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Portland, OR – Antifa protesters attempted to storm Portland City Hall on Wednesday morning to level allegations of police brutality.
The demonstration was in response to the city’s handling of antifa’s counter-protest at the Patriot Prayer gathering on Saturday.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 8, at least 30 members of the group heckled the city council members and disrupted their scheduled meeting while chanting “end police brutality,” KGW footage of the scene showed.
One man was removed from the meeting after he began swearing at the council members, The Oregonian reported.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler urged those in attendance to stop chanting and disrupting the meeting, but they refused.
The chaos brought the meeting to a halt, and councilmembers were forced to relocate to continue their session. They allowed only city staff, the media, and individuals called to testify to matters on the agenda into the room, The Oregonian reported.
Two protesters were arrested after they laid down in the hallway and refused to disperse, according to KGW.
Other members of the group blocked the entrance to city hall and repeatedly chanted “Shame on you,” as police attempted to push back the crowd outside the building’s front doors, KGW footage showed.
Some protesters carried signs depicting the injuries they allegedly sustained during their clash with police during the Saturday riots, The Oregonian reported.
“It’s our f–king building!” one protester yelled, according to The Oregonian.
“Come down, Wheeler!” the group chanted.
At one point, a demonstrator smashed a glass container from a nearby coffee stand onto the ground, while others scuffled with security officers.
“F–k you!” one woman screamed in video footage posted by The Oregonian.
“Who do you serve?” the protesters chanted.
Once the group was pushed outside, security officers continued to fend off the demonstrators’ attempts to re-enter the building.
At one point, a man wearing a helmet and a bandana over his face repeatedly hit a security officer in the head with a megaphone before scurrying away, the video showed.
City Hall Security Chief Dorothy Elmore said she was hit in the arm by a demonstrator during the confrontation, The Oregonian reported.
“Step back! Step back!” one female officer commanded in the video.
“F–k you, you piece of s–t!” a protester retorted.
“Oh yeah, send the women in!” another taunted, referring to the female officers who arrived at the scene to hold the group at bay.
An unidentified male and a 67-year-old woman were both arrested for second-degree criminal trespass, KOIN reported.
“I just want to say for the record I think it’s unconscionable that people would come to city hall with the intention of ‘shutting down city hall,’ and then attack our security,” Wheeler said of the incident. “Whatever message you thought you were delivering today, it was completely lost in your senseless acts of violence against our city staff.”
The group told KGW that they plan to speak with the city council next week about their allegations of police brutality from the earlier altercation on Saturday.
During that incident, the Portland Police Bureau said they observed antifa members with weapons during a counter-demonstration at the Patriot Prayer rally, and issued antifa multiple orders to disperse.
Rose City Antifa formed a line with homemade shields and weapons while confronting the police.
The antifa group began throwing projectiles at police and smashed the window of a police car.
Police responded with crowd control measures, which included the use of flashbangs, and ordered members on both sides of the demonstration to disperse.
It’s not clear at this time if the attack on officers preceded the use of crowd control weapons, or if the crowd control was in response to the failure to disperse.
Antifa also wreaked havoc in Berkeley, California on Sunday, when they used hammers to smash out the windows of a U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office, threw explosives at police, and torched city vehicles during a counter-rally against a conservative gathering.
“No police were around as the black bloc traveled down the street, and a handful used hammers to smash the windows of Shattuck Ave US Marine Corps Recruiting office,” filmmaker Ford Fischer wrote in a tweet.
Ford captured the attack on the military recruiting office on camera, but when antifa rioters noticed him, he was the next to be threatened.
“After I filmed the antifa break the Marine Corps office window and throw a torch into a dumpster, one of them called a few over to confront me. They basically told me to leave, implying attack if I didn’t. I left,” Ford tweeted.
“’Get the f–k back. Cops aren’t here. They won’t help you,’” antifa told Fischer when they observed him filming them.
But the police were on hand to break up some of the violence, and officers arrested at least 20 rioters and confiscated “dozens of weapons,” FOX News reported.
Authorities said three people suffered minor injuries after “extremists” tossed explosive devices at Berkeley police and Alameda County sheriff’s deputies, according to FOX News. No officers or deputies were injured.
Police said antifa damaged 21 city vehicles by setting them on fire and slashing their tires. Fires were also set in trash cans along the protest route, FOX News reported.
You can watch footage of antifa’s attempted takeover at Portland City Hall in the videos below: