About 150 self-described anarchists dressed in black – many also wearing helmets, balaclavas and body armor – gathered in a parking lot just east of downtown Portland for an inauguration day on Wednesday afternoon.
Their political views were difficult to establish.
“We are ungovernable,” reads a banner on the sidewalk.
Before the day was over, windows in the Democratic Party’s state headquarters broke, and police in riot gear stormed protesters into the darkness.
Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen said police “quickly identified a number of suspects responsible for damage and related criminal activity” and made several arrests.
The scene returned to a summer of unrest here, where protests over racial justice lasted more than 100 days, with peaceful protests taking place for night fights between activists set on destruction and authorities declaring riots and firing tear gas .
Demonstrations have become less frequent recently, and it looked like the movement might disappear with President Trump. But when organizers sent a call on social media for the rally on Wednesday, familiar faces were visible in the crowd.
In the past, police often returned until the crowd became riotous. This time, a dozen police officers showed up on bicycles while the protesters were still together.
Teal Lindseth, a 22-year-old activist wearing a black protective vest, mask and orange ski hat, marched on one of the officers.
“What are you doing here?” she shouted. “We have the right to assemble.”
A young man positions himself inches from the officer’s face and repeatedly swears at him before asking, ‘How long are you going to be here? ‘
“Until my boss tells me to go,” the officer replied.
A protester broke through the door of the Democratic Party of Oregon headquarters in Portland on Wednesday.
(Richard Read / Los Angeles Times)
An anarchist symbol is the headquarters of the Oregon Democratic Party in Portland.
(Richard Read / Los Angeles Times)
The crowd storms up to the officers. The police withdrew and then drove to the crowd. One officer seized some posts that were used to display a banner, and apparently worried that they could be used as weapons.
The crowd broke into a familiar chant: “All police are villains.”
The officers looked on unabashedly. Then they left on an apparent command of a command post.
Activists have turned around and apparently not sure what they are going to do next. Following the anarchist code, which bans leaders, a young man who spoke through a bullhorn said he was not trying to tell anyone what to do, but he recommended that they start marching.
And so they also meandered through streets behind a banner that said, ‘We do not want Biden – we want revenge! For police killings, imperialist wars and fascist massacres. ”
They also chanted ‘Black lives are important’, although some local leaders of the racial rights movement said they wanted nothing to do with Portland’s violent protesters.
The crowd was chased by reporters, photographers and a police vessel that sounded the warnings from a loudspeaker:
‘This is the Portland Police Department! No permit was issued for area roads. Move to the sidewalk. Failure to comply with this order may subject you to citation, arrest or the use of crowd control agents and / or impact weapons. ”
The activists eventually reach the Democratic Party of Oregon’s office building.
They dragged a garbage can in the middle of the street. Then several umbrellas stopped hiding the identity of a man with spray paint who started writing anti-Biden slogans and drawing anarchist symbols on windows and walls.
Another man stepped forward and smashed windows with a crowbar while fellow marchers grabbed blinds and pulled down.
The cruiser pulled a block further and the officer on the loudspeaker told the activists to stop damaging the building and threaten them with arrest. A truck carrying rioters approached, and activists began running.
The street was soon empty, except for a passerby who pushed the garbage can to the curb.