July 12, 2020 – A unique mix of protesters around the flames where the Elk Bronze statue once stood between Chapman and Lownsdale Square in downtown Portland, Oregon. This picture is somewhat deceiving in that this night was surprisingly calm and quiet. The police were absent this night and did not declare a riot or attempt to intervene to put out the fires inside and around the fountain. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), between 24 May and 22 August, more than 10,000 demonstration events occurred across the country. Fewer than 570, approximately 5%, involved protesters engaging in violence. Photo by Austin Johnson.

July 13, 2020. – Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Portland Police Association (PPA) building at 1868 N Lombard Street in Portland in remonstration of police brutality in the Rose City and across the country. The Portland Police Association, established in 1942, is an independent labor union that represents members of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), and is one of the oldest continuous police unions in the United States. Police officers in riot gear stood guard as construction workers operated in haste to board up the windows of the PPA building. The PPB declared the gathering a ‘riot’ at approximately 12:15 a.m. on July 14 and ordered the crowd to disperse, threating to make arrests and use crowd control munitions. Hundreds of protestors remained in North Lombard Street, completely filling up the roadway. After several warnings, the PPB forcefully pushed the crowd east on North Lombard and north into the residential neighborhoods of Kenton with the use of tear gas and pepper spray. Tension between protestors and the PPB in the North Portland neighborhood continued into the early hours and some arrests were made. Photo by Austin Johnson.

July 17, 2020 – A protester taking a break in Lownsdale Square. Roughly 700 people gathered for a candlelight vigil and protest at the Multnomah County Justice Center in Portland, Oregon. In addition to leading speeches and marching, protesters tore down a chain-link fencing that was erected by police around Chapman Square in front of the Justice Center. Protesters later used this fencing to barricade entrances to the Justice Center and federal courthouse. Police warned protesters they would use crowd control munitions if the barricading continued, and later followed through with their threat by using tear gas, pepper spray and pepper balls to disperse protesters. The protest continued into the early hours of July 18. Some arrests were made. Photo by Austin Johnson.

July 17, 2020 – Protesters carrying out an individual that was yelling at the crowd to come to Jesus Christ and confess their sins. Roughly 700 people gathered for a candlelight vigil and protest at the Multnomah County Justice Center in Portland, Oregon. In addition to leading speeches, chanting and marching, protesters tore down chain-link fencing that was erected by police around Chapman Square in front of the Justice Center. Protesters later used this fencing to barricade entrances to the Justice Center and federal courthouse. Police warned protesters they would use crowd control munitions if the barricading continued, and later followed through with their threat by using tear gas, pepper spray and pepper balls to disperse protesters. The protest continued into the early hours of July 18. Some arrests were made. Photo by Austin Johnson.

July 18, 2020 – A protestor sitting with a collection of various used crowd control mutations. Approximately 500 people gathered in remonstration of police brutality and harassment on Saturday, July 18, for the 52nd consecutive night of protests at the Multnomah County Justice Center in Portland, Oregon. Protesters eventually tore down the fencing that was newly erected around Chapman Square to barricade doors to the federal courthouse next to the Justice Center. Federal police used tear gas, pepper spray and other crowd control munitions to drive protesters away from the courthouse, but protesters continued to gather after police withdrew into courthouse building. The protest continued into the early hours of Sunday, July 19. Photo by Austin Johnson.

July 18, 2020 – A protestor in a speedo and boots standing during a lull in the night’s intensity. Approximately 500 people gathered in remonstration of police brutality at the Multnomah County Justice Center in Portland, Oregon. Protesters eventually tore down the fencing that was newly erected around Chapman Square to barricade doors to the federal courthouse next to the Justice Center. Federal police used tear gas, pepper spray and other crowd control munitions to drive protesters away from the courthouse, but protesters continued to gather after police withdrew into courthouse building. The protest continued into the early hours of Sunday, July 19. Photo by Austin Johnson.

