Police declare riot in Portland amid ongoing protests
By Associated Press
Aug 19, 2020 1:35 AM CDT
Police declare riot in Portland amid ongoing protests
Police declared a riot around midnight as Portland protests continued for the 80th consecutive night Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020. Protesters gathered at Laurelhurst Park Saturday evening before marching to the Penumbra Kelly building. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)   (Associated Press)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police have declared a riot in Portland amid ongoing protests over racial injustice.

The riot was declared Tuesday night outside a county building, police said. They ordered people to leave the area. People were smashing windows on the first floor, and threw “burning material” inside, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said.

Police on Tuesday said they have identified a suspect accused of punching and kicking a man to the ground after he crashed his pickup truck on a sidewalk near ongoing demonstrations.

Authorities had received a report around 10:30 p.m. Sunday of protesters chasing a truck a few blocks from the downtown federal courthouse. The driver crashed and was then assaulted, authorities said.

Authorities are trying to track down the suspect, Marquise Love, 25, police said in a statement. The victim of the assault has been released from a hospital and is recovering.

A social media account apparently connected to Love has been disabled and efforts to locate him for comment were not immediately successful.

Demonstrations that often turn violent have racked Oregon’s biggest city for more than two months following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

On Monday night, authorities said people marched to the police union building and tried to break into the facility.

No arrests were made during Monday night’s protest and authorities said most of the crowd dispersed by early Tuesday morning.