TED WHEELER

The mayor of Portland, Oregon, warned the Pacific Northwest could see the most dangerous part of a multiday heat wave this weekend.

Gripped by gun violence that’s affecting cities across the nation, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, has issued a new emergency declaration with the goal of reducing gun killings by at least 10% over the next two years.

Homeless encampments now spill well beyond Portland's downtown core, dividing a city that has invested liberally in support services.

Makeshift shelters abut busy roadways, tent cities line sidewalks, tarps cover broken-down cars, and sleeping bags are tucked in storefront doorways. The reality of the homelessness crisis in Oregon's largest city can’t be denied. “I would be an idiot to sit here and tell you that things are better today than they were five years ago with regard to homelessness,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said recently.

Democrats in Oregon’s Legislature have proposed a $400 million investment package on Thursday to urgently address some of the state’s biggest challenges — homelessness and affordable housing.

Oregon’s largest city was at the center of the nation's progressive push to cut police budgets amid the outrage that swept the nation after the murder of George Floyd.

Officials in Oregon's largest city have approved of an additional $5.2 million in police spending, including hiring more officers and buying body-worn cameras.

Night after night, hundreds of people marched the streets of Oregon's largest city, demanding racial justice following the murder of George Floyd by a white officer. Among the rallying cries were “defund the police” — a call for elected officials to reallocate some law enforcement funding elsewhere. Portland City Council is considering around $5.2 million in police investments — adding to the approximately $230 million budget — amid a record number of homicides, the city's greatest police staffing shortage in decades and reform recommendations made by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Tourism officials from Oregon's largest city are calling Portland’s reputation “badly damaged” by months of destructive protests, a homeless crisis and a record year for homicides.

A crowd of 100 people wreaked havoc in downtown Portland, Oregon, this week, smashing storefront windows, lighting dumpsters on fire and causing at least $500,000 in damage.

Nearly three weeks after armed far-right and far-left protesters violently clashed in the streets of a diverse neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, the city’s mayor says the lack of police intervention was “not the right strategy.”.

Nearly three weeks after armed far-right and far-left protesters violently clashed in the streets of a diverse neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, the city's mayor said Wednesday the lack of police intervention was “not the right strategy." Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Police Chief Chuck Lovell have been criticized by residents, activists and state officials for the police bureau's hands-off approach, when Proud Boys and antifascists brawled in streets, business parking lots and school grounds Aug. 22. State lawmakers representing northeast Portland said they were confused and frustrated by the decision for police not to intervene, while residents said they felt “terrorized and abandoned” as they watched fireworks explode in busy streets and people — in helmets and gas masks and armed with baseball bats, paintball guns and chemical spray — confronting each other.

Opposing rallies that drew hundreds of people in Portland, Oregon, are sparking clashes Sunday.

Police said at least seven people had been hit by gunfire, but added that it was possible that more shooting victims and potential witnesses may have left the scene without speaking to law enforcement.

One person died and at least six more were injured in an early morning shooting Saturday in downtown Portland, Oregon, police said. Filiberto Saldana was busy cooking in his food truck when he heard gunshots early Saturday, he told The Oregonian/OregonLive. The shooting was the latest in an epidemic of gun violence in Oregon's largest city this year.

The officers left the voluntary unit a day after one of its members was charged with assaulting a woman at an Oregon protest last year.

Until a year ago, Portland, Oregon, was best known nationally for its ambrosial food scene, craft breweries and “Portlandia” hipsters.

Some police organizations and Republican politicians are blaming Democrats and last year's defund the police effort for a troubling rise in homicides in many cities across the country.

Many Americans reacted with jubilation but also with deep awareness of the progress left to be made after a jury convicted former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the killing of George Floyd.

Oregon's largest city has seen a series of often violent protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Portland Police Department via AP, File)PORTLAND, Ore. – Leaders and elected officials in Portland, Oregon, came together Monday to demand an end to violence, criminal destruction and intimidation by “anarchists” as destructive protests continue in the city. For nearly nine months protesters have called for police reform and an end to systemic racism in Portland, which has become a key city in the country's racial reckoning. “The misguided and miseducated anarchists reject civility and instead intentionally create mayhem through criminally destructive behavior tearing up our city. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

(Portland Police Department via AP)PORTLAND, Ore. – Officers found a crowbar, hammers, bear spray and firearms after they corralled a group of about 100 protesters, Portland police said Saturday. Some of the protesters also confronted the police, throwing rocks and full cans of beer, the department said. Officers used pepper spray. AdAmong the items left behind by the protesters were crowbar, hammers, bear spray, knives and what the department described as a “slugging weapon with rocks.”Thirteen people are facing charges from the protest, including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and interfering with police. On Saturday, three civil rights groups called for U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the Portland Police Bureau in light of Friday's arrests.

(AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer, File)PORTLAND, Ore. – The mayor of Portland, Oregon, announced Thursday he would seek $2 million in one-time funding for police, other agencies and outreach programs to try to stem rampant gun violence in the city. The move by Mayor Ted Wheeler represents an about-face after city leaders in June voted to cut nearly $16 million from the police budget, reductions that included the elimination of a gun violence reduction unit. During an hour-long news conference Thursday, Wheeler, activists, faith leaders and community members reiterated that in order to solve the problem of gun violence, the community must work together. Wheeler said the tactic is not the same as the now-eliminated Gun Violence Reduction Team and would be more transparent. Wheeler said he supports the ideas, beginning with asking City Council to appropriate $2 million in one-time fiuds from the city’s reserve stability contingency account created last fall, to address gun violence.

Critics say the squad unfairly targeted Black people, but gun violence and homicides have since spiked in Oregon's largest city, and some say disbanding the 35-officer unit was a mistake. It’s really just that simple.”Stockton, California, began disbanding and defunding police units dedicated to gun violence in 2010. While policing has been refocused in Portland, experts and officials say it's unlikely those changes caused spikes in gun violence. Last month, police launched a squad of 15 officers and six detectives focusing on gun violence investigations. Yarborough, Penney's uncle, was a gang member in the 1990s and had been arrested by officers with Portland's gun violence team.

Some states have already criminalized the display of nooses, including Louisiana, Virginia, California, New York and Connecticut. “He was killed basically for offending a white man,” Evans, a member of the Eugene City Council, testified Tuesday. His body was riddled with bullets, and then he was set on fire.”Louisiana, Virginia, California, New York, Maryland and Connecticut previously criminalized the display of nooses. The bill under consideration in Oregon would make intimidation by display of a noose a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $6,250 fine. “The harm to communities impacted by the display of a noose should not be understated," the city leaders wrote.

Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler pepper-sprayed a man who confronted him and a former mayor as they left a restaurant Sunday evening, according to a police report. Wheeler and Sam Adams, who served one term as Portland mayor from 2009 to 2013, had been eating in a tented area at McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery and Public House in Southwest Portland. According to a statement the mayor gave to police, Wheeler told the man of current COVID-19 regulations, which allows people to take their mask off to eat or drink. Wheeler told the man to "back off" and that he was carrying pepper spray, which he would use if necessary. The mayor reiterated that ongoing criminal destruction and violence occurring in Portland, which has been the epicenter of protests against racial injustice for eight months, is "unacceptable."

A group of protesters carrying signs against President Joe Biden and police marched in Portland on Inauguration Day and damaged the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Oregon, police said. Some in the group of about 150 people smashed windows and spray-painted anarchist symbols at the political party building. Police said the crowd swarmed the officers and threw objects at authorities, who used a smoke canister to get away. In videos posted to Twitter, people are seen yelling and approaching federal officers who are dressed in riot gear. The crowd called for the abolition of ICE and, outside the federal immigration court, several people set fire to an American flag, The Seattle Times reported.

Masked protesters by an occupied home speak with a neighborhood resident opposed to their encampment and demonstration in Portland, Ore., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland's police chief on Friday implored protesters to clear the streets around a barricaded home that was owned by a Black and Indigenous family before it was allegedly taken through predatory lending practices. Before dawn Tuesday, sheriff's deputies swooped into the disputed home and arrested several people, mostly for trespassing. Activists, many of whom had participated in Black Lives Matter protests in Portland for months, arrived on the scene and confronted law enforcement officers, who retreated. The 124-year-old house is in a historically Black part of Portland that for decades was one of the few areas where Black residents could own homes.

