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

Good morning, Portland! Let's get you caught up on the weekend's new before jumping into another wonky weel:

- 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.”

- 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).

- Today begins the second special session of 2020 in the Oregon Legislature. But, less than 24 hours before kick off, and legislators were still unsure what bills they'd be considering during this whirlwind session. OPB dubs this session, another blend of COVID-19 relief and police reform, the "most uncertain in modern history."

- Humans are destroying Crater Lake with poop and trash, because of course we are.

- Thousands of bikers are in Sturgis, South Dakota this week, for a yearly motorcycle hang. Few are wearing masks. To keep the looming COVID-19 outbreak from hitting their communities, nearby native populations have barred the bikers form traveling through reservation land en route to Sturgis.

- Meanwhile, in downtown Portland Saturday afternoon:

- A police shooting in Chicago spurred a night of protest and looting along Chicago's Magnificent Mile Sunday, reminding many of the first nights following George Floyd's shooting in Minneapolis.

- Donald Trump has signed a number of executive actions to purportedly fast-track COVID-19 relief programs that have split Congress. And yet, it's expected that Trump's actions around unemployment, mortgages, and student loans will do very little to actually help struggling Americans.

- Protests have broke out in Beruit after an explosion of expired munitions left at least 158 dead. Demonstrators, who have used tactics seen on the streets of Hong Kong and Portland, have breached government buildings to express their outrage over officials' negligence. Police have fired tear gas at protesters throwing stones and marching in the streets. Sound familiar?

- The publisher of a pro-democracy newspaper in China has been arrested under the new security law, which gives the authorities broad powers to target what they view as secession, subversion, terrorist activities and collusion with foreign powers (otherwise known as: ani-communist writing). His arrest has raised alarm bells with human rights leaders across the globe