US

Portland Rioters Set Police Union Building Ablaze, Over A Dozen Arrested

No featured image available

Portland rioters set fire to a police union building and over a dozen people found themselves behind bars after another night of unrest in the embattled city Thursday.

A large mob of demonstrators used vehicles to block street traffic and vandalized local property with insignia supporting their group’s message, according to a blog post from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB).

Law enforcement ordered the crowd to disperse, but rioters set plywood used to board up the front door of the Portland Police Association ablaze, and some in the crowd were seen attempting to break into the building, the department wrote.

To the group that has gathered outside of the Portland Police Association office on North Lombard Street at North Campbell Avenue: This gathering has been declared an unlawful assembly.

— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) September 25, 2020

Officers then began to try to quell the crowd, but some in the mob reportedly climbed atop the union headquarters, PPB wrote in the post. A total of 14 people were apprehended by law enforcement for offenses including disorderly conduct, interfering with a peace officer, arson, trespassing and resisting arrest, according to police.

Portland cops did not use non-lethal munitions and the riot concluded at around 1 a.m. Friday, the blog post read.

Nationwide unrest has surged following a recent grand jury decision in Louisville, Kentucky that charged one of three officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor, who was killed during the execution of a narcotics warrant in March.