Ten people were arrested late Tuesday night after a confrontation outside the Portland police station as the city saw its fifth protest in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
Najma Abdullahi, 20 of Portland; Seth Cooper, 24, of Portland; Nicole Gagnon, 36, of Westbrook; Sinit Graziano, 31, of Portland; Katherine Johnston, 31, of Whitneyville; David Morse, 30, of New York, New York; James Marschetti, 36, of Gray; Salim Mousier, 23, of Scarborough; Tasha Tracy, 20, of Standish; and Michelle Ward, 29, of Portland were charged with failure to disperse, according to Portland police Lt. Robert Martin said Wednesday.
About 1,000 protesters gathered Tuesday evening outside the Portland police station, where Portland City Manager Jon Jennings, Police Chief Frank Clark and other officers joined them to take a knee for nine minutes to mark how long a Minneapolis police officer pinned Floyd, a black man, by the neck with a knee. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was charged with murder and Floyd’s family ordered an autopsy finding he died of asphyxia.
Organizers then took turns addressing the assembled crowd before marching to the Eastern Promenade and then to Congress Square Park. The organizers called the protest to an end about 9 p.m.
The peacefulness of Tuesday’s rally was in marked contrast with one on Monday in which police arrested 23 people as burglaries and criminal mischief occurred at several businesses in downtown as what was a calm gathering gradually escalated into protesters throwing water bottles and police firing pepper spray.
But that took a turn about 9 p.m. when Martin said a group of about 100 to 200 people returned to the Portland police station, where roughly 250 officers had blocked off the nearby intersection where Monday’s arrests took place.
Fights allegedly broke out among the crowd and fireworks were set off, causing some people to scatter, according to Martin, who said that some people pelted officers with rocks, bottles and fireworks.
The crowd was ordered to disperse, and when they didn’t, officers used pepper spray balls on those accused of throwing objects at them before arresting several people just before 11 p.m., according to Martin.
“The organizers of this protest engaged with us in organizing and implementing a meaningful and lawful protest in support of sending their message to the community. We appreciated those efforts and are disappointed with how the criminal behavior of the few has the capacity to drown out that message. We remain committed to maintaining open lines of communication and meaningful dialogue, which is more likely to result in mutual understanding and respect,” said Clark, the police chief.
The 10 who were arrested were taken to the Cumberland County Jail, where they were later released.
Watch: Police push back on protesters on Franklin Street in Portland
[bdnvideo id=”2981322″]