As usual, Riot Ribs has everything you could ever need, including a cooler full of dry ice!

Oh, I forgot this was the new thread! It’s July 18, 2020, and I’m in downtown Portland to cover police brutality protests and the communities that have grown out of them. ~~enjoy~~

Two federal officers adjust the lock on the new fence surrounding the federal courthouse while a protester stands outside the fence with a sign that says, “BLM. Fuck the feds.”

There’s a small group of protesters at SW 3rd & Main, including this group of doctors.

There’s a new, big fence around the federal courthouse. There are also smaller fences around both of the parks. If you’re new here, there was an era of these protests called the Fence Era but I guess we’re entering the Second Fence Era now.

Also if you’re new to our protests, there used to be an entire elk statue here (technically a “big deer”) and people would ride on its back and attach things to its antlers and the city took it away and now it looks like this.

A crowd of about 200 is listening to doctors speak on the steps of the Justice Center.

This doctor is from Iran and warned about similarities in how the two countries treat protesters.

This doctor quotes Ibram X. Kendi, “Racism is not the child of race. Race is the child of racism.”

This sign says, “Feds can leave take PPB with you.”

ALSO if you’re new here, PPB and MCSO (Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office) had been brutalizing protesters at this location for more than a month before the federal police got involved.

This doctor says they’re afraid to stand on the steps of the Justice Center because of the night MCSO officers burst out of these doors and shot into the crowd without warning.

This sign says, “Fascism is bad for public health.”

This doctor says, “Ted Wheeler is a traitor,” and it gets a big cheer from the crowd. “I’ve given up on him,” they say.

This protester says more than half of people injured by police are disabled. They say police should not respond to situations they’re not trained for.

This group, who says they’re moms against police brutality, is making a human barricade at 3rd & Main.

This sign says, “The feds are ‘outside agitators.’”

A crowd of about 400 has now occupied both SW 3rd and SW Main.

The moms are chanting, “Feds stay clear! Moms are here!” at the federal courthouse.

All three fences are still up.

Haha I feel like I’m tweeting like *beep boop I’m a serious reporter* because I know people are watching nationally instead of my normal shit which is like screaming “alright y’all who has a crush on me!!” while sprinting through a cloud of tear gas

The fence around the northern park has been dismantled and folks, I’m standing in the park.

If you’re ~new~ here, touching fences has resulted in tear gas, shooting, arrests, and more from police, both federal and local, over the past month and a half.

The southern park’s fence is down! I can’t stress how dangerous it usually is to mess with the fences. No police out yet, though.

It’s mostly black bloc people dismantling the fences and mostly an older crowd chanting in the streets. ~450 people total.

The moms are facing the federal courthouse, and the crowd is behind them. The Justice Center, which PPB (and sometimes MCSO) attack from, is also behind them.

The mega-fence around the federal courthouse has begun to get dismantled.

These freaking things are here. Remember them from the early days?

The only fence that remains untouched is the one around Terry Schrunk Plaza, which is federal property. This plaza has never been a focus of the protests.

The last time I was someone walk into it, they were violently arrested by PPB. True story! That was Thursday.

This sign says “Rest in peace, Quanice. Killed by PDX police 2/9/2017.”

Riot Ribs is an entire magical village. They said their crowd has been different today.

Police deployed a smoke bomb at the federal courthouse. The crowd thinned out.

Obviously things are more tense now, but the crowd is still big. People are dismantling the federal courthouse fence. There have been no tear gas, shooting, or warnings so far.

A protester yells, “If you don’t wanna be tear gassed, stop!” at the people taking apart the fence, and someone yells back, “You’ve never even been here!”

And if that doesn’t sum up the dynamic, I don’t know what does!

Protesters are using sections of fence to block the federal courthouse doors.

(There are many doors to this building. I know because police often burst out of them and shoot at me.)

I’m worried there are people here who don’t understand the implications of fucking with the federal courthouse like this. The feds are very scary and have tools PPB doesn’t have.

I’m just standing here in a gas mask thinking, “Are they gonna attack these moms?” as antifa teens scamper around me with pieces of fence.

The moms are chanting, “Leave our kids alone!”

Here’s the mom bloc.

Someone is banging on the courthouse with a hammer, which has resulted in violent arrest and tear gas in the past.

The pieces of fence outside the federal courthouse are now being zip tied together, making it more difficult for federal police to use these doors. (Again, there are many other doors.)

A shirtless @SnackVanTM feeds the moms from a wagon. Snack Van Driver, as they’re known here, was released from jail at 11 a.m. this morning.

To be clear, I haven’t seen different behavior from protesters tonight. The lack of response from police so far is definitely because of the demographic of the crowd. We would have been tear gassed by now on a normal night.

Feds are out. They shoved the moms. Lots of tear gas and flash bangs.

Tear gas used on big crowd.

A creative protester at Riot Ribs uses a leaf blower to get tear gas off other protesters. Loud flash bangs. (The feds’ flash bangs are louder than PPB’s and can damage hearing.)

A federal officer throws an explosive at me. Sure wish I had worn pants like I normally do!

Feds already went back into the courthouse. They came out to remove the fence.

Another tear gas attack. Federal police throw an explosive at a person wearing a white coat and carrying a Red Cross sign.

Federal police went back into the building. Protesters are putting the fence up against the doors again.

