PORTLAND—A man who crashed a truck in Portland protest night on Sunday, August 16 was being assaulted seriously by a group of people who were chasing the truck before it crashed, according to the Portland Police Bureau and videos posted on Twitter by a witness.
Black Lives Matters protests have been going on more than 80 days. On August 16, a report which Portland Police Bureau received said that “protesters were chasing a truck before it crashed, and they assaulted the driver after the crash.” Central Precinct officers responded to the report of an assault at 10:27p.m., and the victim with serious injury was taken to the hospital by ambulance, said the Portland Police Bureau. He has been recovering and expected to survive, and the incident is under investigation, without any arrests so far, according to the Portland Police.
A video taken and posted on Twitter by a witness man contains graphic violence. It shows a man with tied hair running to the victim from behind and kicking him in the face, when the victim was already hurt and lying in the street near his crashed truck. The witness commented “This kick to the head came after several heavy blows from fists.” The victim appeared to be knocked unconscious, and people around him ran up to him to provide aid. Portland police chief Chuck Lovell cited this video and tweeted, asking for information about “this alarming assault”.
Another video on Twitter, which was taken by a witness, shows an earlier violent incident. A crying woman going out of a truck is tackled to the ground by a man from behind. The video subsequently shows the truck going into the intersection and speeding down the street to where it crashed. It’s not clear what happened before the crash, said KGW8. The witness analyzed the protest and reported in the Fox news “There are the original Black Lives Matter protesters who are there who want some type of police reform who are voicing their opinion, but later in the night, we see a change of guard where we see these agitators come onto the streets and antagonize the police, causing violence and destruction.”
On Monday, August 17, police said the victim man may have been trying to defending a transgender woman who was being beaten and robbed by Black Lives Matter protesters in the area of Southwest Taylor Street and 4th Avenue. “Investigators have not yet identified or contacted the woman,” according to KGW8.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Portland Police Bureau Detective Brent Christensen at 503-823-2087.
