Holly MatkinPortland, OR – Rioters attacked federal officers with explosives and shoved a blazing dumpster into the street outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building on Wednesday night.
The mayhem kicked off just before 10 p.m., when a large group assembled in the 4300-block of South Macadam Avenue and started moving barriers and construction cones into the roadway to block traffic, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said in a press release.
About a half hour later, the rioters set a dumpster on fire and shoved it into the middle of Bancroft Street in front of the ICE building, police said.
Federal officers headed outside to push the mob away in order to make room for Portland Fire and Rescue to respond.
Video footage showed fireworks exploding around the officers as they worked to move the rioters away from the inferno.
They fired pepper-ball rounds and tear gas at the crowd during the chaos, according to the New York Post.
Here is the full, 4K @N2Sreports footage of last night's protest outside the ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, shot by @MaranieRae. As always, all footage is available to license.https://t.co/0HFfp71Idu
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) January 29, 2021
PPB officers showed up at approximately 11 p.m. to help the federal officers “in creating an area where Portland Fire and Rescue could safely arrive and extinguish the dumpster fire,” according to the press release.
Once the fire was out, the PPB cleared the scene.
At the #antifa riot at the Portland ICE facility overnight, they set a dumpster on fire & attempted to push it into the building. Federal officers came out to stop them. Antifa threw a mortar explosive at police. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/KVMpAJ3LJ1
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) January 28, 2021
Within 30 minutes, the mob started hurling “rock-like projectiles” at the federal officers, according to the press release.
“We showed up to create a safe space for the fire department to come in and put out the fire,” PPB spokesperson Melissa Newhard told the New York Post. “After that, we left the area and [Federal Protective Service agents] went outside again and started taking on projectiles.”
The PPB returned to the area and helped to disperse the crowd once again, according to the press release.
Portland police fired a single less-lethal munition while breaking up the mob.
They also ended up arresting 20-year-old Karl Nilsson on charges of attempted assault on a public safety officer, disorderly conduct, and riot, according to the press release.
Federal officers rushed out to make a targeted arrest of an #antifa at the riot outside the Portland @ICEgov facility last night. Karl Anders Nilsson, 20, was arrested & charged w/felony rioting & more. He was quickly released without bail. #PortlandRiots pic.twitter.com/yReHDao6C7
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) January 28, 2021
According to reporter Andy Ngo, Nilsson was previously arrested during a riot last year for carrying a concealed weapon and other offenses.
Those charges were later dropped, Ngo said.
Nilsson was “quickly released without bail” after his arrest Wednesday night, according to Ngo.
Karl Anders Nilsson was arrested overnight at the Portland #antifa riot. He's charged w/felony rioting, attempted assault on an officer & more. He was arrested at a riot last year & charged w/carrying a concealed weapon & more. His charges were dropped. https://t.co/RfUAHTyHm4 pic.twitter.com/EYP4RhL09r
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) January 28, 2021
A group of 50-60 rioters returned to the area shortly after the second dispersal and resumed their attack, hurling projectiles at the ICE building and blocking South Bancroft Street until approximately 12 a.m., police said.
No officers were injured during the attack, the New York Post reported.
Officer Newhard said the demonstration appeared to be planned in advance, but she refused to name the group responsible for organizing it, according to the paper.
Sandy Malone
