PORTLAND – A man was shot and killed in Portland, Oregon, after clashes between President Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters went violent on Saturday, August 29.
A caravan of hundreds of Trump supporters gathered at a suburban mall earlier yesterday and drove to the city’s downtown where Black Lives Matter protesters were standing in the street and tried to stop them.
“A political rally is caravanning throughout downtown Portland. There have been some instances of violence between demonstrators and counterdemonstrators,” the Portland police officer tweeted when the caravan was moving to the downtown.
Portland Police officers said that they located a victim who was shot on the chest after hearing multiple sounds of the gunshot from the area of Southeast 3rd Avenue and Southwest Alder Street.
Joey Gibson, the founder of Patriot Prayer which is a far-right group based in Portland, identified the victim who died at the scene as Aaron “Jay” Danielson and called him a “good friend.” Trump tweeted “rest in peace Jay!” on Sunday, August 30.
It wasn’t clear whether the shooting was in connection with clashes between these two groups of people.
“Homicide detectives are aware of videos circulating on social media that show the shooting. It is important for detectives to get a full and accurate picture of what happened before, during, and after the shooting,” the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement, adding people who witnessed the attack should contact the primary detectives.
Authorities have not yet released the information about the suspect and the victim. The case is still under investigation.
