One person was shot in Portland on Saturday night as tensions between pro-Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter counter-protesters boiled over.
Donald Trump’s supporters staged a series of demonstrations across the country on Saturday, with hundreds of people congregating in Portland, Los Angeles, Texas, Ohio, Georgia and beyond to celebrate their president and rally for his re-election.
In Portland – among the most turbulent of cities in the wake of the May 25 shooting of George Floyd – more than 600 cars flying Trump flags and banners set off in a convoy around and through the city, after tense scenes at their meeting point and clashes with counter-protesters.
The shooting took place on 3rd Avenue, which runs through the heart of Portland, past Portland State University.
The victim’s condition was unknown.
As they entered the city center, Trump supporters sitting in the back of pick ups used pepper spray on counter-protesters. Eggs were thrown at their vehicles, and the Trump supporters retaliated by turning paintball guns on the crowd.
A reporter was among those shot.
Two bare-chested men were filmed punching each other as the violence spread. Riot police swarmed into the center and began making arrests.
A block away from the scene of the shooting, a black man in a face mask was pictured having an apparently calm debate with a white man in a baseball cap, while around them loud chants of ‘Black Lives Matter’ were heard.
The Morrison Bridge was the scene of an ugly conflict as the caravan pulled into the city, and one Trump supporter drove his truck towards protesters on an off ramp. Two people brawled on the bridge, sparking a rapid response from Portland police who arrested the pair.
As night fell the caravan was cruising around town, with what organizers hoped was a show of strength to rival the Left-wing activists who have largely dominated the previous 94 nights of protest.
Supporters of Donald Trump met in Clackamas town center on Saturday at 4pm, to drive around Portland
The Portland, Oregon caravan was organized on Facebook, with 2,500 people intending to attend. Around 1,000 showed up
Saturday’s rally was intended to follow a route circling around Portland and avoiding the downtown area, but cars diverted
Seventy-four people are now facing federal charges related to protests that have rocked the city for three months since Floyd was killed, the local U.S. attorney announced Thursday.
The misdemeanor and felony charges include assaults on federal officers, arson and damaging federal property.
On Friday night protesters took to the condo lobby of Portland’s mayor, staging a sit-in and demanding police budget reductions and Mayor Ted Wheeler´s resignation. They left after a few hours.
Saturday’s pro-Trump demonstration was organized on Facebook, and 2,500 people said they intended to attend.
A New York Times reporter on the scene estimated that around 1,000 people showed up at Clackamas Town Center at 4pm.
‘We would like to get some fellow American patriots together for a Trump 2020 Cruise rally to support our great president,’ wrote Alex Kyzik, one of the organizers.
Attendees were encouraged to bring their guns, and conceal them.
Some of those at the start, however, were openly flaunting their assault rifles.
Black Lives Matter activists confronted the pro-Trump demonstrators in Clackamas on Saturday
Fans of the president in their red MAGA hat held up a sign reading: ‘All Lives Matter’, taunting the BLM crowd
‘I know for the most part, everyone here is gonna be pretty civilized. We’re all gonna support the president in safe way,’ said Brandon Beck, who was attending his first Trump rally.
He told Oregon Public Broadcasting: ‘Obviously we’re all gonna be in cars, none of us are gonna be burning, looting, or anything. We’re just trying to have fun and stay safe today.’
Joe Reminar told the site that he was a veteran of Trump rallies, and Saturday’s was the fifth or sixth he had attended.
‘Today is about freedom and showing that Antifa doesn’t have the full chokehold on Portland and that we’re taxpaying citizens and we don’t want shit tore up,’ he said.
‘We’re gonna be a major parade and showing strength for our president. Which we appreciate all that he’s done, keeping the economy going, fighting China on this virus, keeping us free and saving our Second Amendment.’
A crowd of Black Lives Matter activists turned up to meet them, waving their placards and engaging in tense confrontations.
One Trump supporter ripped off his jacket, squaring up for a fight, before he was escorted away by other Trump supporters.
A Black Lives Matter activist was pepper sprayed in another melee.
The convoy set off, with Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office vehicles blocking intersections around the Town Center mall to allow the parade of vehicles to pass through.
A heavy presence of Oregon state troopers was seen along Highway 224, the pro-Trump caravan’s primary route to Portland.
The caravan was intended to avoid downtown, but as night fell many of the cars strayed from the intended route and headed into the city center.
The caravan was due to disperse at 9pm.
A Black Lives Matter rally was being held across town, leading to concerns about flare-ups among the rival gangs.
In Georgia, hundreds of Trump supporters took to the waters of Lake Allatoona, 20 miles north of Marietta.
Flying flags proclaiming their support, they cruised up to Flamingo Cove – some with cardboard cutouts of the president in their boats, and others wearing masks of his face.
One woman surveying the scene told 11Alive it was ‘pretty amazing.’
‘Just the support, everybody out here with the flags and the Trump banners, just showing their support,’ she said.
More than 200 boats took to the waters of Lake Allatoona on Saturday afternoon in support of Trump
Some fans of the president had cardboard cutouts of him on their boat; others wore masks of his face
Crowds gathered on the bridge above the lake to watch the flotilla sail by on Saturday afternoon
Supporters waved flags in support of Trump and the police, and the yellow Gadsden flag used by his fans
In Los Angeles, a rally of around 200 people in Beverly Hills was declared an unlawful assembly as anti-Trump infiltrators were found among the MAGA crowd.
Scuffles ensued, and the rally was abandoned.
Trump supporters gathered in Beverly Hills, only for scuffles to break out and the rally to be abandoned
Supporters of the president have been congregating weekly at Beverly Gardens Park since late July