Police in Portland, Oregon, said Monday they arrested two protesters carrying guns Sunday night amid an unruly demonstration outside a county office building that houses the sheriff’s department.
Police said they made 29 total arrests, finding knives and an expandable baton on some of the others they took into custody. Officers also found homemade spike strips designed to puncture tires. They were made out of nails stuck into foam noodles, a type of swimming pool toy.
Officers also said the demonstrators, who for months have shown up with gas masks and body armor to go toe to toe with police, have now taken to wearing reflective squares in order to shine police lights back at officers.
All told, about 150 people were involved in the demonstration outside the Penumbra Kelly Building. Police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly but did not declare it a riot.
The night of violence came just hours after city and state leaders vowed to try to calm things in the wake of clashes between Black Lives Matter demonstrators and pro-Trump supporters that left one man shot to death. Demonstrators said the victim was a member of the pro-Trump Patriot Prayer organization.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, while complaining about the right-wing demonstrators, announced a new policing plan designed to quell the ongoing violence from left-wing protesters that’s erupted almost every night over the past three months.
She said neighboring police departments will help Portland, and she said the local district attorney has agreed to pursue cases against rioters accused of serious crimes. Previously the district attorney had been declining to bring cases in many instances stemming from the riots.
One of the two anti-police demonstrators arrested Sunday night and found with a gun did not have legal authority to possess it, police said. Schott Isaac, 22, was charged with interfering with a police officer and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Other charges among the 29 arrests ranged from trespass to resisting arrest.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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