PORTLAND, Ore — Portland police declared a riot outside the Portland Police Association offices Sunday night after fireworks were thrown and two officers were injured by a mortar. A total of 16 people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, interfering with a police officer or both, according to police.
One of the people arrested was Demetria Hester, a Black activist who was the target of a hate crime committed by self-described white nationalist Jeremy Christian on a MAX train the night before the fatal stabbings in 2017. Hester is also one of the organizers of the Wall of Moms.
A video taken shows officers telling the 46-year-old Hester, "you're under arrest." She calmly follows the officers and is loaded into a police vehicle. She was charged with interfering with a police officer and second-degree disorderly conduct.
On Monday, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office said it would not pursue the charges against Hester.
A group of about 200 people gathered at Kenton City Park on Sunday to rally for the abolition of police and prisons and support the Black Lives Matter movement. The group marched to the PPA building in North Portland, the same location where rioters broke into the building Saturday night and lit a fire.
On Sunday, when the crowd reached the PPA offices, police sounding a warning from the sound truck that if the group engaged in criminal activities like vandalism or attempting to set the building on fire, police would make arrests and potentially use tear gas and other munitions to clear the crowd.
Police say members of the group started blocking streets with dumpsters and fencing and some lit a fire on the sidewalk outside the PPA building. Police declared an unlawful assembly and warned the group to disperse, at which point some members of the group threw eggs at officers, according to police.
The majority of the group went back to Kenton Park, police say, and those who didn't were moved away by Portland police officers and Oregon State Police troopers.
Police say some members of the group threw commercial grade fireworks at officers and two officers were injured when they were hit with a mortar.
The officers were treated at the scene by paramedics. The mortar burned one officer on her neck and burned through part of her face mask. A sergeant standing about 10 feet away was hit by a firework and suffered injuries to his leg. Police released photos of the injuries.
Police say because of the direct attack and injury to officers, they declared a riot at 10:10 p.m.
A smaller group of people went back to the PPA offices and were again warned that a riot had been declared and told to disperse. Police made multiple arrests at this time.
Police say they used no tear gas.
A total of 16 arrests were made overnight. Here is the arrest information released by Portland police:
- Zoe Norland, 22, of Portland, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Maxwell Lorenze, 22, of Portland, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Rachel "Ramon" Levelle, 23, unknown residence, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Samantha Pribbenow, 22, of Tigard, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Jane Doe, unknown age, unknown residence, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Moira Van De Walker, 25, of Portland, Riot, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Demetria Hester, 46, of Portland, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Michelle Torres, 33, of Portland, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Lavonna Hamilton, 43, of Portland, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Folasade Ogunfiditimi, 27, of Hillsboro, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Olivia Ankney, 33, of Beaverton, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Nicholas Riehl, 28, of Portland, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- William Alger, 21, of Portland, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Samuel Weber, 24, of Portland, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Tyler Crissman, 24, of Portland, Interfering with a Peace Officer
- Jason Britton, 30, of Gresham, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer
Sunday's rally and march followed another destructive and chaotic night of demonstrations turned riot in Portland. On Saturday, rioters broke into the Portland Police Association’s building in North Portland and lit a fire.
Police pushed a crowd away from the police union building and into the Kenton Neighborhood where crowd members vandalized a newly-created street plaza and lit large wooden partitions on fire. Nine people were arrested, according to police.