Police declare riot in Portland as protesters mark 1 year since George Floyd's death

Police declared a riot in Oregon's largest city on Tuesday night as a demonstration to commemorate the one year anniversary of George Floyd's death spiralled into chaos.

Police declared a riot in Oregon's largest city on Tuesday night as a demonstration to commemorate the one year anniversary of George Floyd's death spiralled into chaos. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland on Tuesday evening. As the crowd chanted "burn the building down," some individuals lit a dumpster on fire and pushed it up against the justice center while others vandalized the building with grafitti, according to the Portland Police Bureau. Police officers warned the crowd that the gathering was now considered an unlawful assembly and that those who continued engaging in criminal activity would be subject to arrest and use of force. Some individuals in the crowd threw frozen water bottles and eggs at the officers as well as metal spikes in the road, police said. The crowd then marched to the nearby Portland City Hall, where some individuals smashed windows. Police declared the unlawful assembly a riot at around 10 p.m. local time and ordered the crowd to disperse. But the crowd continued wandering through the downtown area, blocking traffic in the streets and breaking windows of various businesses, according to police.