Protests from Oregon to Illinois turned violent Friday night, as demonstrators again took to the street to demand an end to police brutality.
A Portland march to protest police-involved shootings turned into a “riot” Friday night, police said.
At 3 a.m. Saturday, Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist Sergio Olmos tweeted that gunfire could be heard — though there were no injuries reported.
He also tweeted photos of a mall entrance where protesters had removed a protective wooden panel, and video of a fire that had been set outside an Apple store.
Protesters had marched in two separate rallies in the city’s downtown, hours after police shot and killed an armed suspect in a park on Friday morning, according to local reports.
One protest was peaceful, according to local station KOIN, but participants in a second march were seen breaking windows, according to officials.
“Participants in the riot have been seen attempting to burglarize businesses,” Portland Police tweeted.
“Leave the area to the west. Failure to do so may subject you to arrest and/or the use of force, including but not limited to impact munitions and tear gas,” the warning continued.
Some protestors were chanting “no good cops in a racist system,” as others rioted, according to KOIN.
The peaceful march was a demonstration against the Chicago Police Department’s killing of 13-year-old gun suspect Adam Toledo, the station said.
It’s been a tumultuous week in Portland. A riot was also declared Tuesday after at least 100 people descended on a police union building and set it on fire as demonstrators protested the police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Minnesota.
Police there are currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for brutality against protestors, and failing to file use of force reports, according to The Oregonian.
In Chicago’s Logan Square Park Friday night, protestors clashed with officers over the shooting of Toledo, dramatic video from ABC 7 Chicago shows.
Thousands of people shut down major intersections as they marched to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s nearby home, the station reported.
The gathering was mostly peaceful, but a scuffle reportedly broke out between a small group of protestors and cops as the event drew to an end.
“On social media, there’s a ton of people that still deny this is even an issue, and so if you stop showing this, conversation stops,” Chicago resident Gerald Parker said, according to the report.
In Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, the site of Wright’s Monday shooting death, cops issued an emergency curfew on Friday after protests escalated, according to Fox 9.
The city had initially planned to lift it’s curfew Friday night after four nights of protests, but the decision was reversed after protestors beached a barrier around the police department, the report said.
Officers reportedly used flash bangs and pepper spray to push the hostile crowd back, as some threw glass bottles and other items over the barricade.