For more than 50 nights, protesters have taken to the streets to decry police brutality following the police killing of George Floyd. Photographer John Rudoff has captured the escalation of police violence used against them.
I am a photojournalist and have lived in Portland for many years. I have covered political events — some turbulent, others not — in Oregon and Washington, Paris, Hong Kong, Greece, Bangladesh and in other American cities, including Washington, D.C., Charlottesville, Richmond, and others.
I have covered many political protests and events since the 2016 Trump campaign because I agree with The Washington Post motto that “Democracy dies in darkness.” The trajectory of both the U.S. Department of Justice and executive branch decisions indicate a rapid descent into darkness. Some of this is playing out in our streets. I think our democracy is in its greatest danger and crisis since the American Civil War.
Without wishing to dig too deeply into the political forces that cause the actions we see before us, I observe that the recent Portland Police Bureau’s responses to protester provocations have been surprisingly forceful and force-driven. The speed, number, saturation and intensity of their physical force and munitions response compares to what I saw from state actors in Hong Kong and with the National Police (there is no U.S. equivalent) in Paris.
I have personally witnessed Portland Police Bureau use deceptive mechanisms, such as declaring a riot where there is none, which lowers the bar for use of weapons. It is a dark and unnecessary turn. They targeted journalists until they were restrained by a federal court from doing so.
The actions of the federal officers — there is an alphabet soup of agencies here now — are more deeply disturbing. They match the most aggressive actions I saw in Hong Kong, and generally are of a higher and more aggressive order than I witnessed in France.
Federal officers’ very aggressive arrests, immediate use of overwhelming force and their intentional cause of life-threatening injury to a non-threatening young man, Donavan La Bella, should terrify all of us. Just as dangerous are the lack of accountability and transparency in their deployment, their transparently political purpose, and their targeting of journalists and legal observers with impunity.
As a ground-level journalist I have tried to show the “final common pathway” of results. Decisions made in quiet rooms far away affect life and death on our streets. “The hand that signs the paper fells a city.”
On May 29, Portland experienced its first sustained demonstration in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing. Police responded massively to vandalism at the Justice Center and deployed CS tear gas throughout Chapman and Lownsdale Squares. In the background is a sign indicating a main demand of protesters, that money be diverted to human services (“care not cops”) and away from the Police Bureau’s budget.
Following a night of destructive protests downtown, but also in the setting of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, many shops and services in Portland were boarded up and closed. The narrative that “Rioting cost Portland $23 million” took hold briefly, but was shown to be false, with the great majority of lost revenue being due to COVID-19 closures, not protests.
A few days after protesters broke into the Justice Center where they destroyed office equipment and lit a small fire, police erected a large fence around it, blocking the street and most foot traffic. This 10-foot-high fence became a flashpoint for nightly protests. As nights passed, both police and protesters became increasingly violent.
Nightly, for weeks, protesters gathered at the fence, often throwing occasional bottles or stones, until they were finally tear-gassed, chased and often beaten by Portland police.
The police response has caused many injuries, both from beatings but more often from use of “less-lethal” munitions such as pepper balls and rubber bullets. Protesters were targeted and have sued the Portland Police Bureau to prevent such responses. Recently, journalists also sued the city in federal court to prevent targeted attacks on journalists, photojournalists and legal observers, and they won a restraining order.
Generally, federal officers protect the Federal Courthouse and Federal Building in Portland. They are not bound by the Oregon restraining order. Here, they burst from the Federal Courthouse firing “stingballs,” pepper spray, tear gas and 40 millimeter rubber bullets.
Most concerning is the deployment of paramilitary “special response team” officers from an array of federal agencies. These include Homeland Security, Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and others. This has been done at the direction of President Donald Trump. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is suing him in federal court to have them removed.
The federal officers’ response has been brutal, dangerous and unrestrained. About a week after this photo was captured, a federal officer shot 27-year-old Donavan La Bella in the face with a “less-lethal” munition, sending him to the hospital critically injured with skull and facial fractures. He is still in the hospital as of press time.
At the same time federal force has increased without restraint, the Portland police also have escalated their physical responses. Near the Portland Police Union building, they arrest a young woman after subduing her with pepper spray and force. The police declared a “riot,” which allows them to escalate force and use tear gas.
The extensive use of pepper spray, tear gas and smoke grenades may have long-term consequences on the well-being of inhabitants in the areas where they are used.
A greater threat to local security than the Portland Police seems at this time to be the extreme violence of the federal officers, who are here against the wishes of Mayor Wheeler, Attorney General Rosenbloom and Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden.
The Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) carries weaponry of the sort usually used in Afghanistan or Iraq. They are not under the control of civil authority, although evidence is mounting that they do coordinate with the Portland Police Bureau. On July 16, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported federal police were using unmarked vehicles to grab protesters off the street, seemingly without provocation.
This sample of used ammunition collected on July 16 represents a typical night. It includes (L-R) smoke grenades, pepper spray grenades and CS tear gas.
On July 17, Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty demanded Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler either control the use of force by Portland police or give her control of the Portland Police Bureau, of which he is currently the active police commissioner. Hardesty, with a decades-long career of social activism, is seen here on May 29 addressing a rally sponsored by the NAACP. She was president of its local chapter for about seven years. She has been one of the strongest opponents of forcible policing and has especially opposed the recent use and tactics of federal officers in Portland.
Later that night, a cluster of police officers take down and arrest a man on the pavement in front of the Federal Building; charges, if any, are not yet known.
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