One person died in Portland on Saturday after a day of clashes between a Pro-Trump caravan and protesters turned violent with fistfights, paintballs and shots fired.
Trump supporters gathered in a Portland suburb on Saturday in an apparent show of force and an attempt to counter the Black Lives Matters protests that have been ongoing in Oregon’s biggest city for months.
The pro-Trump vehicle rally began near Clackamas, southeast of the city center. The caravan, made up of hundreds of cars and trucks, initially planned to circle the highways. But some of its members split off and headed into downtown, Mike Baker, a correspondent for the New York Times, told NBC News’ Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” Sunday morning.
In downtown Portland, clashes quickly occurred between the caravan members and counter-protesters.
“We saw fistfights on the streets, people in the backs of pickup shooting paintballs into the crowd, other people throwing things back onto the trucks where the Pro-Trump supporters were there driving around,” Baker said.
Justin Dunlap, an independent journalist who was on the ground in Portland on Saturday, told NBC News that the “Trump car caravan was causing trouble,” and that he heard reports they were pepper spraying people. He said the scene as “super heavy.”
The Portland police described the caravan as a “political rally” and confirmed reports of clashes between Trump supporters and counter-demonstrators. “Officers have intervened and in some cases made arrests,” the city police wrote on Twitter Saturday.
Ultimately, the day ended with shots fired and the death of one person.
Dunlap said he saw the victim facing two people when he heard the shots. He did not see the gun being fired because mace was sprayed at the same time, and it remains unclear if or how the shooting was connected to the protests.
The victim turned “took a few steps, then fell face down,” said Dunlap, 44, adding that the two people facing him ran from the scene.
A picture from the scene published by Getty Images showed the man wearing a hat with a Patriot Prayer logo, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a far-right organization. The group has previously rallied in Portland.
On Sunday morning, Trump praised the caravan, calling its members “GREAT PATRIOTS” on Twitter.
The President has often called for a return to “law and order” in Portland, which has seen ongoing Black Lives Matter protests since May.
“The big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected after 95 days of watching and incompetent Mayor admit that he has no idea what he is doing,” he wrote on Twitter.
