BLOGTOWN

AG Bill Barr has a lot of names for Black Lives Matter members, including "fascist" and "Bolsheviks." Chip Somodevilla / Staff / Getty

• First things first: Tomorrow (Tuesday, August 11) is special election day here in Portland in which we will vote on who will fill the currently empty seat on City Council. Here's our endorsement, and this list shows you where you can drop off your ballot. GET TO VOTING, AMERICAN!

• It took Portland Police all of 12 minutes to declare an "unlawful assembly" last night on the 74th evening of protests against cop brutality. A whopping 16 people were arrested, including Demetria Hester, a leader of the non-violent Moms United for Black Lives group and one of the victims of racist harassment in the case against white nationalist Jeremy Christian. The Multnomah County DA office has announced they will decline to prosecute Hester.

Demetria Hester urges protesters to ‘do your part’ as charges dismissed after arrest https://t.co/ju0IfoD8Or pic.twitter.com/56s8zE55yU
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) August 10, 2020

• National leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement have lauded Portland protesters for keeping up the pressure on local police, and added that "it's critical for Portlanders to continue to engage in the local demonstrations." Our Alex Zielinski has more.

• During Friday night's protest a pipe bomb was thrown into a crowd of protesters, and demonstrators caught video of a mysterious someone quickly leaving the area, who, according to multiple people, "appears to be a retired U.S. Navy SEAL and former Central Intelligence Agency contractor who has worked in Afghanistan." The person has also allegedly made several disparaging remarks on social media about the protesters.

Sandy Hudson, speaking at a Monday press conference. Alex Zielinski

"This is a revolution moment," said Sandy Hudson, a Black Lives Matter organizer based in Los Angeles, speaking at an afternoon press conference in downtown Portland. "You folks have inspired people across the country. Because they tried to break you."

Hudson has spent the past three days in Portland with Janaya Khan, an international ambassador for Black Lives Matter. At the Monday event hosted by the local group Moms United for Black Lives, they shared their experiences protesting alongside Portlanders and expressed their support of the local movement.

"I was standing out there [yesterday], I was chanting, and I was singing with ya'll, and I see them attack you for it," said Hudson. "Is it any wonder that we have to come out here night after night and say that Black Lives Matter?"

Across the US, there are 30 million people facing potential evictions, and only 173,000 sheriffs to enforce those evictions. nito100/Getty Images

Today’s doom news comes in the form of a massive housing crisis: Depending on what survey you look at, around a third of us are close to not having a place to live. And while evictions are on hold in some places right now, those moratoriums too will end, at which point 30 million people may be forced to leave their homes.

The only question is … who’s going to make them?

Ponomariova_Maria / GETTY IMAGES

The mutual aid fund is run by two local sex workers, Saiya and Kat, who requested that we use their first names due to privacy concerns. Saiya launched the fund in early March, a couple weeks before Gov. Kate Brown issued a stay-at-home order.

“Before all of the bars and clubs closed, I felt like there was a really big need for help—especially options for folks that were immunocompromised doing sex work,” Saiya said in a recent interview with the Mercury. “I had heard from folks who had concerns. They were really worried about performing work, especially in-person, high-contact work.”

Saiya began by accepting and redistributing donations through Venmo, Cashapp, and GoFundMe, and her friend Kat started assisting her in late March. Their fund has grown and become more established since then, but its purpose—to assist sex workers who have lost income, particularly those who might not qualify for government unemployment benefits—has stayed the same.

The Mercury recently spoke with Saiya and Kat about how the fund got started, why sex workers are overlooked in unemployment benefits, and the importance of mutual aid.

We need your help. The economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis is threatening our ability to keep producing the quality reporting you've come to love. If you’re able, please consider making a monthly contribution to the Mercury.

Demetria Hester (on megaphone) was arrested Sunday after weeks of non-violent protesting. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland

- It took Portland police less than 15 minutes last night to declare an "unlawful assembly" at a protest outside of the Portland Police Association (PPA) HQ in North Portland. Cops allege that this was because someone lit a fire on the sidewalk. The evening ended with 16 arrests and repeated stampedes by armored police at demonstrators. One of those arrested: Demetria Hester, a leader of the non-violent Moms United for Black Lives group and one of the victims of racist harassment in the case against white nationalist Jeremy Christian. In an interview last week, Hester told me, “We’re protesting to defund the police and invest in the community... And we haven’t seen that yet. It’s pretty simple, this isn’t over until we achieve that.”

De-escalation. https://t.co/Aq1MBW4EOQ
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) August 9, 2020

- On Friday night, a group of protesters reported that a pair of men had thrown pipe bombs at them. One protesters chased down a suspected culprit, who was wearing and carrying military-grade tools. Police are investigating this incident.

- As this weekend proved, Portland police are filing the void of violence against protesters left by now-retreated federal officers. That means Mayor Ted Wheeler has returned to demonizing those protesting police brutality (instead of joining Portlanders in clouds of tear gas).

