Portland protesters have first night without tear gas as federal agents withdraw
- Move comes after a deal was struck between Oregon’s governor and US officials to end violence
- The federal forces were first called in by US President Donald Trump to confront what he called ‘a beehive of terrorists’
Portland had its first night in weeks without tear gas after state police took over from federal agents guarding a courthouse that has been the focal point of violence between protesters and tactical officers.
The agents withdrew under a deal between Oregon’s governor and US officials to end a deployment that sparked a stand-off between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic mayors over the use of federal police in US cities.
03:08
Protests in Portland and other US cities continue, as Trump answers with ‘surge of federal agents’
A few hundred people demonstrated outside the federal courthouse until around 2am when they left of their own accord, according to a Reuters reporter.
On previous nights they were dispersed by federal agents shooting tear gas and other munitions at “pure-on anarchists” firing commercial-grade fireworks, slingshots and chemicals, US Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott said in an interview.
“Things went a lot better last night, last night was the first night in about two months that our officers and agents inside the federal court building there in Portland did not come under a direct and immediate threat of being burned alive,” said Scott, whose Border Tactical Unit agents were among Department of Homeland Security (DHS) police in Portland.
Trump sent federal forces to confront what he called a “beehive of terrorists” in Portland who have set fires and broken windows at the courthouse since late May when protests against police violence began after the death of George Floyd.