“Our job is to unmask them, arrest them and prosecute them,” he said, asking the public to contact the police and provide them with information about the rioters, write down their license plate numbers or film them when they commit acts of vandalism.
Wheeler asked for residents’ cooperation, which he underlined should be nonconfrontational, ahead of a march planned for Friday night that was announced on social media as an “autonomous demonstration.”…
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The city of Portland has been a center of protests against racial injustice and police brutality since last summer.
After George Floyd’s death, thousands of protesters poured into the streets for more than 100 straight days, and some engaged police in violent clashes, throwing firebombs, rocks and bottles at officers, while police responded with tear gas.
In September, the anti-police demonstrations reached a violent climax when Michael Forest Reinoehl, an antifa supporter, allegedly shot and killed a supporter of a far-right group. Reinoehl was later killed by federal authorities when they tried to arrest him….