The mayor of Portland, in the US state of Oregon, was sprayed with tear gas on the evening of Wednesday, July 22, as he met demonstrators protesting against police violence and the deployment of federal agents ordered by President Donald Trump in cities across the country. Democrat Ted Wheeler, who wore goggles and a mask, was escorted away from the crowd amid a cloud of gas, AFP images show.
Read also: After Portland, Trump promises to send federal agents to other Democratic cities
“ I'm not going to lie, it stings. Hard to breathe, ”he told The New York Times. " And I can tell you in all honesty, I did not see anything which justifies this " use of tear gas, he added, speaking of a " disproportionate reaction of the federal agents " and even of a " Urban warfare ".
The intervention of federal police fanned the embers
City police said protesters threw flares and incendiary bottles at federal court, sparking small fires. Mr Wheeler himself is criticized by many protesters in Portland because police have often used tear gas in the past to break up protests, until a judge orders that the practice be curtailed.
Thousands of protesters marched again Wednesday night in the large city of Oregon. The movement had started, as elsewhere in the country, after the death of black forty-something George Floyd at the end of May under the knee of a white policeman. It intensified when federal police arrived in Portland. In many videos posted on social networks, we see these agents, in paramilitary clothing and without visible identification badges, using unmarked vehicles to question demonstrators, stoking the embers of popular anger.
Donald Trump, who is campaigning for the return to " order ", announced Wednesday to strengthen the number of federal agents in Chicago and other cities after a resurgence of crime and shootings.