Street, and the other near Pearl and Middle Streets, with “other smaller factions throughout the Old Port.”

Police say that officers near Franklin and Middle attempted to disengage with protesters, but the crowd continued to follow the officers and engage with them. The report also for the first time describes burglaries at four Old Port business as “looting,” which is not a term not used in Maine statutes, except in one obscure, unrelated law address archaeological sites.

“At the same time, as looting was observed near the group at Pearl and Middle, a Lieutenant gave the first order to disperse, and many in that group slowly left,” the report said.

In a previous statement released June 2, police did not use to term “looting,” but instead described conduct that night in terms of statutes that police enforce under Maine law.

The police in the earlier statement listed four burglarized businesses, and 29 businesses that sustained broken windows, graffiti or other miscellaneous property damage. In addition, the city in its June 2 statement said that several trash cans were set on fire, but the number of fires allegedly set was never specified, and Monday’s report does not clarify how many fires were set.

Police said the remaining group of about 100 to 200 people who congregated at the intersection of Middle Street and Franklin Arterial around 10 p.m. were looking for confrontation, and it was around that time that dispatchers received reports of burglaries in various businesses. Protesters were directing chants at officers, the report said, and tensions increased.

“A Lieutenant initially advises officers to let the protesters yell and not to engage, however following a barrage of bottles being thrown, an order to disperse is issued,” the report said.

“Protesters continue to throw bottles and officers and civilians urge people to go home. At this point, one burst of pepper spray is delivered via a fogger. While some begin to disperse, others continue to throw bottles. Another official dispersal warning is given. Throughout this, there are many attempts by protest leaders and peaceful protesters to stop the violence and urge protesters to go home as well as additional orders by police to disperse.”

By 10:20 p.m., police made the first two arrests. The crowd reacted by throwing bottles and rocks, and setting off “several volleys of fireworks,” the report said. The fourth arrest is made after 11 p.m., and the crowd responded by throwing bricks and bottles.

This story will be updated.

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Maine home sales fell by more than 21% in May

Maine hotels ratchet up pressure on Mills to rescind visitor restrictions