Portland protesters are attempting to set up an autonomous zone in a city park following 46 days of demonstrations, reports KATU2.
The zone, titled the Chinook Land Autonomous Territory, is across the street from the Federal Courthouse. Police say protesters started blocking traffic at two of the surrounding streets and also lit a fire where an elk statue once stood at one of the intersections late Tuesday night.
Police removed some of the barricades, but some of the demonstrators returned and threw glass bottles at officers. Later Wednesday morning, police officers reportedly used tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to the Oregonian.
The Portland Police Department said in a statement early Wednesday that a “couple hundred demonstrators gathered at Revolution Hall in Southeast Portland and marched all throughout downtown Portland before ending their march at Pioneer Square” Tuesday evening.
Seattle in early July dismantled a police-free protest zone similar to the one Portland protesters are attempting to build following the death of a Black man, George Floyd, at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis.
The project inspired activists across the United States, including in Portland, where another autonomous zone sprung up, PKAZ, named after a black man who was killed by Portland police on September 2018.
But PKAZ only stood for five hours before police arrived in full riot gear to undo it.
Seattle’s CHOP zone drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who ripped into Seattle city leaders and Gov. Jay Inslee, calling their response to the zone a “disaster.”
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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