PORTLAND, Ore. — A small group of people gathered outside the Justice Center, started a fire in the street and vandalized some property in downtown Portland during a planned "direct action" event Wednesday night. No one was arrested, police said.
It was the second night of unrest downtown since former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of George Floyd's murder Tuesday afternoon.
The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said around 8:30 p.m., about 15-20 people had gathered outside the Justice Center near Southwest Third Avenue and Main Street. A fire was started in the street a short time later.
By 9:20 p.m., the group had grown to roughly 30-40 people, and demonstrators moved to the front of the Justice Center and started blocking traffic at the intersection of Southwest Second Avenue and Main Street. Some spray painted the walls of the Justice Center.
The group then marched several blocks downtown at about 10 p.m. and looped back. Two crosswalk signals were damaged at Southwest Second and Madison. Most of the group wandered away by 10:30 p.m., police said.
Hours after the verdict was delivered in Chauvin's trial Tuesday, a larger crowd gathered outside the Justice Center and marched in the streets. People smashed windows, sprayed graffiti and, in one case, punched a police officer in the head.
Police declared an unlawful assembly and two people were arrested.
