World News | Trump Supporters Rally Near Portland and at Oregon Capitol
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Hundreds of people gathered in a small town south of Portland for a pro-President Donald Trump vehicle rally -- just over a week after member of a far-right group was fatally shot after a Trump caravan went through Oregon's largest city.
Oregon (US), Sep 8 (AP) Hundreds of people gathered in a small town south of Portland for a pro-President Donald Trump vehicle rally -- just over a week after member of a far-right group was fatally shot after a Trump caravan went through Oregon's largest city.
Later, pro-Trump supporters and counter-protesters clashed at Oregon's Capitol.
Vehicles waving flags for Trump, the QAnon conspiracy theory and in support of police gathered about noon on Monday at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City. The rally's organisers said they would drive to toward the state capital, Salem, and most left the caravan before that.
A smaller group of members of the right-wing group the Proud Boys went on to Salem, where a crowd of several dozen pro-Trump supporters had gathered. At one point Monday afternoon, the right-wing crowd rushed a smaller group of Black Lives Matters counter-demonstrators, firing paint-gun pellets at them.
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There were skirmishes, and the Black Lives Matter group dispersed shortly after local police arrived on the scene.
Organisers of the earlier vehicle rally said they did not plan to enter Multnomah County, where Portland is located. Oregon City is about 32 kilometres south of Portland.
On August 29, Aaron "Jay" Danielson, a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, was killed in Portland after a pro-Trump caravan went downtown. Trump supporters fired paint ball canisters at counter-demonstrators, who tried to block their way.
Danielson's suspected killer, Michael Forest Reinoehl, was fatally shot by police Thursday. Reinoehl was a supporter of antifa -- shorthand for anti-fascists and an umbrella description for far-left-leaning militant groups.
Demonstrations in Portland started in late May after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and have continued for more than 100 days.
A fire started outside a police precinct on Portland's north side resulted in about 15 arrests during protests Sunday night into Monday morning, police said.
Demonstrators protesting police brutality began marching about 9 pm Sunday and stopped at the North Precinct Community Policing Center, the site of several volatile protests in recent months.
Officials warned demonstrators against entering the precinct property, saying they would be trespassing and subject to arrest.
Shortly after arriving, the crowd began chanting, among other things, "burn it down," police said.
Some in the group lit a mattress on fire. Most of those arrested were from Portland. Others were from San Francisco; Sacramento, California; Mesa, Arizona; and two from Vancouver, Washington.
Charges included interfering with an officer, resisting arrest, reckless burning and possession of a destructive device. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)