(Headline USA) Hundreds of people gathered Monday afternoon in a small town south of Portland for a pro-President Donald Trump vehicle rally.
The latest demonstration came just over a week after member of the Patriot Prayer group, 39-year-old Aaron Jay Danielson, was fatally shot after a Trump caravan went through Oregon’s largest city.
Danielson’s murderer, a proud Antifa member, was later killed in a police standoff as federal authorities closed in to arrest him.
Vehicles waving flags for Trump and in support of police gathered at about noon at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City.
The rally’s organizers said they would drive to toward Salem and most left the caravan before that.
A smaller group that identified themselves as members of the conservative group the Proud Boys went on to Salem, where a crowd of several dozen pro-Trump supporters had gathered.
At one point Monday afternoon, the crowd clashed with a smaller group of Black Lives Matters protesters, with both groups firing paint-gun pellets at each other.
Organizers of the earlier vehicle rally in Oregon City said they did not plan to enter Multnomah County, where Portland is located. Oregon City is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Portland.
Race riots in Portland started in late May, ostensibly in connection with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. But they have now continued for more than 100 days, with the motives—and funding source—of far-left activists remaining unclear.
Portland city officials, including Mayor Ted Wheeler, have largely embraced and encouraged the rioters. Wheeler even joined them in protesting against federal law-enforcement who were sent in to safeguard a federal building.
However, he has since backed off and sought to disavow the unruly and volatile scene, opting to scapegoat President Donald Trump for fomenting the violence.
A fire started outside a police precinct on Portland’s north side resulted in about 15 arrests during protests Sunday night into Monday morning, police said.
Demonstrators protesting police brutality began marching about 9 p.m. Sunday and stopped at the North Precinct Community Policing Center, the site of several protests in recent months.
Officials warned rioters against entering the precinct property, saying they would be trespassing and subject to arrest.
Shortly after arriving, the crowd began chanting, among other things, “burn it down,” police said. Some in the group lit a mattress on fire.
Most of those arrested were from Portland. Others were from San Francisco; Sacramento, California; Mesa, Arizona; and two from Vancouver, Washington.
Charges included interfering with an officer, resisting arrest, reckless burning and possession of a destructive device.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
