Portland Riots Read-Out: July 30

Bottom line:

The violence Portland has witnessed for over eight weeks continues as anarchists keep attacking federal law enforcement officers and federal property on a nightly basis. While a cooperation agreement between federal and state law enforcement was announced earlier in the day, Oregon State Police teams had not yet been put in place around the courthouse perimeter.

Last week, DHS put up a metal fence around the building’s perimeter, which was later reinforced with more concrete barricades following rioters’ continuous efforts to topple and breach it. Rioters once again tried to breach the fence, but without success.

In their unabated, nightly efforts to harm federal officers and destroy federal property, rioters once again attacked with hard projectiles, commercial-grade, mortar-style fireworks, hazardous materials and lasers – which can cause permanent blindness to officers.

The Past 24 Hours:

At 10:50 p.m. local time federal officers issued their first warning for rioters to stop attacking the fence.

At 10:58 p.m. local time rioters launched the first mortar fireworks of the night at the federal courthouse.

At 11:00 p.m. local time rioters assaulted federal officers inside the fence perimeter with paint and bleach.

At 11:21 p.m. local time a rioter was caught using a hacksaw in an attempt to enter the fence and breach the perimeter.

At around 11:25 p.m. local time rioters launched another assault on federal officers using mortar fireworks and hard projectiles.

At 11:30 p.m. local time federal officers announced an unlawful assembly. Shortly after at 11:40 p.m. local time federal officers were forced to go outside of the building, while remaining inside the fence perimeter, in an effort to repel the rioters from the federal property.

At 11:48 p.m. local time federal officers were forced to exit the fence perimeter in order to disperse the unlawful crowd.

12:22 a.m. local time a group of federal officers reentered the federal courthouse, while others remained outside to defend federal property against rioters.

At around 12:47 a.m. local time rioters shattered the rear window of a marked FPS police vehicle.

At 12:53 a.m. local time many federal officers returned inside the Hatfield courthouse.

1:47am a fire was set along the fence protecting the courthouse.

Two federal officers were injured during the night’s violence, both Deputy U.S. Marshals under the Department of Justice.  One was struck in the shin by a hard object launched by a violent opportunist; the other was injured with a possible shoulder dislocation while conducting an arrest.

Initial reports indicate that federal officers conducted 4 arrests during the course of the rioting: 3 for assaulting Federal officers and 1 for failure to comply with a lawful order.