July 29, 2020
Welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. For the past two months there have been protests in Portland, Oregon. Some are in the daytime. Others at night. The protests began after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
According to Oregon’s largest newspaper- The Oregonian: Portlanders assembled downtown (yesterday) for the 62nd consecutive night to protest police violence against Black people — and increasingly, the use of force by federal officers stationed downtown.
President Donald Trump’s administration dispatched dozens of federal officers to police at-times chaotic protests near the (Portland) federal courthouse. Their nightly use of tear gas and impact munitions have reenergized protests and sparked nationwide criticism.
After hours of relative calm, a series of fireworks prompted federal officers to once more use tear gas on crowds early Wednesday morning.
Joining us now is Michael Levrette who works at KBOO, the community radio station in Portland. He’s personally witnessed what’s been happening there.
Watch video evidence of police escalating violence around the nation:
