Portland: Protests against racial injustice, which have roiled the city for 52 nights, have been gaining national attention in recent days. One naked protester in particular over the weekend gained attention after images showing her up against federal agents went viral.
Her identity was unknown. The Los Angeles Times reports that the woman slipped away uninjured after about 15 minutes.
Images of her sitting serenely in the street, dawning nothing but a face mask and a hat, as agents fired pepper balls at protesters were shared quickly online.
Federal law enforcement officers' actions at protests in Oregon's largest city, done without local authorities' consent, are raising the prospect of a constitutional crisis - one that could escalate as weeks of demonstrations find renewed focus in clashes with camouflaged, unidentified agents outside Portland's US courthouse.
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State and local authorities, who did not ask for federal help, are awaiting a ruling in a federal lawsuit filed late last week by state Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. She said in court papers that masked federal officers have arrested people off the street, far from the courthouse, with no probable cause - and whisked them away in unmarked cars.
The protests have been ongoing in Portland ever since George Floyd died after being pinned by the neck for nearly eight minutes by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Many rallies have attracted thousands and been largely peaceful. But smaller groups of up to several hundred people have focused on federal property and local law enforcement buildings, at times setting fires to police precincts, smashing windows, and clashing violently with local police.
The Portland Police Bureau used tear gas on multiple occasions until a federal court order banned its officers from doing so without declaring a riot.
(AP)
