PORTLAND, Ore (KOIN) – SWAT teams and police officers were seen in Portland’s Justice Center as demonstrators continued to protest in the area over the weekend.
Construction crews were back at the Multnomah County Justice Center Sunday afternoon, boarding up the building after protests Saturday night ended in fireworks and tear gas when police declared a riot.
Earlier in the day, a small pro-police demonstration took place in the same space that demonstrators burned American flags and statues the night before. For a brief moment in the afternoon, blue hearts with supportive messages for the Portland Police Bureau were taped to the outside of the building. Those have since been taken down.
Around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, people began to arrive at the justice center. Construction workers were still working on the building at the time and were reportedly heckled by people.
Federal officers told the crowd to get back so that construction vans could leave the justice center.
On Saturday, for the fourth time in five nights, a riot was declared in downtown Portland after protesters threw bricks, mortars, M-80s, fireworks, lit fires, smashed windows, and clashed with police and federal officers who used tear gas and other crowd-control tactics to disperse the group by 4:30 a.m. Sunday.
A total of 13 people were arrested. Authorities said several officers were hurt mostly due to mortars and fireworks thrown at them.
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