Riot continues for the third month in Portland.
The Oregon office of the FBI is looking for protestors in Portland. On the morning of August 21, all federal facilities in the city were closed, including the Federal Bankruptcy Court and the Mark O. Hatfield courthouse. The bureau received information that one of those facilities was about to be detonated – according to some sources, using a car filled with explosives. The Portland police called on locals to stay away from the city center this weekend, as the rioters are expected to rampage. The thin peace between the federal government and local authorities threatens to turn into a good quarrel again, although for the time being the parties are trying to respect the political principles. And the tragedy is increasingly becoming a farce.
The FBI has announced a search for rioters, saying it respects the rights of those who peacefully protest under the First Amendment, which is known to guarantee freedom of assembly. But it clarified that the rioters’ actions threatened the demonstrators as well.
Mass protests and riots began in many U.S. cities in late May after the death of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Police used a suffocating seizure to arrest him. All four police officers involved in the operation were dismissed and charged. The U.S. National Guard joined local law enforcement agencies, and curfews were imposed in about 40 cities, including Washington and New York.
In recent weeks, the most large-scale actions were observed in Portland, where the U.S. administration decided to send federal law enforcement officers. They take part in dispersing the rioters.