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Portland Police violated the tear gas ban and arrested three reporters during last nights protest.
Portland Police violated the tear gas ban and arrested three reporters during last night's protest. Tuck Woodstock

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Come on, tell me what you're feeling, use your mouth. If you wanna say something, say it now. LET'S GO TO PRESS.

• At last night's protest in Portland, the response from the cops was particularly violent. After marchers made their way to the police union headquarters on North Lombard, the demonstration was quickly declared "a riot" by the cops (by most accounts it was not) who then fired a LOT of CS tear gas into the crowd in direct violation of a federal court order. Don't Shoot Portland filed papers urging a judge to sanction the city for the cops' flagrant actions. In further disturbing news, the CS gas wafted through the neighborhood, and into the car of at least one innocent bystander who began choking and hyperventilating. Police also arrested three journalists who had the audacity to perform their duties as allowed by the First Amendment, including reporter Cory Elia who was taken in after he identified a police officer by name on camera. (Not against the law, I believe!) Leslie McLam, a reporter for KBOO, was also arrested as well as another independent journalist who tweets under the name Portland Independent Documentarians. Needless to say, the Portland Police, who has already seen significant cuts to their funding and yet are still intent on using overwhelming, unnecessary force against citizens, will have many questions to answer this morning.

• RELATED: The Portland Mercury (hey, that's us!) has joined other local journalists and the ACLU in requesting a temporary restraining order against the Portland Police for their continuous attempts (like last night) to harm and intimidate reporters during the ongoing Portland protests.

• Gov. Kate Brown has extended Oregon's state of emergency rules for an additional 60 days, until September 4, due to the surge in new positive cases around the state. Our Alex Zielinski has the details.

• Hey you out-of-towners! Oregon's STATEWIDE mandatory face mask rule goes into effect today, so don't be a jerk about it. WASH YA DAMN HANDS, WEAR YA DAMN MASKS.

• Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and Portland racial justice group Albina Vision Trust are pulling their support for the I-5 expansion after the Oregon Department of Transportation failed to come through with promised restorative justice measures. Our Blair Stenvick has more on the story.

• Employees of a Southeastern Portland Market of Choice are speaking out about their bosses sending them home from work for wearing "Black Lives Matter" pins and face masks. Our Alex Zielinski has more.

• Downtown taqueria Mi Mero Mole is closing permanently, and owner Nick Zukin blamed it on local officials who, in his mind, does nothing to help small businesses. Fair enough, that's his opinion. But then he added this sentence to his online rant: “All too often this city puts a knee to the back of its businesses’ necks while smiling and telling them to relax and that they’re fine.” His tone deaf comparison of losing his business to the murder of a Black man did not go over well, to say the least.

• At least 13 were arrested in Seattle yesterday as police began clearing out Capitol Hill's "CHOP" occupied zone.

• Allegations of bullying, racism, and insensitive language within the International Sovereign Rose Court (Portland's oldest LGBTQ+ org) has caused it to take a long, hard look at their own inclusivity. Andrew Jankowski reports.

IN NATIONAL NEWS:

• Health officials across the country are advising people to celebrate the Fourth of July at home due to the crushing surge of coronavirus cases.

• The Senate has approved an extension for the Paycheck Protection Program, granting applicants another five weeks (until August 8) to spend the remaining money.

• After more than a century of politicians ignoring the racism right in front of them, Mississippi will be getting rid of the Confederate symbol on their state flag.

• Trump's cries of "HOAX!" in regards to the story about Russia paying for deaths of American service members (which the president clearly knew about) are falling on deaf ears in Washington, where calls for an investigation into the matter are heating up.

• This is how much they hate Trump: Hundreds of former officials that served under President George W. Bush are forming a political action committee to support Joe Biden's campaign.

• Fox News is hit with yet another sexual harassment charge, this time leveled at top news anchor Ed Henry who has been fired by the network.

• Now let's peep at the sky for some WEATHER: After some morning showers expect a high of 68 and a drying trend.

• And finally, say what you will about the pandemic, but it's given us some grade-A alternative sports.