Daily Mail
Police in Portland were forced to declare a riot after protestors turned violent, clashing with officers and smashing windows, as looting and protests erupted overnight in major cities following Kyle Rittenhouse’s not-guilty verdict.
Masses of people gathered coast-to-coast Friday night to decry Rittenhouse‘s acquittal in protests that reflected the divisiveness and anger stoked by the high-profile case.
Rittenhouse, 18, was acquitted by jurors on all charges – two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide for wounding a third man, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety – after killing two people during protests marred by arson, rioting and looting on August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Hours after the verdict, police in Portland were forced to declare a riot after about 200 protestors turned destructive, damaging the front gate of the Multnomah County Justice Center and clashing with officers.
‘Due to violent, destructive behavior by a significant part of the crowd, the gathering in downtown Portland is a RIOT. All participants are instructed to proceed away to the WEST,’ the Portland Police Bureau wrote on Twitter.
According to police, rioters threw objects at officers, smashed the rear window of a police car as well as windows from the city print shop and spray-painted the justice center building with graffiti that read ‘all cops are Kyles, no justice, no peace’, FOX 12 reported.
Protestors were warned they would be arrested and were subject to force if they remained in the area.
In total, one person was arrested for a warrant and five citations and 17 warnings were issued, FOX 12reported.
The high profile case has riled the nation and led to Republican senator Tom Cotton to call on President Joe Biden to publicly apologize to Rittenhouse for suggesting the teen was a white supremacist during his presidential campaign.
Biden tweeted a video where he featured an image of Rittenhouse alongside footage of white supremacist groups.
‘Joe Biden needs to publicly apologize to Kyle Rittenhouse,’ Cotton tweeted.
In Chicago looters broke into a Neiman Marcus and a Game Stop on the Southside as protest went on in the downtown area.
FOX 32 reported that 15 males stormed into a Mag Mile Neiman Marcus store, stealing merchandise and escaping in three separate vehicles.
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