Rioters again returned to the Portland Police Department’s East Precinct Thursday night, which is in a residential area, where they doused an elderly woman with paint and harassed another who was using a walker.
Once again, the Portland Police Department was forced to declare a supposed protest an “unlawful assembly” after assessing that the intent of the rioters was “to vandalize or attempt to burn down the precinct.”
The Portland Police Department tweeted out a photo of the elderly woman whom the rioters doused with paint and noted in a subsequent tweet that they incorrectly stated that she was the woman using a walker, when in fact it was another elderly woman who was present.
This unknown woman using a walker was confronted by the group currently outside East Precinct and paint was strewn all over her. pic.twitter.com/k1cCVMbNht
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) August 7, 2020
Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling took videos of the incident that showed the rioters aggressively confronting the two women, and showed the woman covered in paint.
Counter protesters in standoff with Portland protesters; she was doused in paint I believe pic.twitter.com/08ceieWh3t
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) August 7, 2020
Woman with BLM sign on walker is trying to stop Portland protester hitting wooden barricades on east precinct pic.twitter.com/qPjfeX9GVY
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) August 7, 2020
Journalist Andy Ngo further highlighted the hostile actions toward the two women, writing, “An older woman tried to stop #antifa rioters from continuing their attack on the Portland Police east precinct tonight. She stood in the front and they dumped some white liquid all over her & curse her out.”
An older woman tried to stop #antifa rioters from continuing their attack on the Portland Police east precinct tonight. She stood in the front and they dumped some white liquid all over her & curse her out. #PortlandRiots https://t.co/fYEu08DOfJ
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) August 7, 2020
Ngo added, “Antifa militant stops an elderly woman from putting out a fire they started at the Portland Police east precinct.”
The video showed the rioter touching the elderly woman as she tried to put out a fire using a fire extinguisher.
Antifa militant stops an elderly woman from putting out a fire they started at the Portland Police east precinct. #PortlandRiots https://t.co/RBGb5cNu3g
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) August 7, 2020
The incidents follows the rioters attacking the same police precinct the night before and attempting to light it on fire before law enforcement officials forced them out of the area.
“Several people in the group began to ram a large 2 by 4 piece of wood in to the front glass doors in an effort to shatter them,” the Portland Police Department said in a statement. “Other members of the group slammed different heavy large objects into the glass doors as well. The objects included large rocks.”
“By 9:50 p.m., those who had been destructing the East Precinct glass doors successfully cracked them, causing significant damage,” the department continued. “Since serious ongoing criminal behavior continued, a riot was declared at 9:56 p.m. At 10 p.m., the front doors of East Precinct were barricaded and a fire was started using plywood and an accelerant.”
When officers moved to disperse the rioters, they “were hit with projectiles and commercial grade fireworks,” the department said. “Because of life safety issues created by members in the group, CS gas and crowd control munitions were used. While dispersing efforts continued, a truck associated with the group attempted to run over several officers.” The police officers were also attacked by rioters who threw large rocks at them.
The violence comes as the beleaguered city has been under assault by rioters for over two months, with most of the violence so far happening at Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse in downtown Portland.