Portland protests: Federal agents swarm American-flag bearing demonstrator as clashes continue through night

Federal agents were seen wrestling a protester holding a US flag and a leaf blower to the ground as the latest violent crackdown on demonstrations in Portland lasted through the night.

The footage, posted to social media, shows at least four heavily-armoured officers subduing a protester as he lies in the road. The sounds of flash bangs can be heard in the background as other armed officers stand by and smoke from tear gas drifts past.

One officer kneeling over the protester takes away the flag – which at one point covers the officer's head – while another removes his leaf blower, a domestic tool used by some demonstrators to disperse tear gas.

Ryan Malia, who posted the video to Twitter, referred to the "takedown of that dangerous patriot with the American flag and leaf blower".

About 3,000 people are thought to have taken part in the latest protests in Oregon's largest city, which lasted into the early hours of Saturday morning. Police said some of their officers were injured, and at least one person is thought to have been arrested.

Groups taking part included the Healthcare Workers Protest, Teachers Against Tyrants, Lawyers for Black Lives and the "Wall of Moms", a group of mothers dedicated to peacefully protesting against the deployment of federal agents. However, footage from previous protests has shown members being attacked with tear gas and pushed by militarised agents wearing camouflage.

Donald Trump deployed federal officers to Portland to crush ongoing protests over racial justice which have swept the country in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis in May.

Critics have accused the president of deliberately escalating the issue and suggested he is trying to paint the mayhem in Democratic-run Portland as a foretaste of what would happen if his rival Joe Biden wins.

However, the president has doubled down, saying he is planning to send up to 60,000 more federal agents to address unrest in other Democratic-led cities such as Chicago.

The federal agents – from US Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service – have been accused of arresting people without saying a word and driving them away in unmarked vans. Many do not wear insignia.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, who was tear-gassed this week as he joined protesters, says the federal presence is exacerbating a tense situation and has repeatedly told them to leave.

However, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf denied that federal agents were inflaming the situation and said Mr Wheeler had legitimised criminality by joining demonstrators, whom Mr Trump has called "anarchists and agitators".

On Friday night protesters shot fireworks and threw bottles at the central courthouse and shook a fence surrounding it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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