Portland police forced to put dozens of 911 calls on hold amid protest as officers were busy containing riots
Dozens of crime victims in Portland were rendered helpless as police officers were mobbed by Black Lives Matter protesters and Antifa rioters who pelted glass bottles and rocks at them while chanting, “Kill a cop, save a life."
“At the time of this release over 60 calls for police service were holding around the city,” the Portland Police Bureau said in an early Sunday release after declaring a riot for the second time in the troubled Oregon capital. “Some had been holding for the length of the events described here,” authorities added, before detailing how they withstood five hours of relentless rioting by Black Lives Matter protesters.
The department said in the statement that unattended calls for help included those reporting “theft, vandalism, suspicious activity, hazards, hit and run, burglary, violation of restraining order, alarms, stolen cars, harassment, and many others."
The police force, instead, was busy dealing with swarms of violent protesters who chanted “Kill a cop, save a life” and threatened to "burn it down" if they didn't get what they wanted. Authorities said rioters started “launching mortars at the police and cars” late Saturday while officers had “rocks, frozen eggs, glass bottles, and frozen water bottles” hurled at them. The mob ultimately broke up around 2:30 am after cops made 11 arrests as detailed in the release:
At about 11:17 p.m., officers reported members of the crowd were launching mortars at the police and cars well back in the Penumbra Kelly Building parking lot, followed by thrown objects. People began to trespass on the property. Portland Police gave public address announcements directing people to stay off the property, which was closed to the public. At about 11:35 p.m., people approached the front doors of the Penumbra Kelly Building, trespassing on the property. People in the crowd continually threw large river rocks at officers. Portland Police gave more announcements and force warnings. For the next twenty minutes people in the crowd increased their violent actions toward police officers who were standing behind cars fifty feet or more away from the crowd. Officers reported having rocks, frozen eggs, glass bottles, and frozen water bottles thrown at them. Officers reported people were shining green lasers at them, which is against the law in Oregon. Somebody spray painted over a security camera on the Penumbra Kelly Building.
The projectiles reportedly included a 10-pound rock that sent two officers to the emergency room, per the release:
Portland Fire & Rescue treated two Portland Police members injured by rocks thrown by individuals in the crowd. Both of them went to the hospital for further treatment. One of the rocks (pictured) weighed 9.5 pounds and was thrown by a person in group of people wearing "press" as the officer prepared to ride away on a truck.
Portland, Oregon has witnessed some of the worst violence in the country as Black Lives Matter groups have held nightly protests following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Earlier in the day, we reported how a truck driver was brutally thrashed and left bleeding on the street by violent protesters after they chased his vehicle and he crashed into a sidewalk in Portland. Violent demonstrators were seen in disturbing footage hauling the man out of his truck after he crashed it into a tree Sunday night, just blocks away from a Black rights protest in Oregon's capital.