Protesters stand behind barricades at their encampment outside a home in Portland, Ore., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Supporters of the Kinney family, the Black and Indigenous family that faced foreclosure, have said the home was unjustly taken through predatory lending practices that target people of color. The small, maroon-painted property is known as the Red House on Mississippi for its location on North Mississippi Avenue. On Thursday, the family's supporters said in a statement that Wheeler's office had reached out to the Kinney family late Wednesday and promised to “keep it Kinney" in an initial conversation. Neighbors have complained that the sidewalks were blocked and they could not get to their homes, police said.

Protesters dressed in black and wearing ski masks stood watch from atop a nearby wall. “I warned the city ... that they were displacing family after family after family ... Oregon lawmakers are debating a proposal to extend that moratorium until July 1 and establish a compensation fund for struggling landlords. Protesters say the Kinney family should not have been forced to leave during a pandemic and should be protected by the eviction moratorium. According to a history posted online by the group protesting the eviction, the property was initially purchased in full with cash.

Back the Blue police supporters, left, stand next to Black Lives Matter protesters calling for defunding the police, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein)

Mayor Ted Wheeler, who is also police commissioner, was one of three commissioners who voted last week to delay a vote on the budget amendment until after Tuesday's election. Wheeler won a second term and voted “no” on the amendment Thursday. Police accountability has been a driving issue in Portland since the killing of George Floyd in May and was one of the biggest issues in the mayor's race. Portland has been roiled by five months of near-nightly Black Lives Matter protests and Wheeler has come under intense criticism for what many see as an overly aggressive police force. And while protests around the country focused on the vote count in the U.S. presidential election this week, protests in Portland were centered on racial injustice and police brutality.

“Clearly, Biden was not able to capture the imagination of the Florida electorate and create the type of enthusiasm to go out and vote for Biden like Trump did with his base of supporters in the state,” said Fernand Amandi, a Miami-based Democratic pollster. “It’s an unacceptable record of futility. What makes it so vexing is that the problems that need to be fixed are so apparent. But they just don’t get fixed.”

In Portland, protesters smashed windows at businesses, hurled objects including fireworks at officers and police made at least 10 arrests, according to a statement from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office. Officers seized multiple firearms, ammunition, a knife, fireworks, body armor and gas masks from people who were arrested, a sheriff's office statement said. Kate Brown had activated the use of the state National Guard to help local law enforcement manage unrest related to the election, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said. Law enforcement made no arrests that day and the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office thanked demonstrators for remaining peaceful. ___This version corrects that fireworks, not a Molotov cocktail, were thrown at officers in Portland and that one person was arrested with fireworks, not an improvised explosive device.

Portland, Oregon Mayor Ted Wheeler poses in a City Hall office on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in Portland. With Election Day weeks away, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is trailing in the polls behind Sarah Iannarone. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein)PORTLAND, Ore. – In most election cycles, America wouldn’t pay attention to the Portland, Oregon, mayoral race — but this isn’t a normal year. Many of those voters are backing Iannarone, who has attended three dozen protests and touts campaign bumper stickers that read “Everyday Antifascist. “I’m still trying to pin down what Ted Wheeler really stands for,” said Cameron Whitten, founder of The Black Resilience Fund who's endorsed Iannarone.

Deputizing the Portland officers gives federal prosecutors the option to charge anyone arrested by those officers with federal crimes, which often come with more severe penalties than the state crimes for which local police usually make arrests. Wheeler has declined offers of assistance from federal law enforcement and Gov. “Importantly, the federal deputation supports front line law enforcement officers and their families in a way that they have not seen from City Hall. Portland city officials apparently did not know that their officers' federal deputization status would last until the end of this year. When prompted about the Proud Boys, he said: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” The president also referenced the Portland protests in his remarks.

Dozens began to show up two hours before the right-wing rally, some packed into the beds of pickup trucks. The Proud Boys mentioned Danielson in their permit application, as well as Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old charged in the shooting deaths of two Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Proud Boys raised the specter of a vigilante response to the actions of a “mob” in a permit application filed with the city this week. “Portland leadership is unwilling to stop the violence," the Proud Boys wrote in the application. But on Friday, he reminded those attending the rally and counter-demonstrations that under Portland law, it's illegal to carry a loaded firearm in public without an Oregon concealed handgun permit.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland, Oregon, has denied a permit for a Saturday rally planned by the right-wing group Proud Boys. Events like this are not welcome and are not allowed,” Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who oversees the city's parks department, said in the statement. The rally planned for Saturday was moved from downtown Portland to Delta Park in north Portland to accommodate what the Proud Boys called a “battalion of patriots" exercising their right to assemble freely. Left-wing groups plan at least two events to oppose the Proud Boys, including one in Delta Park. The location selected by the Proud Boys has angered some in Portland because of the history of the park.

