PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Protesters took to the condo lobby of Portland’s mayor Friday night as Oregon protests against racial injustice persist.
The protesters at the sit-in have issued demands, including police budget reductions and Mayor Ted Wheeler’s resignation, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported. A crowd of about 150 had gathered outside the building.
Portland has been gripped by nightly protests for three months since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The demonstrations, often violent, usually target police buildings and federal buildings. Some protesters have called for reductions in police budgets while the city’s mayor and some in the Black community have decried the violence, saying it’s counterproductive.
Seventy-four people are now facing federal charges related to protests that have rocked the city for three months since George Floyd was killed, the local U.S. attorney announced Thursday.
The misdemeanor and felony charges include assaults on federal officers, arson and damaging federal property.
Earlier Friday, Wheeler had said he sent a letter to President Donald Trump declining his offers to help the city manage the protests. In early July, Trump sent more federal agents to the city to protect the federal courthouse, but local officials said their presence made things worse. The federal agents later pulled back.
