Dueling rallies engulfed five blocks of downtown Portland on Sunday as hundreds of Trump supporters and counter-demonstrators hurled insults but largely avoided physical confrontation during a tense standoff just days after police arrested a known extremist in the grisly killing of two good Samaritans.
Officers in riot gear prevented a full-scale clash between protest blocs by restricting access to Terry Schrunk Plaza, where Trump backers and free-speech advocates rallied for hours in a self-contained bubble within this liberal city.
Three distinct groups of counter-demonstrators overtook the surrounding blocks, forming a perimeter along streets and sidewalks while chanting anti-hate messages and sometimes taunting Trump supporters under the watchful eye of police.
Officers deployed explosives and pepper balls to scatter the antifascist crowd gathered in Chapman and Lownsdale squares just north of the pro-Trump rally. By 6 p.m., each demonstration had subsided without any significant violence and police had arrested 14.
"The mayor would like to thank those who peacefully protested today in Portland," Michael Cox, a spokesman for Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, said Sunday. "He is grateful that there were no reports of major injuries, and that arrests were minimal."
Wheeler last week tried to derail the pro-Trump rally, fearing it would exacerbate anger and tension in the aftermath of the May 26 stabbings of three men on a light-rail train. Authorities charged Jeremy Christian with two counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted aggravated murder in the knifings.
Christian, 35, admitted to police that he stabbed three men after they came to the aid of two teenagers he ridiculed with racist speech. Christian, who previously had been recorded making Nazi salutes during an April rally, told police the stabbings made him "happy."
The organizer of Sunday's free-speech rally, Joey Gibson, urged attendees to be civil as others in the crowd held signs distancing themselves from Christian. Several times, speakers called the victims of the stabbings, Rick Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and survivor Micah Fletcher, heroes.
"Mayor Wheeler says I spit out hate speech," Gibson told the crowd. "We've got to prove them wrong."
A string of speakers inside Schrunk Plaza espoused a pro-conservative, pro-Trump, pro-Christian agenda while simultaneously calling the government corrupt. Onlookers carried American flags, Trump banners and signs suggesting that "diversity is a code word for white genocide."
John Durano, donning a shiny body suit decorated with a cross made from American flag stickers, flew from Los Angeles to attend the rally. "I do have white pride," he said. "What's wrong with that?"
Police, meanwhile, surrounded Sunday's demonstration and limited access to Schrunk Plaza. Officers stood along the park's perimeter, blocking Trump supporters from the discrete rallies nearby.
Police seize makeshift weapons at protests
Union organizers gathered on a Southwest Third Avenue sidewalk and chanted across the street. "Immigrants are here to stay! Nazi scum, go away!"
On Southwest Fourth Avenue, counter-protesters gave speeches in front of Portland City Hall while others spilled into the street to keep tabs on the pro-Trump rally. A collection of teenagers and gray-beards united. At times, a band played.
For the most part, the crowds didn't mix. But sometimes antagonists slipped by.
One of them was Josh Reed. Police escorted Reed away from Schrunk Plaza, and back to Chapman Square, after he began asking Trump supporters about the patches they wore.
"I'm really not OK with this element having an unopposed platform in our city," he said.
Meanwhile, antifa decked out in black clothing collected along Southwest Madison Street, in the two city parks north of the pro-Trump rally. Some were observed lobbing water bottles, rocks and eggs toward officers and the free-speech gathering.
Just after 3:30 p.m., police deployed loud explosives and pepper balls and began clearing Chapman Square of protesters. Thirty minutes later, officers cleared out neighboring Lownsdale Square as agitated antifa pulled newspaper stands into city streets.
A march through downtown ensued. Police eventually surrounded and temporarily detained a large group at Southwest Fourth Avenue and Morrison Street, about a quarter-mile away from the demonstrations.
In all, police considered their enforcement efforts a success.
"We feel like things, overall, were successful in that we had a lot of people that didn't really get along with each other, at least philosophically, and we were able to keep the groups separated for the most part," said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a police spokesman.
Simpson credited that separation, plus a deliberate response by officers, for helping maintain relative order among demonstrators with diametrically opposed beliefs.
"We certainly were more measured," he said. "And that doesn't mean we were excessive in other events. It just means the dynamics in this event were very different."
As Sunday afternoon gave way to evening, protesters and Trump supporters began scattering.
William Jones, wearing camouflage pants, a bulletproof vest, a T-shirt and carrying an American Flag on a pole, sat along a concrete barrier in front of City Hall, conversing with anti-Trump protesters about whether socialism can exist in a capitalist society and whether Trump will make life better for anyone not wealthy.
Jones came for the pro-Trump rally but ended up spending most of his time with the protesters in front of City Hall. Jones said he likes to keep an open mind and debate people, trying to change opinions or let others change his.
"I'm a conversationalist," he said.
Madison Dines was in the protest at City Hall but met Jones in Schrunk Plaza. They reunited at day's end. "You certainly have humanized a fair number of your allies," Dines said.
They largely disagreed about politics. But they did find some common ground.
Jones said he felt good about how the protests ended.
"There was a lot more intelligent people than I thought," he said. "Hopefully everybody came out of the situation better."
Oregonian staff Molly Harbarger, Jessica Floum, Jim Ryan, Casey Parks, Beth Nakamura, Dave Killen, Janaki Chadha and Eder Campuzano contributed.
-- Brad Schmidt
bschmidt@oregonian.com
503-294-7628
@_brad_schmidt