It’s 10 pm at the Justice Center. Chapman and Lawndale are completely fenced off, including the sidewalks. SW Main is open to cars. Riot Ribs is set up on 4th and Salmon. And maybe 100 protesters are gathered outside the courthouse and justice center.

Previously, federal officers have arrested protesters who have stood on federal property, which means the only “safe” place to stand was the park. But now the park is closed, so the only place to stand is the sidewalk outside the courthouse.... which is federal property.

Protesters split between the federal courthouse sidewalk, the justice center sidewalk, and the park fences across the street. Maybe 100 folks.

Crowd is quietly listening to Black folks on the bullhorn. It may surprise you to learn that nobody is chanting at the fence.

Remember when the fence kept protesters away from the justice center? And now it pushes them onto the justice center sidewalk? It’s been a weird 50 days.

By the way, there’s a really intense situation at the Multnomah County Sheriff building in SE right now. Follow @hungrybowtie @45thabsurdist @IwriteOK for updates on that. I’m holding down JC while they’re over there where the action is.

Riot Ribs is sprawled along SW Salmon. There is food! There is first aid and PPE! There is clothing! There are stencils! There is a cute baby! Everything is community donated and free (except the baby). Truly amazing how much they have gathered since the sweep/arrests this AM.

Meanwhile @SnackVanTM is at the protest in SE.

https://twitter.com/griffinmalone6/status/1283996683425083393?s=21 https://twitter.com/GriffinMalone6/status/1283996683425083393

Protesters have moved around the building and are chanting at a small group of police officers.

Two police cars just pulled out of the building and went south on 2nd, which is a one-way street going north.

More officers standing outside the back door to the JC. They’re keeping the door open.

The crowd is chanting “let him go;” a protester near me says that they’re referring to someone who was arrested for jaywalking earlier.

Many officers walking up 2nd now. Other officers staying at the door. Crowd seems unclear where to go/stay.

Officers all walking BACK to the door. There’s a lot of them!

Protesters are increasingly moving into the street. Officers have sometimes, in the past, used this as an excuse to clear the block. But now they’re mostly filing back into the building.

All officers inside now. Protesters follow them all the way to the door and then head back around the corner to 3rd.

There’s a Boomer guy who shows up every single night to wherever the action is to quietly watch & smoke, and his mask is literally always down around his chin because he’s always smoking, but I JUST SAW him actually wearing his mask and this is the shit that’s exciting to me now.

There’s a police car across the street from @riotribs. protesters are all heading over to see if they attempt another sweep/wave of arrests. Meanwhile, people are still eating and looking through the free supplies.

Police cars (I think there were actually two) suddenly accelerate away down SW 4th. Protesters throw water bottles at the cars as they speed away.

Protesters start moving the fence around and PPB immediately appear to return the fence to its place around the square. Standoff now.

Extremely funny that I can’t see anything that’s going on through all of the streamers with selfie sticks.

OK police have retreated.

I don’t know what happened but a Black protester has been shot in the chest with some kind of less-lethal munition. He says he feels like his rib is broken. He also says an officer shot it out of a car. That’s all the info I have but here’s a photo.

Federal officers on SW Madison and 3rd. Only 20ish protesters over here.

Federal officers now pulling back closer to whatever this building is (anyone?) across from Terry Shrunk Plaza. It’s federal property right?

Ok yes it’s called the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building.

10 minutes later, there’s still a standoff outside whatever I said this building is called. Protesters and NLG are slowly moving closer to the federal officers... there are quite a few on the sidewalk now. (I hopped onto the sidewalk to take this.)

If you want GOOD pictures I think @bethnakamura is here now!

Many many shots suddenly fired by feds without warning. Looks like it’s mostly pepper balls being shot onto the ground, rather than at people directly.

Pepper balls create a cloud of pepper spray smoke and lots of people are coughing during a pandemic.

Protesters backed off the sidewalk when pepper ball shots were fired but they’ve regrouped and are in the steeet now.

Smoking us out with whatever this is.

Holy shit I just got really really fucked up from gas and can’t work right now fuck

Sorry for that unprofessional tweet lol but I was stuck with my eyes closed choking against the wall of the JC. Medic gave me a water and I chugged half and did two eye flushed and can kind of see now.

So obviously I don’t know everything that happened because I couldn’t see but there were many many shots of something (pepper balls?) and a LOT of gas (idk if it’s OC or CS, I don’t have the taste yet) and now federal officers are pushing protesters north on SW 3rd. By courthouse

Hundreds and hundreds of shots of pepper ball or some other less lethal. Lots of smoke. Flash bang. Multiple medics and protesters shot so much that they couldn’t walk.

I did a hello hello for y’all but it doesn’t hit the same.

Only a few protesters and medics and NLG left facing the federal officers on SW 3rd and Salmon.

“Tell Mr. Wolf, whoever he is... to leave town and not waste taxpayers’ money” says a Black protester on the bullhorn. Chad Wolf is acting secretary of DHS and is in Portland now.

By the way, I have learned that this person shot by PPB earlier is a homeless man who was at Riot Ribs.

This is another video of the swinging smoke thing. This was before I got gassed out of the area.

Another video of the smoke from the initial push north. Protesters were pushed from SW Madison a couple blocks north to Salmon. I saw individual people get hit a dozen times each with what I believe were pepper balls.

More protesters are slowly congregating at SW Salmon where the federal officers have held the line. They’re standing under the Uncharted Realities sign which seems apt.

Line has moved back a little bit. More shots fired. More calls for medics. The air up here is extremely spicy.

Just got gassed out of the area. The area outside the 7/11 is now filled with protesters coughing, choking, retching, yelling for eye washes, pouring water in each other’s eyes.