July 25, 2020. Sparks from a tear gas grenade rain down on shielded protesters. 2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS) is the defining compound of common CS tear gas and needs immense heat to be activated in aerosol form. Approximately 3000 Black Lives Matter protesters gathered outside the Multnomah County Justice Center and the U.S. District Courthouse in downtown Portland, Oregon, on the evening of July 25, 2020, marking 59 consecutive days of remonstration against police brutality and racism in the Rose City and across the country. The size of the protest swelled over the past week from the hundreds to the thousands as videos began to surface on social media of federal agents in unmarked vehicles wearing military cammo uniforms with no identification detaining protesters off the street. The protest Saturday evening began peacefully, but small clashes between police and protesters erupted as the night progressed. The assembly was deemed unlawful around 11 p.m. Around 12:30 a.m. on July 26, the protesters pulled down part of the barrier fence in front of the District Courthouse and the federal troops responded with a barrage of tear gas, rubber bullets, and paintballs. Protesters formed a phalanx style line with homemade shields and umbrellas, throwing active tear gas canisters back toward the federal troops, who advanced on the line of protesters with various crowd control munitions, including mace. The federal troops pushed the protesters back several blocks into the city. The protest continued past 3 a.m. and police detained several people. Photo by Austin Johnson.

July 24, 2020. Sparks from a firework exploding around police in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center. Although the nightly protests are confined to one block in a city with a population of over half a million covering an area of 145 square miles, the nightly protest became a major political controversy once President Trump and Attorney General William Barr dispatched over one hundred heavily armed federal troops, who wear no identifying markings on their combat style cammo uniforms, to the protests. Friday night an estimated 3,000 protesters gathered and remained until the federal troops cleared the area at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning while making several arrests. Photo by Austin Johnson.

August 29, 2020. A Portland police officer looking at small crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters gathered in downtown Portland, Oregon, near the Multnomah County Justice Center. Various protests, the majority of them peaceful, occurred throughout the day on August 29, in Portland and the city’s surrounding suburbs. Tensions rose around 7 p.m. when a large caravan of armed Trump/All Lives Matter supporters drove through the area, resulting in physical confrontations. Around 8:30 p.m. a man was shot and killed near the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Alder Street. The details surrounding the shooting are limited at this time, but the victim was reportedly wearing a hat with a Patriot Prayer logo. Patriot Prayer is a right-wing political group that has been involved in several violent altercations over the past few years in the city of Portland. Joey Gibson, founding member of Patriot Prayer, was chased by BLM protesters into the Chevron Gas Station at 400 W Burnside Street just moments after the shooting took place. Gibson was then escorted out by Portland police and the BLM protesters returned peacefully to the Justice Center. The remainder of the evening was peaceful. Photo by Austin Johnson.

June 6, 2020 –. Approximately 500 hundred BLM protestors at Irving Park in Portland, Oregon. This event began at Revolution Hall and then proceeded north on SE Grand Ave, one of the Rose City’s busiest streets. Rose City Justice, a civil rights collective, organized and lead the event. Photo by Austin Johnson.

August 29, 2020. Portland police sitting down after a long night near the Multnomah County Justice Center. Various protests, the majority of them peaceful, occurred throughout the day on August 29, in Portland and the city’s surrounding suburbs. Tensions rose around 7 p.m. when a large caravan of armed Trump/All Lives Matter supporters drove through the area, resulting in physical confrontations. Around 8:30 p.m. a man was shot and killed near the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Alder Street. The details surrounding the shooting are limited at this time, but the victim was reportedly wearing a hat with a Patriot Prayer logo. Patriot Prayer is a right-wing political group that has been involved in several violent altercations over the past few years in the city of Portland. Joey Gibson, founding member of Patriot Prayer, was chased by BLM protesters into the Chevron Gas Station at 400 W Burnside Street just moments after the shooting took place. Gibson was then escorted out by Portland police and the BLM protesters returned peacefully to the Justice Center. The remainder of the evening was peaceful. Photo by Austin Johnson.

June 13, 2020 – Day 19. Jonathan Langevin brandishing a rubber bullet injury he received from Portland police 11 days ago. He was attending a protest march organized by Rose City Justice, a non-profit civil rights collective. This group would come to organize several more protest marches and community events in the Rose City before the year was over. Like many of the events this group would hold, it started at Revolution Hall in SE Portland. Photo by Austin Johnson.

A protestor turning away right before a large firework explodes against the walls of the Justice Center. Roughly four hundred protesters faced off with the Portland Police Bureau in a tear gas and firework filled encounter at a Fourth of July protest in downtown Portland, Oregon. Protesters started the night in Chapman Square directly across the street from the Multnomah County Justice Center for a demonstration marked by flag burning, chanting and firework lighting. The protest escalated as the night went on, however, and Portland police eventually declared a riot and used tear gas along with other crowd control munitions to disperse protesters as they launched fireworks at the Justice Center building. Protesters threw fireworks at police as they were forced to retreat toward the Willamette River to escape an advancing wall of officers and tear gas. Police fired roughly 25 cans of tears gas by midnight. Photo by Austin Johnson.