On Thursday, self-styled “anarchists” targeted the Mark Hatfield federal courthouse in Portland, setting fires, shattering windows and setting on fire plywood protecting the building. The courthouse was the scene of roughly four months of rioting over the summer.
A guy uses a scooter to bash in the window before getting hit with what sounds & smells like pepper balls or some other kind of crowd control munitions #koin6news #pdx #pnw #Oregon #Portland pic.twitter.com/EuyXiYejjs
— Jennifer Dowling (@JenDowlingKoin6) March 12, 2021
Someone in the group set fire to the plywood on the building at the entrance to the courthouse. Federal officers are responding with crowd control munitions. #koin6news #pdx #pnw #Oregon #Portland pic.twitter.com/pQS1IPV7iL
— Jennifer Dowling (@JenDowlingKoin6) March 12, 2021
According to KOIN, “A group of about 50-60 people dressed in black were seen ripping down plywood, spray painting graffiti and setting fires. After a while, Federal Protective Officers pushed them back with tear gas and less-lethal munitions. Over the course of about 2 hours, multiple skirmishes were seen as protesters set fires, officers put them out, then pushed the protesters back again.”
One person was arrested after he resisted arrest and punched an officer in the face.
“The protest happened just days after the federal government removed the metal anti-personnel fence that had surrounded the building for more than eight months,” OPB reported. “At the time, a spokesperson for the Federal Protective Service called the dismantling a ‘return to normalcy.'”
FOX 12 reported on Tuesday that a spokesperson for DHS told the outlet that the department had begun working to take down the fence on Monday night and that its full removal would take several days.
Robert King, Portland mayor Ted Wheeler’s senior public safety adviser, told KOIN that the agitators behind recent protests were “self-described anarchists. … Coming in to the weekend, we of course, as the chief has indicated, have staffed up. We are aware of the event that’s been advertised for (Friday).”
“The mayor will meet this week with the Acting US Attorney to talk more about this group and potential assistance from the US Attorney’s office and other federal entities to hold individuals involved in this conduct accountable,” he added.
PPB Deputy Chief Chris Davis stated, “With this group, this is a small group that is bent on destroying things. And what they want is a conflict. My advice is — don’t give them a conflict.”
During his confirmation hearings for the position of U.S. Attorney General, Judge Merrick Garland drew a distinction between acts of violence in which federal properties were targeted while they were in operation as opposed to when they were not, i.e. at night.
Garland was asked by Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) regarding attacks on the federal properties in Portland and Seattle, “Do you regard assaults on federal courthouses or other federal property as attacks of domestic extremism, domestic terrorism?”
Garland answered: “Well, senator, my own definition, which is about the same as the statutory definition, is the use of violence or threats of violence in an attempt to disrupt the democratic processes. So an attack on a courthouse while in operation, trying to prevent judges from actually deciding cases, that plainly is domestic extremism, domestic terrorism. An attack simply on a government property at night or any other circumstances is a clear crime and a serious one and should be punished. I don’t know enough about the facts of the example you’re talking about, but that’s where I draw the line. One is—both are criminal, one is a core attack on our democratic institutions.”