Police declared a riot in Portland on Saturday as violent Antifa and Black Lives Matter demonstrators smashed shop windows in a march “against capitalism.”
Demonstrators participated in a Halloween march advertised on posters as “Capitalism is Scary,” according to The Oregonian.
The crowd, starting at around 80 grew larger as it marched from Irving Park at about 7.15pm towards the boulevard yelling, “No cops! No prisons! Total abolition!” the local news outlet reported.
As the crowd swelled to about 150 people, rioters started smashing windows of businesses they were passing. The windows of ten separate businesses were destroyed, including multiple phone stores, a Starbucks, a computer storefront, a hotel, a bank, a pair of realty offices and a restaurant with patrons inside, according to a report from the Portland Police Bureau.
Footage obtained by the local outlet, showed individuals donning black clothing attempting to destroy a local business’ storefront, as the sound of glass shattering can be clearly heard, The Daily Caller reported.
The police warned those destroying property and hurting passers-by to stop immediately and to vacate the area or be exposed to non-lethal munitions.
The warnings were ignored and Police declared the march a riot, according to the police report.
“This is the Portland Police Bureau,” officers announced via a loudspeaker, according to the department’s report. “To those marching on NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd: This has been declared a riot. Members of this group have been observed damaging multiple businesses along NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.”
“By 8:30 p.m., most of the rioters had gone and the riot declaration was rescinded,” police said.
Authorities are investigating the vandalism and future apprehensions are possible, the department concluded.