Several businesses and bus shelters were damaged, and a trash can in a police station was set on fire after a gathering Saturday night in Peninsula Park, police said.
Police said a group of people gathered at Peninsula Park, 700 North Rosa Parks Way, around 8 p.m. on Saturday. At around 9 pm, the members of the group began to march.
Some people broke windows and detonated explosives in a cafe on Northeast Boulevard Martin Luther King Jr., police said. Police said one bank broke its windows and another bank was sprayed with graffiti on Block 5700 on Northeast Boulevard Martin Luther King Jr. According to police, three sheds were damaged and several street signs were painted with graffiti.
Police said “one or more suspects” also set fire to a trash can in the North Portland Police Department. The Portland Fire and Rescue Service has been called in to put out the blaze, police said.
Portland police say some people who gathered at a demonstration at Peninsula Park in Portland on Saturday night caused damage to businesses, including broken windows in a cafe. (Photo: Courtesy of Portland Police)
According to social media reports, the gathering and march of Peninsula Park was intended as a demonstration calling for justice for Patrick Lioya, who was shot and killed by a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan during a traffic stop on April 4. Lioya, who moved to the United States with her family from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014, was shot in the back of the head by a police officer while lying face down, according to a video released this week.
Protesters in Grand Rapids gathered to protest the shooting and call for the name of the police officer who shot Lioja. The employee, who is reportedly on paid leave while Michigan police are investigating, has not yet been identified.
More than 250 people have been fatally shot dead by police officers across the country this year, according to a Washington Post database.
“Christy Turnquist.”
kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist
Add Comment