In Portland, they pointed to 100 consecutive nights of protests “marred by vandalism, chaos, and even killing” and in New York City, the Justice Department pointed to a skyrocketing number of shootings throughout the five boroughs. It is not the first time the Justice Department has attempted to take action against city officials for the violent demonstrations. The department also explored whether it could pursue either criminal or civil rights charges against city officials in Portland after clashes erupted there night after night between law enforcement and demonstrators. In a joint statement, de Blasio, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan decried the designation as “thoroughly political and unconstitutional.”"The President is playing cheap political games with Congressionally directed funds. ___Associated Press writers Karen Matthews in New York and Eugene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.

Tear gas fills the air during protests, Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Portland, Ore. Photos show that smoke was used to clear the crowd, and it appeared that tear gas was deployed. Another tweet was issued that didn't mention tear gas. The protesters in Portland want city officials to slash the police budget and reallocate that money to Black residents and businesses. Police criticized Wheeler's move, saying in a statement that it could force them to employ potentially more dangerous crowd control measures to quell violent demonstrations.

Armed right-wing protesters in support of President Donald Trump stand in front of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore., Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)WASHINGTON – The Justice Department explored whether it could pursue either criminal or civil rights charges against city officials in Portland, Oregon, after clashes erupted there night after night between law enforcement and demonstrators, a department spokesperson said Thursday. The revelation that federal officials researched whether they could levy criminal or civil charges against the officials — exploring whether their rhetoric and actions may have helped spur the violence in Portland — underscores the larger Trump administration's effort to spotlight and crack down on protest-related violence. But bringing criminal civil rights charges against city officials for protest-related violence would likely present an uphill court battle for federal prosecutors. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement it was “ridiculous on its face,” and the Trump administration is trying to distract from its own massive failures on the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.

This weekend Portland will mark 100 consecutive days of protests over the May 25 police killing of George Floyd. Protesters, most wearing black, gathered around sunset Saturday at a grassy park in the city. On the 100th day of protests in Portland, demonstrators vowed to keep coming into the streets. Tupac Leahy, a 23-year-old Black man from Portland, said he had probably been out to protests for about 70 of the 100 days of demonstrations. Late Friday and early Saturday morning protests continued in Portland, with police declaring an unlawful assembly and arresting 27 people.

Black Lives Matter protests, vigils and speeches marking the occasion are planned over three days and Trump supporters are planning another caravan rally. But smaller protests have continued, with groups of 100 to 200 people marching nightly. The protesters want city officials to slash the police budget and reallocate that money to Black residents and businesses. The tension reached a new high last weekend when the pro-Trump caravan motored into downtown, with some shooting paintballs and spraying bear repellent at Black Lives Matter protesters who tried to block the streets. Lost amid the escalating tensions are the voices of the citys Black residents, who are divided about the best way to keep up the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Trump has made a number of other threats that were either struck down by judges or that the president paused on his own. Previously, Trump threatened to cut funding for sanctuary cities to force them to comply with more stringent immigration policies. In his memo, Trump singled out Seattle, New York City, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., for possible loss of federal dollars. It is just the latest baseless, petty and divisive move by President Trump to distract from his abject failure to protect Americans from COVID-19, Inslee said. ______Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus in Portland, Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, and Karen Matthews in New York City contributed to this report.

The fire was set with a bundle of newspapers in a store housed on the ground floor of Wheelers building. Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said the demonstrators also wound up targeting other people who live in Wheeler's building and have had nothing to do with the protests. As Ive stated repeatedly, the nightly violence is coming at increased cost, he said. On Tuesday, federal authorities said a Portland man had been charged with assaulting federal officers after crashing his sport utility vehicle repeatedly into a car carrying uniformed federal officers early Sunday. According to court documents, the two Federal Protective Service officers deployed to Portland because of the ongoing protests were in a rental vehicle en route to their hotel on a highway.

