⁍ After George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, people in Portland came out in droves to protest police brutality and racism.

---

⁍ As the weeks went by, the crowds dwindled to a few dozen and the protests increasingly turned violent.

---

⁍ Since President Donald Trump deployed militarized federal agents to the progressive city early this month, the numbers of protesters have swelled again into the thousands.

---

– After George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, people in Portland came out in droves to protest police brutality and racism, chanting that ‘Black lives matter.’ As the weeks went by, the crowds dwindled to a few dozen and the protests increasingly turned violent. Since President Trump deployed militarized federal agents to the progressive city early this month, the numbers of protesters have swelled again into the thousands, including mothers wearing yellow shirts and dads armed with leaf blowers to drive away tear gas, the AP reports. ‘Feds go home!’ the mostly white demonstrators chant. But they also call for racial justice, often led by Black protesters with megaphones. While the protests have taken on a new tone of opposition to federal intervention, Black leaders and protesters say the surge in activity—though often chaotic—has shined a spotlight on it. Instead, it’s shined a spotlight on it. Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, the first Black woman elected to that office, rejected the idea that the Black Lives Matter protests are being hijacked by white people. ‘We cannot afford not to respond to this attack on our democracy, this attack on our Constitution,’ Hardesty said.