PORTLAND, Ore. -- Police said a right-wing rally and counterprotests in Portland largely dispersed without serious violence Saturday, though they are investigating an assault after a person who was documenting the event was pushed to the ground and kicked in the face.
Separately, police said a criminal citation was issued after officials confiscated firearms, paintball guns, baseball bats and shields from a pickup that was initially stopped for having obscured license plates as it left the rally.
Several hundred people, dozens of them wearing militarized body armor, gathered Saturday afternoon. The crowd was far smaller than the 10,000 people that organizers expected after tensions boiled over nationwide following the decision not to charge officers in Louisville, Ky., for the shooting death of Breonna Taylor.
The events began at noon and were largely dispersed by midafternoon. The Oregon Department of Transportation shut down the interstate highway briefly to help control the crowd and the traffic flow.
"The purpose of this closure was to clear some people out of the area who wanted to leave and to keep competing groups separate," Chris Liedle, a spokesman for the Multnomah County sheriff's office, said on Twitter. The city had braced for the threat of violence with multiple rallies in the area.
Police also said they arrested three people, including a man suspected of driving under the influence and a woman on an outstanding arrest warrant, Liedle said.
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The Proud Boys, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, described it as a free-speech event to support President Donald Trump and the police, restore law and order and condemn anti-fascists, "domestic terrorism" and "violent gangs of rioting felons" in the streets. Local and state elected officials condemned the event and rushed to shore up law enforcement ranks as left-wing groups organized several rallies to oppose the Proud Boys' message.
TJ Detweiler, who works in construction and plumbing, said at the rally that he wanted to end domestic terrorism in the U.S.
"I would like to see people stop the looting and rioting and enjoy the country for what rights we have," Detweiler said.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Friday said she was sending state troopers to help the Portland police and was creating a unified command structure among city, regional and state law enforcement.
"This is a critical moment. We have seen what happens when armed vigilantes take matters into their own hands. We've seen it in Charlottesville, [Va.], we've seen it in Kenosha, [Wis.], and, unfortunately, we have seen it in Portland," she said.
"The Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer groups have come time and time again looking for a fight, and the results are always tragic," said Brown, a Democrat. "Let me be perfectly clear, we will not tolerate any type of violence this weekend."
The Proud Boys are self-described "Western chauvinists" who have held multiple events in Portland alongside other right-wing groups such as Patriot Prayer that often end in violent clashes with left-wing counter-demonstrators.
Last month, Aaron "Jay" Danielson, a Patriot Prayer follower, was shot and killed after some vehicles in a pro-Trump car caravan diverted into downtown Portland and crossed paths with left-wing activists. The suspect in the shooting, a self-described anti-fascist, was killed the following week by law officers as they tried to arrest him in Washington state.
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The Proud Boys mentioned Danielson in their permit application, as well as Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old charged in the shooting deaths of two demonstrators in Kenosha, Wis. Some attending Saturday's rally carried signs that said "Free Kyle Now."
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said the city and its police force did not need or want help from "paramilitaries or vigilante groups."
Deputy Chief Chris Davis acknowledged that Oregon is an open-carry state for firearms. But he reminded those attending the rally and counter-demonstrations that under Portland law, it's illegal to carry a loaded firearm in public without a state concealed handgun permit.
"We ask that you come peacefully and engage in your free speech peacefully," Police Chief Chuck Lovell said.
Information for this article was contributed by Sara Cline of The Associated Press.