Some also blame the mayor for engaging in a war of words with President Donald Trump instead of focusing on local needs. A caravan of Trump supporters, estimated at about 600 cars, encountered Black Lives Matter protesters as they drove through the downtown and skirmishes broke out. Many said afterward that they wanted to hear about solutions to the violence and how to keep the city's Black residents safe. The Oregon State Police and sheriff's deputies from Multnomah County the county that includes Portland are bolstering the city's force. Kate Brown, a Democrat, has so far declined to send the National Guard to Portland, as Trump has suggested.

ADDS THE SHOOTING WAS FATAL - A man is treated after being shot Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020, in Portland, Ore. Mr. President, how can you think that a comment like that, if youre watching this, is in any way helpful? Also, Brown said Oregon State Police will return to Portland to help local police, and nearby law enforcement agencies will also be asked to assist. Trump earlier Sunday appeared to be encouraging his supporters to move into Portland in the wake of the shooting. After the shooting, the president shared a video of his supporters driving into Portland and called those in Saturdays caravan GREAT PATRIOTS!Wheeler begged those who wanted to come to Portland to seek retribution to stay away.

and announced he will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, amid anger over the shooting of another Black man by police. The city has been the site of months of daily protests, and a large caravan of Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters clashed Saturday night. The people of Portland, like all other cities & parts of our great Country, want Law & Order," Trump wrote Sunday. But Democrats accuse Trump of rooting for unrest and trying to stoke further violence for political gain instead of seeking to ratchet down tensions. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, blamed Trump for the tensions.

Patriot Prayer's founder, Joey Gibson, has held pro-Trump rallies repeatedly in Portland and other cities since 2016. Photos taken of the body show he was wearing a Patriot Prayer hat. Gibson, a one-time Senate candidate, founded Patriot Prayer in 2016. The defendant Jeremy Christian, who was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences earlier this year, had attended a Patriot Prayer rally several months before, but was kicked out by organizers for flashing Nazi hand signs. Mayor Ted Wheeler said when Trump supporters want to come to Portland to rally, there is nothing the city can do to prevent them.

Mr. President, how can you think that a comment like that, if youre watching this, is in any way helpful? Why dont we try that for a change?The testy news conference followed a chaotic and volatile 24 hours in Portland that began when a caravan of about 600 vehicles packed with Trump supporters drove through Portland and was met with counterprotesters. In July, Trump sent more than 100 federal agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to safeguard federal property a move that instead reinvigorated the protests. Trump earlier Sunday appeared to be encouraging his supporters to move into Portland in the wake of the shooting. He has come under fire from some in Portland for criticizing violent demonstrators and saying they were helping Trump with his reelection campaign.

Supporters of President Donald Trump and protesters hold banners as they wait for the motorcade of President Trump outside the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. The people of Portland, like all other cities & parts of our great Country, want Law & Order," Trump later tweeted. But Democrats accuse Trump of rooting for unrest and trying to stoke further violence for political gain instead of seeking to ratchet down tensions. Trump has cast the upcoming election as clash between law and order and anarchy, and he has denounced protesters as thugs while sharply defending police. And hes going to do everything to disrupt law and order in this time period."

In Portland, protests have played out for more than 90 consecutive nights, frequently ending with vandalism. In New York City, police recorded 280 killings through Aug. 23, up from 208 during the same period last year. But for a broader perspective, there were nearly 2,300 murders in New York City in 1990. Then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg proclaimed New York City the safest big city in America. Back in Portland, Mayor Ted Wheeler this week took exception to the portrayal of his city as lawless.

In Portland, protests have played out for more than 90 consecutive nights, frequently ending with vandalism. In New York City, police recorded 280 killings through Aug. 23, up from 208 during the same period last year. But for a broader perspective, there were nearly 2,300 murders in New York City in 1990. Then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg proclaimed New York City the safest big city in America. Back in Portland, Mayor Ted Wheeler this week took exception to the portrayal of his city as lawless.

PORTLAND, Ore. Protesters in Portland smashed windows at City Hall in a demonstration that started Tuesday night and stretched into Wednesday morning and police made 23 arrests as they dispersed the crowd in Oregon's largest city, officials said. The statement said officers used crowd control munitions in response but did not say what kind. The violence came a day after protesters Monday night repeatedly set fire to a police union headquarters building and were repelled by officers spraying tear gas, officials said. Portland has been gripped by nightly protests for nearly three months since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Brown responded on Twitter to Trumps demand, calling it political theater.In July the federal government sent agents to protect federal property in downtown Portland.

