Portland Protests Overview

By Jacob Wozar
National News Staff Writer 

Back in late May, mass protests erupted across the country revolving around the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This death was in relation to decisions made by police officers, and as a result, the protests all over the country were calling for their arrests and an overall change to the policing system along with equality. Many of the protests lasted days or even weeks, but protests in Portland, Oregon have recently eclipsed the 100-day mark. The vast majority of the protests that have been continuing for that time period have been peaceful, but in a few cases turned violent. Back in late July President Trump displaced federal officers in hopes to control some of the vandalism throughout the city. This decision obviously caused the protests to grow even larger and attracting the attention of the nation.

As of late August, it is estimated that over 500 people have been arrested in relation to the protests throughout their duration. This is obviously a large number of people and the large numbers are a result of the protests becoming declared a riot. A riot is defined as “when six or more persons engage in tumultuous and violent conduct and thereby intentionally or recklessly creating a grave risk of causing public alarm, excluding persons who are engaged in passive resistance,”. President Trump was quoted saying that the reason he deployed the officers into the city was to protect federal landmarks and monuments from destruction. But this message was not clearly spread to the protestors themselves who had recorded these nonuniformed officers arresting individuals for seemingly no reason. Many of the videos went viral and were spread across the internet, further increasing the protests and awareness for what was happening Portland.

Currently, the protests are still happening and there is no timeline on when they could stop. Current polls have come out when citizens of Portland have started to wane form their initial support for the protestors. This could lead to further problems for the protestors if the people who live in the city where they are demonstrating do not support the movement anymore. As for the local police departments and President Trump, the recent poll numbers are seen as a victory. They have said they want to see an end to the protests but were previously unable to stop them due to the large support. But if the momentum starts to fade the 100-day long protests could soon be coming to an end.

Contact Jacob at jacob.wozar@student.shu.edu