What you're about to hear may be shocking, but... RUSSIA IS TRYING TO INTERFERE WITH OUR ELECTION!! Chris McGrath / Getty News

Here's your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to the Mercury to keep it comin'!)

• DO NOT MISS the latest installment of Alex Zielinski's Hall Monitor, in which she takes Mayor Wheeler to task for his "fair weather" attitude toward protesters: standing in solidarity with them while the national spotlight is on, and then reverting back to defending the violent actions of local police when it's not.

Now that the federal police have retreated from the front lines of Portland’s nightly demonstrations, Mayor Ted Wheeler has returned to demonizing those protesting police brutality. https://t.co/bvFeXnmZZL
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) August 7, 2020

• Meanwhile... SURPRISE! The same federal officers that teargassed and snatched peaceful protesters off the streets are not only still in town, but they'll probably still be here up until the election.

• In COVID news: The Oregon Health Authority has reported a whopping 423 new positive cases in the past 24 hours, and nine additional deaths. (That's the biggest jump in new cases since July 19.) Okay folks, since its going to be a nice weekend, make doubly sure to follow the Mercury's mantra: WASH YA DAMN HANDS, WEAR YA DAMN MASKS, AND KEEP YA DAMN DISTANCE!

We need your help. The economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis is threatening our ability to keep producing the quality reporting you've come to love. If you’re able, please consider making a monthly contribution to the Mercury.

"I'll get to this COVID problem in a minute, but I have to deal with the TikTok pandemic first!" Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Interior crocodile alligator. I drive a Chevrolet movie theater. LET'S GO TO PRESS.

• On day 70 of Portland protests against systemic police brutality and the killing of Black Americans, around 200 protesters gathered outside the East Precinct where chanting ensued, along with a small garbage can being lit on fire, occasional arguments with neighbors, more overreaction and misinformation by the police, breaking the terms of the temporary restraining order to deny media access, and eventual bull rushing to push the protesters out of the neighborhood.

• Though before the protest even started the Portland Police was engaging in Twitter battles with teenage protesters, and got dragged across the internet for their trouble.

If you guys don't knock this silly shit off I'm gonna buy the only Dutch Brothers in Sherwood and charge cops triple.
— karms (@IanKarmel) August 6, 2020

• Despite overwhelming calls for police reform, the PPB and mayor's office remain obstinately resistant to any meaningful change and have called several press conferences this week in an attempt to control the narrative of the protests, incorrectly accusing demonstrators of abandoning the Black Lives Matter movement, being excessively violent, and according to Mayor Wheeler, actually helping Trump get reelected. That's some grade-A desperation right there.

• I'm just going to leave this related headline right here: "Portland police use of force against Black people remained disproportionate in 2019 even as numbers overall declined, report says."

Mayor Wheeler desperately and unconvincingly trying to convince you that Portland protesters are helping Trump. City of Portland screen shot

• The Portland Police and mayor's office have been trying REALLY HARD over the past few days to control the narrative around the city's continuing protests, alternately claiming that the demonstrations have nothing to do with the Black Lives Matter movement (anyone actually attending these protests know this is untrue), are out of control and excessively violent (they are not), distracting the police from "their real work" (such as dealing with those in mental health crisis, which they have no business doing), and according to Mayor Wheeler today, that the protests are helping Trump get reelected. (I wish they put this much energy into rethinking the police department!)

TLDR: Portland's mayor, chief of police, and fire bureau leadership allege protesters were trying to burn people alive last night.

Protesters and journalists say police trampled nonviolent protesters and clouded a residential neighborhood in tear gas. https://t.co/RoGTeMX6Fm
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) August 6, 2020

• Acting DHS Chief (and poster boy for toxic masculinity) Chad "CHAD" Wolf revealed today that federal officers are still in Portland, on standby, and will remain so until he's convinced no one will spray graffiti on the federal courthouse or shake its fence. In response, U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon has extended the restraining order against federal officers for two additional weeks, legally stopping them from threatening reporters and legal observers.

• On the heels of our reporting about the unknown health risks attached to the daily teargassing of peaceful protesters by federal officers, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is demanding that AG Bill Barr and dull-witted frat boy Chad "CHAD!" Wolf reveal all the information they have about their potentially very dangerous munitions. Contributor Abe Asher has more.

• And lest we forget, one more time for those in the back: PORTLAND POLICE ARE STILL USING TEAR GAS.

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the NRA, on the right, will have to pay back millions if New York's attorney general gets her way. Oh yeah, and his organization will be dissolved. Scott Olson/Getty Images

The chief executive of the National Rifle Association and several top lieutenants engaged in a decades-long pattern of fraud to raid the coffers of the powerful gun rights group for personal gain, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the New York attorney general, draining $64 million from the nonprofit in just three years.

That chief executive is Wayne LaPierre, who's been the head of the NRA for 39 years. New York's attorney general is asking "a New York court to force LaPierre and three key deputies to repay NRA members for the ill-gotten funds and inflated salaries that her investigation found they took." She's also calling for LaPierre to be removed from his position, and for the NRA to be dissolved entirely.