Volunteers work to remove graffiti on a monument at the Capitol on Sunday, May 31. Protesters tagged the monuments and several locations at the Capitol during a demonstration in Salem on Saturday, May 30. (Joel Zak/Special to Salem Reporter)
UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect a decision by city officials to lift the curfew in Salem for Sunday night.
A night of unrest in downtown Salem, fueled by a protest involving an estimated 500 people, ended without injuries or arrests Saturday but a citywide curfew remains in place for Sunday night, according to Salem city officials.
Demonstrators, who moved from the downtown Transit Mall to the steps of the Capitol to the downtown business core, protested the death of George Floyd at the hands of police last week in Minneapolis. A Minneapolis police officer has been accused of murdering the man by kneeling on his neck during an arrest that was taped by a witness.
The Salem demonstration veered out of control late Saturday night as a group of about 100 confronted Salem police. Some protesters threw bricks, bottles and explosive fireworks at officers, who responded with “flash bang” devices and tear gas.
The streets finally cleared at about 2:30 a.m., according to city officials.
City Manager Steve Powers issued an emergency order just before midnight Saturday putting in place a curfew. The curfew is scheduled to be in effect from 8 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday out of concern additional demonstrations could occur in Salem. On Sunday afternoon, Powers lifted the curfew.
That has been the pattern in cities across the country, where violent protests have erupted night after night. That includes Portland and Eugene.
Protesters have been attacking what they said is police brutality and racism, raising anew the cry of “Black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe.”
In video that has gone viral, a bystander filmed Floyd as he struggled to get arresting officer to relent, saying, “I can’t breathe.” The officer subsequently was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Floyd’s words echoed those of another black man, Eric Garner. He died in New York in 2014 after police put him in a chokehold and he was recorded saying 11 times, “I can’t breathe.”
Salem city officials said they understand the anger in Salem and elsewhere over what happened in Minneapolis.
“That was horrific,” said Mayor Chuck Bennett in a Sunday interview. “This is a real call for action for all of us to take a look at what’s going on, particularly those of us in government.”
Powers said in an interview Sunday that the issues provoking the protests across the U.S. “transcend” Salem but still require attention locally.
“For Salem going forward, we need to have a continued dialogue with the community, with the individuals who believe the Salem police, the city of Salem, can and must do better. That’s a conversation I would welcome.”
Bennett agreed.
“We are going to take this very, very seriously,” Bennett said.
Salem Police Chief Jerry Moore said in an interview that his agency on Saturday detected social media posts promoting demonstrations in Salem.
“We learned that there’s a lot of noise out there about coming to Salem” to repeat what had happened in downtown Portland the night before, to damage government buildings and to target the new headquarters building for Salem police.
Moore and Bennett said the timing for the protest particularly caught their attention.
“Most events don’t begin at 10 at night. That raised some concerns,” Moore said.
“Anytime someone calls for protest in the dead of the night, you’ve got a problem,” the mayor said. “Ten o’clock is the dead of the night in Salem.”
Moore said he had already agreed to dispatch Salem officers to help Portland police with expected protests there, but canceled that in anticipation of the Salem protest.
Salem police typically work in advance with protest organizers to facilitate events with traffic control and other help, Moore said.
“They get the idea of legitimate protest,” Bennett said of the police agency. “We’re the capital city of Oregon. We’re going to have protests here.”
Bennett said he raised the prospect of imposing a curfew before the demonstration could start. He said he sensed a “high potential for problems” because of what happened in other cities.
Powers and other city officials drafted the emergency declaration Saturday evening but Moore recommended holding off.
“We were optimistic that we could maintain everyone’s right to assemble and protest without the need for mandatory dispersal,” Powers said.
Moore said the demonstration seemed to be breaking up when a group estimated at about 100 started marching again.
He said officers had been working through the evening to keep the protesters away from groups of armed civilians standing guard outside businesses along Northeast Liberty Street. Among the businesses where the armed civilians gathered was Glamour Salon, which made headlines earlier this month when its owner opened up in defiance of state orders.
At about 11 p.m. or so, Moore said, protesters started hurling bottles, bricks and fireworks at officers, primarily in the area of Northeast Church and Court streets.
It was then, Moore said, that Powers issued the emergency order and declared the curfew, giving police the lawful authority to order people out of the area.
“We weren’t going to let them destroy a town,” Moore said.
Moore said no officers were injured in the confrontations and he has had no reports of any demonstrator being injured. He said he heard that there were fights among the protesters.
He said no one was arrested.
“Part of it was we would rather not arrest people,” Moore said. He said he also didn’t have enough police on hand to make arrests in the charged circumstances.
“Given what was going on, arrests would have been appropriate,” Moore said. “If I had the ability, I would have had folks taken into custody.”
Powers said that as of Sunday morning, reports showed that three glass doors at Salem Center were broken and statutes and walls at the Capitol had been damaged with graffiti.
Moore said his agency is again monitoring social media to detect whether Salem faces a second night of demonstrations. He said if there is no indication that will happen, he may recommend lifting the curfew. He did so later Sunday and the curfew was lifted. Such a curfew makes anyone subject to arrest who is a public area unless they are working or going to work, going to medical care or are homeless.
Oregon Legislature facility services and volunteers work to cover a graffitied sculpture at the Capitol on Sunday, May 31. The artwork was damaged during a demonstration against police conduct on Saturday, May 30. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Boards cover broken glass doors at Salem Center on Sunday, May 31. Vandals broke the doors at the downtown shopping mall during a demonstration Saturday night. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Fireworks residue at the corner of Court Street and High Street on Sunday, May 31. Salem city officials said protesters threw explosive fireworks at police officers during a demonstration late Saturday night. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
RELATED COVERAGE:
PHOTOS: Protesters leave their mark on Salem, damaging Capitol art
VIDEO: Chris Ward, multimedia editor for the Chemeketa Courier, the student newspaper at Chemeketa Community College, produced this video chronicling the demonstration in Salem Saturday night. Video link HERE.
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