PORTLAND, Ore — On Tuesday night, protesters gathered at three separate demonstrations in Portland. One group met at King School Park and marched to the North Precinct on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
A second crowd met at Arbor Lodge Park at 10 p.m. That group was calling for further defunding of the Portland police and marching in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, a social media post said. That crowd marched to Portland Commissioner Dan Ryan's house and called on him to further defund police tomorrow at a City Council Meeting.
Another group met at the Justice Center in downtown Portland for a candlelight vigil for Walter Wallace.
Wallace was a 27-year-old Black man who was killed by police in Philadelphia on Monday. His family said Wallace was suffering from a mental health crisis when he was killed by officers who each fired at least seven rounds — at least 14 total shots. Police say Wallace had a knife.
Video of the incident in Philadelphia has gone viral. Wallace’s death sparked unrest in Philadelphia Monday night.
At around 10 p.m. protesters began marching from King School Parkin Northeast Portland to the North Precinct on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Portland Police advised the crowd to be mindful of those living in the neighborhood in the area of the march.
Just past 11 p.m. a crowd that met at Arbor Lodge Park and marched to City Commissioner Dan Ryan's house, independent journalist reported. When the group arrived they called on Ryan to further make cuts to Portland police's budget at a city council meeting on Wednesday.
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According to journalists at the scene, Ryan agreed to come out of his house and talk with demonstrators. He then listened to people in the crowd's experiences with police brutality.
Protests have been happening regularly in Portland since the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day. Demonstrators have rallied around issues that include police brutality, racial inequity and the defunding of police.
