PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — City officials came together to discuss recent vandalism and “behavior” seen in Portland over the past week — including smashed windows downtown and torched police cars elsewhere in the city.
On Wednesday afternoon, Portland Police Chief Bob Day was joined by Mayor Ted Wheeler and federal partners to discuss what Chief Day called a “level of unacceptability we have for violent behavior” while supporting the community’s First Amendment rights.
“The ugliness of this behavior is only highlighted by the unconscionable act, in my opinion, of highjacking the First Amendment rights of people who were protesting peacefully,” Mayor Wheeler said.
On May 1, protesters marched down the South Park Blocks amid the occupation of the Portland State University’s Millar Library during a student-led protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
That day, Portland police found a call to action on social media that appeared to list businesses to target near the march on South Park Blocks. During the march around 5 p.m., several of the businesses with workers inside had their storefronts attacked.
The South Park Blocks itself was a frequent focus of protest activity last week, when the multi-day PSU library occupation incident happened, as well as the week before when there were encampments at the historic park. However, Mark Ross, a Portland Parks and Recreation spokesperson, told KOIN 6 News Wednesday morning that the South Park Blocks “are in fine shape with no issues.”
Police reported that on May 1, people in the crowd during that evening’s march smashed windows at the university’s campus safety office, and one PSU student told KOIN 6 News they saw people spraying graffiti on the building.
Another student journalist, Gabriel Elmosleh, recorded a video of people in black taking hammers to the windows at a nearby Starbucks.
KOIN 6 News reporter Lisa Balick found a smashed bank ATM in the area along with spray paint at the Nordstrom and Apple Store across the street. Police also reported a commercial-grade mortar – not detonated – that their bomb squad had to remove.
In a joint press conference last week, Mayor Ted Wheeler questioned the damage to local businesses in a protest over the ongoing Gaza-Israel conflict.
“If you believe that by damaging a business, which frankly harms the front line employees who work in those businesses – we have reports that they were frightened, that they were traumatized,” Wheeler said. “If you believe that damaging these businesses or trashing a library on a university campus will impact events in the Middle East, you are delusional.”
Officials also addressed the overnight damage of more than a dozen Portland police training vehicles at a training facility on Northeast Airport Way last week.
When officers arrived, they said they found 15 vehicles inside the fenced training area burning. The fires were put out and no injuries were reported. An investigation is still ongoing.
