As Federal Agents Retreat in Portland, Protesters Return to Original Foe: Local Police

PORTLAND, Ore. — Late on Saturday night, with protests in Portland continuing into their third month, one crowd of demonstrators gathered yet again in front of the city’s fortified federal courthouse while another group traveled miles east to a precinct used by local law enforcement.

At the federal courthouse, the crowd saw a third consecutive night of calm since the start of a plan to withdraw federal agents who had brought a militarized crackdown to the city. But at the police precinct, officers pointed bright lights into the crowd, warned protesters to disperse, then chased them through the streets, knocking people to the ground, using pepper spray and making arrests.

While the arrival of federal agents wearing camouflage last month outraged protesters and local government leaders alike, their presence also masked the more personal grievances that protesters have long had with their local police force.

Gia Naranjo-Rivera, who had been protesting for weeks, said that while she was appalled by the arrival of federal agents, she believed local police officers brought their own form of hyper-militarization and repressive tactics. She was arrested on Thursday by local police after breaking caution tape the police had put up to close two locked parks next to the federal courthouse.