PORTLAND, Ore. — Protests continued overnight in Portland marking nearly 120 nights of demonstrations. Things remained peaceful most of the night until a confrontation between protesters and a traffic police officer on his motorcycle.
Friday night, protesters gathered at Laurelhurst Park for a direct action march. Like the ones before it, it is calling for the complete abolition of police and prisons. They marched to the Penumbra Kelly building.
Officers say sometime after 9 p.m. the crowd of demonstrators began flashing high-powered lights into their eyes. Police issued warnings over a loudspeaker to the press and crowds gathered there were not allowed on the Kelly Building property.
Media and people moved back to the streets and stayed there for several hours, according to police.
Sometime after midnight though video surfaced on social media of a traffic officer approaching a car at East Burnside Street and Northeast 47th Avenue.
Independent journalists on the scene shared videos of the altercation between police and an agitated crowd.
Police say the crowd was hostile and that the traffic officer asked multiple times for people to step back. As the officer began to leave video shows he accelerated through bystanders colliding with a woman who was in front of the officer.
Multiple videos surfaced showing different angles of the officer driving through the crowd and hitting a woman.
Police say the officer slowly pulled his motorcycle forward to disengage from the protestors when the woman jumped onto the motorcycle and was pushed aside.
Four people were arrested from last night's demonstrations. The following individuals were charged and booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center:
Joel Hanson, 20, of Gresham, Oregon was charged with Attempted Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Harassment.
Dominic Williams, 26, of Portland, was charged with Attempted Assaulting a Public Safety Officer, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.
Alexander Sundine, 27, of Vancouver, Washington was charged with Interfering with a Peace Officer.
The woman who jumped on the motorcycle is in custody and being evaluated at a hospital.
Police have identified the woman after she was taken to a hospital in Portland by officers and had her injuries evaluated. 22-year-old Tealeanna Lindseth was arrested and booked into Multnomah County Detention Center for Riot, Interfering with a Peace Officer and Disorderly Conduct.
Officers said her booking was delayed because upon leaving the hospital police found their vehicle's tires were slashed.
Police said they are investigating the vandalism.