I just had to flush my whole face and now my mask is soaked. People around me still spitting and coughing. Gotta love getting tear gassed repeatedly during a highly contagious pandemic!!!!

So @LindseyPSmith7 and @MrOlmos are here with gas masks so they probably have better footage than me. Just saying.

Also can you tip everyone please thank you.

Someone on the bullhorn outside 7/11: “is everyone ok?”

Lindsey has definite proof of CS gas (tear gas) being used if the description of the symptoms didn’t cut it.

Used without warning or a dispersal call, I’ll add. The feds agents don’t talk. They just shoot and smoke.

https://twitter.com/lindseypsmith7/status/1284022291248996353?s=21 https://twitter.com/lindseypsmith7/status/1284022291248996353

Federal officers***** whatever

Crowd is slowly migrating back south to @riotribs, which is still grilling.

Snack Van ( @snackvantm) is here now, and so is @hungrybowtie.

Protesters pulling the fence off of Lownsdale Square along SW 4th. This can only end well

Fence update. A couple protesters have wandered into the park.

Someone on the bullhorn: “anyone have bolt cutters?”

Me after multiple minutes of workshopping this joke: “is that Fiona apple on the mic?”

Fence had been moved to block off SW 4th at Main. Protesters are all north of the fence. Federal courthouse is to the west across the no-longer-fenced-off Lownsdale Park.

That was a picture of the park and the courthouse. Can’t take a photo of the fence because it is constantly being moved. Now blocking SW Main.

“Tuck!” you say. “Are the rumors true? Does all the spicy air / tear gas affect your reproductive system and general junk region?”

The answer is very much yes, thank you for asking!

BTW @johnrudoff is also here, fully geared up with a gas mask.

Everyone has helmets and gas masks! There are journalists here in literal Kevlar. I’m here in a tank top like “¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ obtaining supplies sounds hard idk”

Sorry to make the last two tweets about me. This is not about me. It is just... extremely wild and surreal that this is our lives.

While we are talking about me... my lungs feel VERY bad and I cannot be the only one

Let me mention again that the federal officers repeatedly use tear gas (and munitions) without any warning or dispersal notice on folks peacefully protesting on the sidewalk or street.

I will take this time to also mention that protesters (and medics and NLG and press and @riotribs) are not the only folks getting tear gassed. People live downtown, both outside and inside. They’re also getting tear gassed and hearing flash bangs at midnight.

Fire at the former elk statue. Basically a nightly tradition at this point.

https://twitter.com/lindseypsmith7/status/1284030857196396545?s=21 https://twitter.com/lindseypsmith7/status/1284030857196396545

Fences still being moved around. Protesters roaming freely in Lownsdale now.

Fences are now moved off of Chapman as well. No sign of police presence yet. Remember like 2-3 hours ago when a bunch of PPB officers came out when a small section of the fence was moved?

I have begrudgingly walked over to Main between the parks to show y’all what’s going on.

Oops federal agents spotted over on Madison. Everyone’s backing out of the elk area preemptively. Back up on 4th now.

By agents I mean officers, again. “Federal agents” is just the phrase stuck in my brain, sorry.

A few people wander towards the federal officers on SW 3rd and Madison. I can hear a LOT of popping sounds from over there but can’t see what’s going on.

There is still a fence around the SW corner of Chapman Square but protesters are now inside the park/fence.

Ugh I meant SE but SW is also fenced. I’m sorry!

Anyway, I am now at the SE corner, which is where that federal building is that everyone was gassed away from a few hours ago. I can’t see federal officers but it seems likely that they’re inside and/or outside of that building.

Extrmely wild to walk around and overhear snippets of conversation like “...when I was dragged into the courthouse...” and “...when I took a flashbang to the foot...” and “...they shot me in the leg...”

Crowd is getting more relaxed. There’s a small Cardi B singalong happening near the former elk statue. Press and medics are standing around chatting. Protestors are sitting on the curb waiting to see what happens.

Everyone just booked it away from the elk and I have no idea what they were reacting to. I’m still here and see nothing but also one of my eyes isn’t really working

OK I can see federal officers outside that federal building on SW 3rd and Madison. They are moving towards the park slowly. Protesters have all left the park.

Federal officers still hanging out a block south of the protesters. Protesters just waiting tensely in the intersection of 4th and Main. @LindseyPSmith7 @hungrybowtie @IwriteOK @MrOlmos all out here.

I guess worth mentioning that there’s a fence “barricade” between federal officers and protesters.

There are now federal officers to the south and Portland police officers to the north. There’s like 3 blocks in between where all the protesters are spread out.

PPB left. Protesters moseying over to the SE corner of Chapman again, where federal officers are still standing guard across the street.

To be clear: tonight, we have seen federal officers repeatedly tear gas protesters, journalists, legal observers, and homeless folks, and shoot 100s of pepper ball munitions at them.

They’ve done this without warning or explanation to people peacefully chanting in the street.

I think I’m so used to it that it feels normal to me and I have to back up and remember that none of this is normal.

Getting inexplicably tear gassed and shot by Homeland Security for standing on the sidewalk in downtown Portland is not normal.

What is happening here.

And I know DHS has claimed that protesters are committing “violence” via graffiti but I have to say, I personally did not see any graffiti tonight. I also personally didn’t see things being thrown, unlike other nights. I saw people peacefully assembling in the street to protest.

I love that @TeenVogue shared this article on twitter 5 minutes ago. I feel like it’s especially for us tonight.

https://twitter.com/teenvogue/status/1284059026184167425?s=21 https://twitter.com/TeenVogue/status/1284059026184167425