Portland fire department Trump ablaze, March to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler's home declared

 Portland fire department Trump ablaze, March to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler's home declared.

More than 200 people on Monday night marched to the Pearl District condominium tower where Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler lives to demand his resignation.

The demonstration quickly turned destructive as some in the crowd lit a fire in the street, then placed a picnic table from a nearby business on top of the fire to feed the blaze. People shattered windows and broke into a ground-floor dental office took items including a chair, also added to the fire, and office supplies.

Shortly after 11 p.m., a bundle of newspapers was set ablaze and thrown into a ground-floor storefront in the residential building.

Around the same time, police arrived and warned over a loudspeaker that the gathering had been declared an unlawful assembly, then a riot. Officers ordered people to leave to the west.

The 16-story building contains 114 residences. The fire didn’t appear to spread and was quickly extinguished. Police used crowd-control munitions and released smoke into the air as they pushed the crowd west.

They ultimately arrested nearly 20 people. Police later said arson investigators were looking for the person who started the fire.

The demonstration came during the 96th consecutive night of protests since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police, and it was days after a man associated with a conservative group was shot dead in downtown Portland during a car caravan in support of President Donald Trump.

PROTESTERS TARGET WHEELER: The night’s event started with a sardonically festive scene. Monday was Wheeler’s birthday, and some in the crowd wore party hats. Before the march began, a contingent sang “Happy tear gas to you” to the tune of the birthday song in a reference to his police bureau’s use of irritant gases to disperse protesters.