Riot Ribs is fine, by the way, it’s on the corner of 4th & Salmon. (You know I had to go check on my angels!)

Here’s something they shot at us in the last attack. It was very hot to the touch. (Don’t ask me how I know that!)

If you’re new here, hi! I’m usually a preschool teacher but this summer I’m a reporter. I like oat milk!

As we wait for more tear gas, a protester says to another, “Don’t touch naked people, man! You gotta ask first!” and I have no idea what the context for that comment was!

Unusually big crowd, still 300-400.

Skateboard alert No matter how tense things get, we always have a skater!

Loud flash bangs and this smoke, but no federal police are visible.

Chants of “George Floyd!” from Salmon & 3rd, where the main crowd is. Protesters continue to put fences in front of the doors to the federal courthouse.

Now chants of “Dominique Dunn!” from Salmon. Context: https://www.opb.org/news/article/dominique-dunn-shooting-portland-racist/

Camo Pants is here to pace around and smoke a cigarette!

If you don’t know who that is, well, we’ve been here for more than 50 days. A lot has happened.

A MAN JUST STOPPED ME TO ASK “ARE YOU REALLY PRESS OR ARE YOU PRETENDING?”

BITCH I AM BUSY

Here’s the situation at the western federal courthouse doors. Protesters are also working on blockading the southern door.

This is a collection of things federal police have shot at us tonight. They have not yet used rubber bullets or pepper balls yet, as far as I know.

A protester blows bubbles as we wait for another attack. “Where is your sense of whimsy?” they yell.

Just saw @PDocumentarians and @MrOlmos, both excellent follows!

Here’s a shield line on Salmon. Most shields are made out of plastic barrels and pool noodles.

The crowd is spread out on 3rd, Salmon, and the northern park. It’s at about 350, I’d guess.

Protesters are chanting, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! If we don’t get it? Tear it down!”

A similar chant inspired local police to attack a crowd of protesters in SE Portland last night.

This well-dressed person is assembling a sandwich outside the federal courthouse. Don’t be mistaken, it’s very tense. People just do stuff like that here.

Here’s the barricade at the southern door. There are other exits to this building, but I’m not going to go check on them because I might get snatched into an unmarked minivan. ( https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-law-enforcement-unmarked-vehicles-portland-protesters/)

These new barricades have been up for more than an hour. Before that, federal police tear gassed the group two times for building barricades. These inconsistent responses are common, and they make it very difficult to predict what will happen.

Someone has arrived with a real microphone!

Protesters also use umbrellas and plastic lids to defend against rubber bullets and pepper balls.

Meanwhile in North Portland, protesters have set PPB’s union, PPA, on fire. https://twitter.com/tuckwoodstock/status/1284728073531740161

I haven’t seen any local police downtown tonight, just US Marshals and DHS. But PPB has injured multiple protesters in North Portland. That location is about 6 miles away from where I am downtown.

“No cops! No masters! No fascists! Fuck those bastards!” protesters chant. Most people have moved to 3rd & Main, away from the federal courthouse and towards the Justice Center (where PPB and MCSO are).

Riot Ribs is cooking up both real and fake meat. If you don’t know, Riot Ribs is our beloved mutual aid village type thing. https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/07/14/protesters-feast-on-riot-ribs-a-donations-only-barbecue-in-the-center-of-a-standoff-with-the-feds/

If you’d like to support Portland’s independent journalists, here’s a handy spreadsheet of their information that @imlaceyimfine made. Pick a few and tip them if you have the means! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vSus2TGVTY9xek0ySPzLEiSUbPc8Z7vvWA5w6mInVgMfrTCrWmncvzAqScbc-39KZm8wVUVtNjhS5vR/pubhtml?gid=1864571786&single=true

This protester is wearing a Speedo. Most, if not all, other protesters are not wearing a Speedo.

Someone brought an inflatable elk and put it in a cage built out of the fence. Sometimes it feels like this is all one big inside joke.

There’s a fire at the former elk statue. The crowd is still big. At least 300.

Usually these things go until 4 a.m. (except for Riot Ribs, which stays all night), but tonight’s crowd is bigger and there’s a whole lot of national attention.

My guess is federal police will wait until the crowd shrinks, then they’ll come out, tear gas, and clear the fences.

The giant peace sign from earlier is getting burned. “No justice, no peace!” one protester yells.

A grandpa-type person offered us candy from this colander. “The world has chosen us to be the tip of the iceberg with all this!” they said. “It’s an honor to be out here!”

Sometimes I function as a lost & found account. In that spirit, Griffin has your phone if you lost it in North Portland! https://twitter.com/GriffinMalone6/status/1284738693731807233

I got a new teaching shirt, do you like it?

Skaters gotta skate!! Here’s the scene at the federal courthouse. I know @PDocumentarians @suzettesmith @TheRealCoryElia @GriffinMalone6 and @DonovanFarley are still out here! The crowd has really thinned out. Down to ~150 now.

One time I made a joke about @riotribs having 1,000 coolers but I think now they might actually have 1,000 coolers.

Another sweet thing about the Portland protests is that there’s a 7-Eleven one block away from the action and it NEVER CLOSES and sometimes people chant, “Protect 7-Eleven!”

I usually do good boy alerts but I forgot today but lucky for you our correspondent acquired a good boy in North Portland while I was getting tear gassed. https://twitter.com/PlethoraChutney/status/1284723372744556545