Fires and Pepper Spray in Seattle as Police Protests Widen Across U.S.

Other demonstrations took place on Saturday in New York, Omaha and Oakland, Calif., among other cities.

In Richmond, Va., riot police fired chemical agents at hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters who had marched through the city and gathered around the Richmond Police Department. The police said some protesters had set fire to a city-owned dump truck outside the station.

At a protest in Aurora, Colo., a hectic scene played out as people marched along an interstate highway.

During that protest, someone drove a car into demonstrators, the Aurora Police Department said, although it was unclear if the car struck any protesters. The police said a protester had also “decided to fire off a weapon,” which struck at least one other person. That person was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition, the police said, and a second person later showed up to the hospital with a graze wound.

In addition to marching in solidarity with the Portland protesters, the demonstration in Aurora was also in response to the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist who died several days after officers put him in a chokehold last summer.

Mr. McClain’s death was one of several that have occurred in police custody around the country that received fresh attention following the death in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. Mr. Floyd’s death ignited mass protests that drew millions to the streets in dozens of cities, but the demonstrations waned in most places.

Seattle and Portland, however, have seen extended demonstrations. Seattle protesters at one point laid claim to several blocks of the Capitol Hill neighborhood and declared an autonomous zone. After a series of shootings there led the police to clear the area, protests had subsided.