More than 60 emergency calls to police went unheeded Saturday into early Sunday in Portland as officers were preoccupied with hundreds of demonstrators downtown and were pelted by rocks and other projectiles. Two officers were hospitalized.
On the 80th consecutive night of protests, the Portland Police Bureau declared a riot around midnight Sunday after a crowd of hundreds had blocked traffic for three hours by the Penumbra Kelly Building, trespassed on the closed property and engaged in “violent, tumultuous conduct.”
The targeted building is owned by the city and is used by city and county employees, including the Police Bureau.
Rioters threw objects at police cars in the parking lot of the building and spray-painted over security cameras. Others shined green lasers at officers’ eyes and pelted police with softball-sized “river rocks” and glass bottles, Fox News reports.
Two officers went to the hospital. A photo shared by the police bureau showed a 9.5-pound rock that was thrown by a person posing as "press" as the officer "prepared to ride away on a truck.” Several arrests were made.
Portland police say this nearly 10-pound rock was thrown at officers Sunday. Two officers were hospitalized from injuries inflicted by rioters. (Photo: Portland Police Bureau)
