Portland protests reach 100 consecutive days this weekend

PORTLAND, Ore. — Demonstrators were out on the streets again Friday night in Portland, Oregon, as the city this weekend reaches 100 straight nights of protests marked by vandalism and violence.

The demonstrations started in late May after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

A slaying of a right-wing Trump supporter shot and killed after he came downtown last weekend with a pro-Trump caravan of pickup trucks further roiled things in the liberal city. The prime suspect in the shooting, self-described anti-fascist Michael Forest Reinoehl, was killed Thursday night by law enforcement.

The exact date of the 100-day milestone depends on how the protests are counted, but everyone agrees the benchmark falls over the Labor Day weekend. Black Lives Matter protests, vigils and speeches marking the occasion are planned over three days, and Trump supporters are planning another caravan rally.

Since Floyd’s killing, nights of unrest that increasingly targeted a federal courthouse prompted President Donald Trump to dispatch U.S. agents to guard the building in July.

The presence of the agents from U.S .Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service was intended to tamp down on the demonstrations but instead reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter movement.

The U.S. agents began drawing down July 31 under an agreement between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. But as the unrest has continued and picked up, federal authorities have again said they may increase their presence in the city.

Cline reported from Salem, Oregon.

Sara Cline And Aron Ranen, The Associated Press