On Sunday, three days after it was removed, work crews erected a security fence and concrete dividers outside the federal courthouse in downtown Portland.
The U.S. Department of Justice has ruled that the fence was removed prematurely after people spent the last few nights breaking windows and spray-painting graffiti on the courthouse.
Officials overseeing the return of the fence said it was 15 miles outside of Portland, on a truck bound for Washington, DC, when the truck was ordered to return to Portland.
Eight windows of the court were broken and graffiti was scratched in the building on Saturday night after other windows were broken on Thursday night, according to federal officials.
Among the graffiti left behind in front of the courthouse was a message that said in red, “NAZI’S WORK HERE.”
‘As a first-generation American whose parents went through the horrors of World War II, in England and Norway, you can say nothing more offensive than to claim that the people who work in that building, whom I know and love, Nazis are not. “Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Asphaug said Sunday.
“The building represents justice,” he said. “This is where people make their civil rights known.”
The staff, lawyers and judges have continued with the operations of the court during the past year’s mass protests and will continue to do so unharmed, Asphaug said. Asphaug said he supports the rights of people to protest and make their voices heard, but does not support riotous behavior and the damage to the court.
“The people who work in the building are much stronger than graffiti and broken windows,” he said, “and they will continue the important work they are doing.”
The Federal Protection Service, which worked with the city of Portland and federal agencies, on Thursday made the decision to remove the protective fence around the federal courthouse “in collaboration with local Portland leaders as part of a broader effort to protect the city. helps return to normalcy, “said Robert Sperling, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The Federal Protection Service “will continue to carry out its mandate to ensure the safety and security of federal employees and facilities, while maintaining our commitment to working with the City of Portland and the community as part of a joint effort to ensure downtown to recover, “Sperling said by email.
Later Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Marshals Service took over the jurisdiction of the fence, and officials said it would be reinstated Sunday or Monday.
U.S. District Chief Justice Marco A. Hernandez in Oregon on Sunday declined to comment on the damage to the courthouse.
The federal courthouse became the focal point of massive social justice demonstrations that began after the death of George Floyd on May 25, who died after being pinned down under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer now on trial for his death.
Construction workers on Thursday morning removed concrete road dividers and fences from the western, public entrance side of the federal courthouse. By early afternoon, 20 to 30 protesters, mostly dressed in black, had vandalized the front entrance and broken a large window, according to the Federal Protection Service.
As a result, workers re-installed plywood and wooden planks to protect the building’s windows and facade in anticipation of a second demonstration that evening. On Thursday around 9:30 p.m., protesters returned to the courthouse and several removed plywood from the west entrance of the courthouse, started a fire, broke windows and spray-painted graffiti on the outside, according to Micah Coring, an agent of the Federal Protection Service.
Officials from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Federal Protection Service fired tear gas, flashlights and smoke grenades to push the crowd away from the courtroom Thursday night in scenes reminiscent of last night’s violent clashes outside and around the courthouse.
Thursday’s demonstration apparently began as a protest against the expansion of an oil pipeline, known as Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 pipeline, that would bring tar sands oil from the Canadian province of Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin. Protesters say the line would run along delicate wetlands and the treaty territory of the American homeland of the Anishinaabe peoples.
Eight more windows of the court were broken Saturday night, federal officials said. No federal officials came out of court Saturday night.
In early February, the cost of cleaning up vandalism and restoring the court amounted to $ 1.6 million.
The account rises to a total of about $ 2.3 million when added other federal properties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In addition to the courthouse, the Edith Green-Wendall Wyatt Federal Building, the Gus J. Solomon US Courthouse, the Pioneer Courthouse, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Building were also damaged and damaged.
– Maxine Bernstein
Email [email protected]; 503-221-8212
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian