Portland protesters predict demonstrations will continue at least through election

(Image credit: Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

last updated 6 September 2020

Protests against police brutality in Portland, Oregon, that were originally sparked by the killing of George Floyd in May, have continued for 100 straight days, The Associated Press reports, and demonstrators suggested it would be some time before they stopped.

Tupac Leahy, a 23-year-old Black man from Portland who told AP he has shown up for the protests on about 70 of the 100 days, predicted the demonstrations would last until November's general election. "I don't see it slowing down," he said.

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Portland is far from the only city in the U.S. to experience protests since Floyd's killing, but it has been one of the central and most consistent sites of demonstrations, which have turned violent — and even deadly — at times, including Saturday night, when police declared a riot after protesters hurled Molotov cocktails into the street, igniting a fire. Police reportedly arrested more than 50 people, and videos appeared to show officers using tear gas to disperse the crowd (police confirmed the use of tear gas a defensive measure, per AP.) At least one community member was injured, police said. Read more at The Associated Press.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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