Portland Police issued a statement early Monday saying federal law enforcement dispersed an unruly crowd that had gathered outside of a U.S. federal courthouse in the city late Sunday night.
The statement said demonstrators first started tampering with a fence set up around the property before pulling it down
“Dozens of people with shields, helmets, gas masks, umbrellas, bats, and hockey sticks approached the doors of the courthouse,” Portland Police said before federal officers came outside and dispersed the protesters
Then early Monday morning, the protesters returned and “lit a fire within the portico in front of the federal courthouse,” police said.
“Others gathered around the fire adding wood and other debris to make it larger,” authorities said before the federal officers came out a second time, extinguished the blaze and cleared the crowd away from the area.