page_title: George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon
section_title: May
hierarchical_section_title: George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon / Demonstrations / May
caption_attribution_description: English: Boarded windows in Portland, Oregon, following George Floyd protests, 2020
context_page_description: Starting in May 2020, demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd have been held in the city of Portland, Oregon, concurrent with protests in other cities around the United States and around the world. As of July 2020, many of the protests, which have been held every day since May 28, have drawn more than 1,000 participants.
  Some of the protests in Portland have been peaceful, but some have involved injury, vandalism, arson, looting, and heated confrontations with police, sometimes involving injury to protesters and police, declaration of riot, and use of tear gas and other less-lethal weapons.
  In early July, the federal government deployed law enforcement officers to Portland to protect federal property. The deployment has been criticized for not clearly identifying officers and seizing protesters not on or near federal property, including by Portland's mayor and most of the state's congressional delegation. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection service defended the practice on the grounds protecting the officers' personal safety.
context_section_description: Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on May 28, at one point blocking the entrance to the Multnomah County Justice Center. There were two peaceful demonstrations held on May 29. A "Eulogy for Black America" was organized by the Portland chapter of NAACP at Terry Schrunk Plaza in downtown Portland, and a vigil was organized by the PNW Youth Liberation Front at Peninsula Park, in the north Portland part of the Piedmont neighborhood.
  Crowd estimates for the demonstration at Terry Schrunk Plaza ranged from a "hundred or so" to "hundreds" of people; the event included several speakers including Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. She was reportedly "visibly overcome by emotion" and said, "This is the reality of being black in America. Over and over and over again, black people have been killed, and there has been silence from the majority community....Black people are tired. Black people are exhausted by racism." The president of the NAACP chapter, Reverend E.D. Mondainé, also spoke.
  More than 1,000 people gathered at Peninsula Park, where ministers and Black Panthers spoke against police brutality. From the crowd, hundreds marched to downtown Portland via Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and the Burnside Bridge. Along the way, some people started breaking windows, tagging buildings with graffiti, looting, and setting vehicles and buildings on fire. A riot ensued, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a state of emergency. A fire was started inside the Multnomah County Justice Center. Pioneer Place and other storefronts saw looting. The riot lasted for approximately 5 hours; two officers were injured, and 13 people were arrested. The Portland Business Alliance estimated the riot cost local businesses "tens of millions" of dollars because of property damage, looting, and lost wages.
  On May 30, Rev. Mondainé posted a video online urging protesters to stay home and calling looting and violence counterproductive. Demonstrators gathered in downtown Portland again; crowd estimates ranged from hundreds to a thousand. One group attempted to break into the Lloyd Center; riot police broke up a group of approximately 200 people outside the shopping mall. Police reported that a fire was set inside the Portland Law and Justice Center during the protests. Police declared that they had arrested 16 people by 11 p.m. At least 51 demonstrators were arrested during the night, bringing the total number of arrests to date to 64. 
  On the afternoon of May 31, a crowd assembled at the intersection of Southwest 3rd Avenue and Main Street in downtown. At one point, in a show of solidarity with Black Lives Matter, some police officers took a knee alongside protesters. By nightfall there were approximately 6,000 peaceful demonstrators. Shortly after the curfew took effect at 8 p.m., police dispersed the crowd outside the Multnomah County Justice Center using tear gas. Separately, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 people gathered at Laurelhurst Park in southeast Portland, and others assembled outside a former police precinct at the intersection of East Burnside Street and 47th Avenue. Police did not intervene as the group marched from the Multnomah County Justice Center to Pioneer Courthouse Square and back. The Pearl District Neighborhood Association was "advised of potential protest activity" in the Pearl District and the Northwest District. Around 11:30 p.m., saying projectiles were thrown at officers, police declared "a civil disturbance and unlawful assembly" and ordered protesters to leave.
caption: Boarded windows in downtown Portland on May 31, 2020, following a series of demonstrations
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