After Midnight Anarchists in Portland Sabotaging Black Lives Matter

“How is this going to save my life?” Damany Iqwe said to a group of people who had started a fire in the street alongside the park across from Portland Justice Center. “How is lighting fires and spraying graffiti going to save a Black man’s life?”

Over the past 62 days, Protesters have gathered outside Portland, Oregon’s Justice Center where inside, police and federal agents wait. For the most part, throughout the daylight hours until midnight, it is a peaceful protest with little intervention by the police or federal agents that have been dispatched by the president of the USA, Donald Trump, to “Restore law and order.” We have seen Union members, groups of organized Mothers and Fathers make appearances to rebuke the presence of Federal Agent presence in their city. We have heard moving speeches delivered by Black men and women- even teenagers, discussing their frightening encounters with law enforcement throughout their lifetimes, detailing the impact that brutality and injustice has had on their family, their employment opportunities and their safety in public spaces.

However, as the hours slip away and the crowds of actual protesters dwindle, there is a small collective that remains behind. These are mostly young, white individuals armed with cameras to capture the events they’re desperately trying to…