PORTLAND, Ore — Thousands of demonstrators again gathered outside the Justice Center in downtown Portland on Tuesday night to protest the presence of federal officers in the city.
The crowd outside the federal courthouse chanted "No justice, no peace" and "Feds go home."
For the fourth night, a group called Wall of Moms joined the protest after marching from Salmon Street Springs on the waterfront. The group of moms received national attention for positioning themselves between demonstrators and police during recent protests.
At around 11 p.m. video from student journalists from South Salem High School showed protesters barricading one of the doors to the federal courthouse with wooden beams and sandbags.
Around 11:15 p.m., several live streams showed federal officers beginning to use tear gas and other crowd control munitions to try to clear the crowd.
According to Portland police, a group of people started a fire outside the doors on the west side of the courthouse. Federal officers emerged from the building and used more munitions to break up the crowd.
Over the next couple of hours, police said members of the crowd opened a fire hydrant and added soap to the running water, set several small fires downtown, started a large fire in the middle of Lownsdale Square and ripped off plywood protecting a glass door to the courthouse.
Federal officers used tear gas and other munitions until the crowd began to dissipate around 3 a.m.
Portland police officers did not engage the crowd, use CS gas or make any arrests, a statement from the bureau said.
This is the eighth straight week of protesting in Portland in response to police brutality and racial injustice.
On Monday, hundreds of Portland moms and dads marched to the Justice Center to join other demonstrators. What started as a night of nonviolent protesting, ended with federal officers using tear gas, flash-bang grenades and other munitions to disperse the crowd after protesters began spray painting the federal courthouse and pounding on plywood that covered the building.
Several members of the crowd threw rocks, bottles and other items at the federal officers, Portland police said.
For the last four days, some of the largest protest crowds in recent weeks have turned out. Demonstrators seem galvanized by the presence of federal officers, who were deployed to help protect federal buildings.
The ACLU of Oregon and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed lawsuits against federal agencies alleging the federal agents are imposing on Oregonians' civil rights by detaining them without just cause and not allowing journalists and legal observers to do their jobs.