It's also prompted introspection in the liberal city's small Black community about the role of white demonstrators in the Black Lives Matter movement and what it means to be a white ally in this transformational moment. That's led to disagreements in the Black community about what it means to be a white ally. A smaller number of the self-described moms still protest, joining Black mothers under the group Moms United for Black Lives. Theyre working hard to educate themselves and educate other people and help the Black community. Theyve been arrested, theyve been tear-gassed, theyve been hit with rubber bullets, she said of the white moms.

Protests in Portland have topped the headlines for days, but lost in the shouting are the voices of Black Portlanders themselves and their feelings about the unrest are nuanced and diverse. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)PORTLAND, Ore. People arrested in Portland since late May on non-violent misdemeanor charges during the protests that have racked Oregons largest city for more than two months won't be prosecuted. The same no prosecution policy applies to those arrested on similar charges in future demonstrations, he said. The protesters are angry ... and deeply frustrated with what they perceive to be structural inequities in our basic social fabric. Tuesday night, one group blocked traffic downtown in a peaceful gathering that authorities did not interact with, Portland police said in a statement.

Rallies were held in the afternoon and evening throughout the city, including Peninsula, Laurelhurst and Berrydale parks, local media reported. This weeks clashes have, however, amped up tensions after an agreement between state and federal officials seemed to offer a brief reprieve. An Oregon State Police Trooper was struck in the head by a large rock and suffered a head injury, police said. Oregon State Police worked with Portland officers to clear the protesters. Trump has called the protesters as sick and dangerous anarchists running wild in the citys streets.

A speaker addresses the crowd during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Portland, Ore. After days of clashes with federal police, the crowd outside of the federal courthouse remained peaceful Thursday night. A group identified as Firefighters for Black Lives Matter gathered in a small park a couple miles west of the courthouse. A parade of cars with Black Lives Matter signs taped to their windows slowed traffic in the city. Since then, there have been no visible signs of any federal law enforcement presence outside the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. And while thousands have marched and rallied peacefully, Portlands federal courthouse became a target for some protesters.

The agents most nights fired tear gas in return. The mood remained calm at 1 a.m. Friday as the crowd dwindled to about 500 demonstrators. The Democrat also apologized to peaceful demonstrators exposed to tear gas used by Portland police before federal officials arrived. But federal officials insisted that the agents will not leave the city completely and will be kept on standby. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

He insisted a federal presence would remain in Portland until the Trump administration was assured the agreement was working and the Oregon State Police was sufficiently protecting federal property. Marshals Service and Federal Protective Service agents to remain inside a fence set up around the federal courthouse, along with some state police, to keep protesters out. Federal agents nearly killed a demonstrator, and their presence has led to increased violence and vandalism in our downtown core, he said. Many protesters want the Portland Police Bureau defunded and are angry that officers used tear gas on protesters multiple times before federal agents arrived. Brown said the departure of the federal agents was a chance to address that anger and begin to make improvements in community policing.

Many demonstrators are peaceful, but smaller numbers have thrown fireworks, flares and rocks at federal agents, used lasers to blind them and sprayed graffiti across the downtown Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. The deployment appeared to have the opposite effect, reinvigorating demonstrations with a new focus: getting rid of the federal presence. Federal agents nearly killed a demonstrator, and their presence has led to increased violence and vandalism in our downtown core, he said. Wednesday's announcement was an abrupt about-face from just two days earlier, when the U.S. government said it might send more federal agents to Portland. Oregon's governor cautioned Wednesday that the lower visibility of the federal agents and their ultimate departure won't immediately resolve the conflict.

Portland police are mobilizing to prevent clashes between out-of-state far-right groups planning a rally here and the homegrown anti-fascists who oppose them as America's culture wars seep into this progressive haven. "It's Portlandia, and in the public mind it represents everything these (far-right) groups are against," said Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center , which tracks hate groups. The rally is being organized by a member of the Proud Boys, who have been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. Portland's fraught history with hate groups adds to the complex dynamic. Blazak, the Oregon hate groups expert, said he worries the extreme response from a small group of counterprotesters is starting to backfire.