Portland Protests: Police Claim ‘Anarchists’ Prompted Their Use Of Tear Gas, Trump Comments

Officials with Portland police claimed that their use of tear gas and other riot-control measures on crowds of protestors was provoked by a small subset of “anarchists” within the crowds. Deputy Chief of Police Chris Davis testified before city lawmakers on Friday, saying that these parties are known to his officers, but that going into the crowd to arrest individuals committing crimes would pose too much of a risk.

“It’s very challenging to go into a large, dynamic crowd and pluck one person out of there without creating an even bigger problem for ourselves,” Davis said during his testimony.

Davis, also joined by police incident commander Capt. Craig Dobson, told members of Oregon’s Joint Committee on Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform that “a very criminal element… motivated by an anarchist ideology” was mixed in amongst the nightly protests occurring in the city. They also claimed that officers’ lives were at risk due to the actions of these “anarchists,” citing their tendency to throw rocks and water bottles and to set off fireworks.

The city of Portland banned the use of tear gas on protest crowds as of June 30, except in cases where the lives of the public or officer were in danger and only after police declare a riot and give crowds time to disperse. The recent use of the controversial riot control tool has resulted in numerous lawsuits being leveled against the city from protestors who said that they were caught in the gas despite not committing any crimes.

“I can assure you that we have not somehow ratcheted down our standards so that we can get to tear gas faster,” Davis claimed.

Portland’s protests have also been in the national spotlight for President Trump’s alleged use of “secret police” in the city.

Videos have emerged from Portland showing masked individuals in military gear arresting protestors and taking them away in unmarked vans.

Trump on Sunday morning posted messages on Twitter about intervention in Portland.