Federal agents stand off with rioters in Portland who lit fires and tried to break into the Federal Courthouse

Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters in Portland, Oregon, have once again besieged the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse in the downtown Portland neighborhood. Not only did they commit more acts of vandalism, the repairs of which will no doubt be paid for by innocent taxpayers, but they also tried to break into the building.

Reports that came in from that evening show that a large crowd of organized and relentless Antifa and BLM rioters gathered on the steps of the Federal Courthouse. They were yelling and goading federal officers inside the building to come out and face them. They used cars, motorcycles and even bicycles to block off the streets surrounding the main chunk of rioters. (Related: Black man with American flag tries to stop rioters from damaging Federal Courthouse in Portland, says “None of you guys represent Black lives.”)

At one point during the evening, the rioters began charging towards and assaulting the Federal Courthouse. They broke pieces of plywood covering one side of the building using tools such as hammers and crowbars.

By 12 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21, the violent mob was finally able to break through the courthouse’s first line of defenses. They tore off the plywood and started pounding on the windows. Reports state that at least one window was broken.

Around this time, federal agents holed up in the building began rushing out and charging down the protesters. They used tear gas and other crowd-control munitions such as rubber baton rounds and pepper spray rounds to disperse the violent mob.

Listen to this episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about the mainstream media and their on-the-ground reporters in Portland and in other cities are attempting to gaslight the whole of the United States into believing that the demonstrations led by Antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement are peaceful, when in fact they are mostly the opposite.

Standoff between rioters and federal agents ensued

All throughout the night, until around 3 a.m., the federal agents protecting the Federal Courthouse engaged in small skirmishes with rioters all around the building and in the nearby parks. They had to use pepper spray rounds and throw flashbangs and tear gas just to keep the rowdy and organized rioters away for long enough so that they could repair the damage done to the courthouse’s boarded up door.

Officers used stun grenades, tear gas, riot control munitions and more to push the crowd back. #portland #PortlandProtest #portlandprotests #PortlandOregon #PortlandOR #oregon #BLMprotest #PDXprotests #PDX #clypiancoverage pic.twitter.com/v6dVdmMvsl

— Clypian (@Clypian) July 21, 2020

Police reports from that night’s events say that the rioters, who were not only wielding pry tools like hammers and crowbars, but also an assortment of other improvised weapons such as bats. They were also carrying shields and wearing gas masks and helmets.

At one point, a group of around 75 people lined up with shields towards the building, but were luckily broken up before they made their way there.

Even though the rioters no longer tried to get too close to the federal agents right outside the courthouse, they did continue attacking the officers by throwing bottles, rocks and other projectiles at them.

Fortunately for the federal officers, by 1:30 a.m. the damages done to the doors to the Federal Courthouse had been repaired, and they all proceeded to return to its confines, where they stayed for the rest of the night. KOIN 6 News reported that as soon as the federal agents withdrew, the rioters started cheering and throwing even more items at the retreating officers, to which the federal officers responded by shooting at the violent mob with pepper spray rounds through holes built into the plywood and in other parts of the building.

Federal officers have the peephole open and it’s a back and forth right now. Protestors keep trying to throw stuff in (donuts, fire crackers, etc) and officers respond with pepper ball rounds. #portland #PortlandProtest #portlandprotests #PortlandOregon #PortlandOR #oregon #PDX pic.twitter.com/QrULnzBvIA

— Clypian (@Clypian) July 21, 2020

The rioters continued to harass the officers inside the courthouse by trying to throw items into the building through the “peep holes,” such as rocks, bottles and even fireworks. However, the federal agents mostly stayed inside for the rest of the night.

Rioters also started several fires – some that threatened to burn down the Federal Courthouse

To try and get the federal officers to come out of the building, the rioters began lighting fires right outside the Federal Courthouse, as well as in the surrounding vicinity.

The first fire was lit at around 2:30 a.m. on the side of the building. According to police reports, federal officers came out to try and extinguish the fire, but as soon as they left the arsonists simply continued to feed the fire with accelerant and other flammable materials such as the plywood used as the building’s makeshift armor.

By 3 a.m., another significant fire was started right outside the Multnomah County Courthouse. Here, the arsonists once again kept feeding the fire as people, this time from the Portland Fire & Rescue Bureau, tried to put it out.

Police reports say that several smaller fires had been lit around the area, and the Fire Bureau was required to come and put out at least one other fire.

Shortly after 3 a.m., one nearby jewelry store, H & B Jewelry & Loan Company, was also broken into and robbed. When officers from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) arrived, several windows were broken and a lot of the store’s merchandise had been stolen.

Antifa and their allies in the Black Lives Matter movement are domestic terrorists. Learn about their latest criminal activities in the United States at DomesticTerrorism.news.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

KOIN.com

KATU.com