Portland protesters cause mayhem again, police officer hurt

Portland's nightly protests turned violent again even after the city's mayor pleaded for demonstrators to stay off the streets and a police officer hit by a rock early Friday suffered what was described as a serious injury.

Portland's nightly protests turned violent again even after the city's mayor pleaded for demonstrators to stay off the streets and a police officer hit by a rock early Friday suffered what was described as a serious injury. The protesters who came out Thursday night clashed with officers near a police precinct station and also used metal bars to disable police vehicles, police said in a statement.

The nightly clashes this week have ratcheted up tensions in the city after an agreement was reached last week between state and federal officials for federal agents to pull back from their defence of a federal courthouse that was previously the focus of the protesters' rage. The strategy initially appeared to calm down the protesters, but violent demonstrations re-emerged on the streets this week, miles away from the courthouse - marking a new phase in the nightly protests for Portland that have happened since May 25, following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Tear gas was used by Portland police on protesters Wednesday for the first time since the U.S. agents left the city. On Thursday, Mayor Ted Wheeler warned the protesters clashing with police that "you are not demonstrating, you are attempting to commit murder." He predicted that there would be "more attacks on public buildings" and the protests then turned violent again Thursday night, with officers lobbing smoke canisters to try to break up the demonstrations. Officers declared one assembly unlawful, ordering protesters to leave the area around a police precinct station after police said the crowd wanted to vandalize and burn the station.

Two elderly people who tried to stop vandalism at the station were hit with paint, police said in their statement, and media images showed another person trying to prevent the protesters from starting a fire at the station.