A man surrenders to Portland police after firing several shots from a handgun in the Yamhill area and 2nd Avenue in downtown Portland Sunday evening.
Jonathan Levinson / OPB
A man fired several shots from a gun in the Yamhill area and 2nd Avenue in downtown Portland Sunday evening. He later surrendered to police.
Jonathan Levinson / OPB
Far-right groups gathered in Portland Sunday for an event they called “Summer of Love,” even when the date of the rally was chosen to commemorate an extraordinarily violent clash last summer in Portland. the city. The event ended with a street fight in the city streets in the Parkrose neighborhood and gunfire in downtown Portland. No one was reported injured in the shooting incident
Anti-fascists and far-left protesters gathered in the city center in the early hours of the day to oppose the far-right rally. The two sides ended up facing off in northeast Portland after being separated for hours, leaving a bit of violence spreading blocks.
After the violence ended in northeast Portland, an unidentified man fired a gun at a group of anti-fascists in the city center. Portland police settled in and arrested the man. No information was immediately obtained about what caused the shooting.
Earlier in the day, organizers of the far-right event announced they would move the rally from downtown Waterfront Park to a commercial parking lot in northeast Portland. Hundreds of people with the anti-fascist group gathered in Waterfront Park, despite the relocation.
One of the two events scheduled at Waterfront Park this afternoon has been moved by organizers to the Argay Terrace neighborhood and is not expected to be in the center. PPB will oversee activities at Waterfront Park and the other location of the event throughout the day. 1/5
– PPB event messages (@PPBAlerts) August 22, 2021
Meanwhile, far-right activists set up a stage in a small trailer in the commercial parking lot along 122nd Northeast Avenue.
The photos and videos aired online showed members of Proud Boys (an often violent far-right group) gathering and talking during the Conservative event. Among them was Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who has been convicted of committing violence in the protests.
“We’re not going to stop,” Toese said. He added that his group “didn’t play this time,” but said they had no plans to leave the Northeast Portland location on Sunday.
Several speakers on stage Proud Boy referred to “political prisoners” as those accused of the Jan. 6 insurgency at the U.S. Capitol. As the demonstration continued, anti-fascists who had been in Waterfront Park began gathering outside the Proud Boys event.
Throughout the day, members of each side exchanged words and debated, but no notable violence had occurred during the early hours of the rallies. That changed shortly after 4 p.m., as the proud boys and anti-fascists ran down 122nd Avenue, exchanging paintballs and bear mace. Some people in the crowd threw mortar fireworks near a Chevron gas station, which had to be shut down.
Members of the anti-fascist crowd called on local journalists to follow the melee. Then they sprayed products and chemicals against journalists, and one a local freelance photographer was attacked and injured.
Portland police did not show up when the two sides clashed.
Witnesses said the violence began when a white van tried to pull into the parking lot where the “Summer of Love” event was taking place. Later, members of the Proud Boys turned the van around.
“This van next to her tried to pull into the parking lot and all that security from the Proud Boys’ door started hitting her with bats and smashing the windows,” a witness told OPB, who did not he wanted to be identified.
The witness said people got out of the van and started fleeing while Proud Boys attacked them.
“I saw this boy hit a woman. There were like two women who were beaten. It was a nightmare, it was shit terrifying, “they said.
The witness said they have been living in Portland for 15 years and were practicing driving on nearby land with another person. They denounced the lack of police intervention in the violence that took place.
“If that were in Laurelhurst, that wouldn’t happen,” the witness said, referring to a wealthy Portland neighborhood. “They would have already closed this shit.”
During the clashes, Proud Boys were also captured on video attacking people and vehicles believed to be with anti-fascists. After the groups detached from each other, Toese and other Proud Boys continued to drive through the Parkrose neighborhood shooting paintballs at people.
The Portland Police Office has frequently cited staff shortages as larger contingents of officers cannot separate groups that have historically been involved in political violence.
“The Portland Police Office is ready to monitor this event and can make arrests for crimes when resources allow. This is not always the case at this time,” the office said in a statement Friday. “The fact that no arrests are made at the scene, when tensions are high, does not mean that people will not be charged with crimes later.”
Speaking Friday at an online “Choose Love” event, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and other subway area leaders condemned political violence that has become routine in Portland.
Asked if uncontrolled political violence is inevitable, Wheeler said there are online discussions suggesting people plan to come to Portland on Sunday specifically to get into fights.
“We’re telling them, ‘Damn not,'” Wheeler said. .
The Associated Press contributed to this story.