PORTLAND, Maine — Police chiefs from Greater Portland will joined together at Portland City Hall on Wednesday to speak about recent events.
This comes after three straight nights of protests in Portland, in response to the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Protests have erupted in Maine, throughout the United States, and around the world for several days after George Floyd, a black man, was killed by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, and has since been arrested and charged.
ENTIRE PRESS CONFERENCE
The Portland Police Department said it made a combined 33 arrests during Monday night and Tuesday night's protests.
Things seemed to begin to escalate again Tuesday evening after organizers urged people to peacefully go home after ending the demonstration at 9 p.m. A smaller group didn't, though, and marched back to the Portland Police station. They were met with police again in riot gear.
Around midnight on Tuesday police addressed the crowd of about 100 remaining protesters and said they are attending an 'illegal gathering' and that if they didn't disperse they are subject to arrest. A handful did leave, but most remained.
Police began ordering people to disperse around 10:30 p.m. and said people would be arrested if they didn't. Police began using disperse tactics.
About 200 protesters with disjointed missions remain outside of the police department. Some set off firecrackers, and others urged them to remain peaceful.
Police began closing in on protesters to close streets. Police fired pepper ballers, which are like paintball guns but shoot out balls of pepper gas.
The protest in Portland cleared around midnight Tuesday night.