Bible, American Flag Burned as Portland Tensions Escalate
Race-focused riots in Portland, Oregon reached a new low early in the morning on Aug. 1 when protesters burned an American flag and a Bible, according to the New York Post.
For more than 60 days, Black Lives Matter demonstrators and others have drawn national attention in the city in protests that began after the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minnesota who died in police custody.
KOIN.com reports that Friday-night demonstrations were largely peaceful and continued “without the presence of police or federal officers.” But then the atmosphere changed:
“Around 12:30 a.m. people began starting a fire in the street in front of the federal courthouse, which started with burning a Bible, then an American flag, until more and more items were added. Finally around 1 a.m., yellow-clad members of the group Moms United for Black Lives Matter went over to the fire and put it out with bottles of water and stamped it out.”
A Saturday, Aug. 2, Twitter post captured the Bible and flag burning on video. Ian Miles Cheong captioned the video, “Left-wing activists bring a stack of Bibles to burn in front of the federal courthouse in Portland.”
Left-wing activists bring a stack of Bibles to burn in front of the federal courthouse in Portland. pic.twitter.com/lYWY0x8n8P
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 1, 2020
