Violence erupted in Portland late Sunday just blocks from the federal courthouse after the driver of a pickup truck crashed, was apparently pulled from the vehicle and brutally beaten by a mob after a confrontation with protesters.
Videos that emerged from the scene were chilling. The man identified as the driver could be seen getting punched, kicked and ordered not to leave in the middle of a city street. The man in the video, at one point, appeared dazed after the initial assault, but suffered the worst blow when he absorbed a roundhouse kick to the side of the head.
Portland police told Fox News in an email that officers responded to a report of an injured person at Southwest Broadway and Southwest Taylor Street at about 10:30 p.m..
Sgt. Kevin Allen, a police spokesman, said reports indicate that protesters “were chasing the truck before it crashed, and they assaulted the driver after the crash.”
He said responding officers “encountered a hostile crowd and a squad from the Rapid Response Team responded to help secure the scene while the investigation was underway.”
One of the videos posted to social media begins with the man on his knees in the city street surrounded by a group of people. The man tries to get up and someone yells, “You’re not leaving, bro,” and he gets pushed back to the ground.
At one point the man on the ground says he was not trying to hurt anyone, and, while kneeling, absorbs several punches because the group was unconvinced that he was telling the truth.
The crowd looks like it’s about to disperse, but that’s when another individual takes a running start and kicks the man in the head, which could be heard slamming into the pavement, according to the video. GRAPHIC VIDEO WARNING
Andy Ngo, a journalist who has been covering these protests, reported that the man crashed his car and the “mob pulled him out & beat him senseless in front of the passenger. He’s bleeding & unconscious. No police.”
Another reporter posted a video that purports to show the driver earlier harassed by protesters and his female passenger assaulted. Drew Hernandez reported that the driver sped off to evade the protesters.
Portland has seen 81 consecutive nights of unrest in the city after George Floyd’s death in police custody in May. While the protests for racial justice and against police brutality are generally peaceful during the day, drawing a wide swath of citizens, they have often turned violent at night.
Nights of unrest that increasingly targeted the federal courthouse prompted President Trump to dispatch U.S. agents to guard the building in July, which reinvigorated Black Lives Matter demonstrations and often ended in violent clashes.
Overnight Saturday a riot was declared and police used crowd control munitions, including smoke, to disperse a gathering outside a law enforcement building.
Authorities said people had thrown “softball size” rocks, glass bottles and other objects at officers. Two police officers were treated at the hospital after being hit by rocks. Eleven people were arrested.
Police told Fox News early Monday that the driver was transported to the hospital with serious injuries and the incident is under investigation.
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