Portland’s protester moms were hit with CS gas on Sunday night, after several hundred women, many wearing bicycle helmets and masks, attempted to form a human shield between anti-racism protesters and law-enforcement officials outside a federal courthouse in the downtown area. “Moms are here! Feds stay clear!” chanted the group of about 100 women, carrying signs that read, “Angry mama bear BLM” and “Moms are pissed.” It was the second night in a row that the group of women showed up to the city’s front lines of the rolling demonstrations against police brutality and racism. The White House has recently deployed federal officers to Portland, amid fierce opposition from many local and state leaders. In an interview Sunday with The Washington Post, top Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli said the agency will keep a “heavy presence” in the city. “You can expect that if violence continues in other parts of the country, the president has made no secret of the fact that he expects us where we can cooperate or have jurisdiction to step forward and expand our policing efforts there to bring down the level of violence,” Cuccinelli told the Post.
On Saturday night, federal agents were filmed beating a 53-year-old man, now identified as Navy veteran Chris David. In the 11-second video—which has been viewed more than 7 million times—David seems impervious to the attack, before turning and walking away while giving cops the double finger. Last night marked the 53rd night of protests in the city. In one extraordinary moment, a woman, completely naked except for a face mask and a hat, strode through the protests and squared up to federal agents and did a series of ballet and yoga moves. The striking moment was captured on social media and the unidentified woman has been dubbed “Naked Athena.”
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