Oregon

PHOENIX, Ore. (AP) — Deadly wildfires in heavily populated northwest Oregon were growing, with hundreds of thousands of people told to flee encroaching flames while residents to the south tearfully assessed their losses.

People evacuated statewide because of fires had climbed to an estimated 500,000 — more than 10 percent of the 4.2 million people in the state, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management reported late Thursday.

ESTACADA, Ore. (AP) — Deadly windblown wildfires raging across the Pacific Northwest destroyed hundreds of homes in Oregon, the governor said Wednesday, warning it could be the greatest loss of life and property from wildfire in state history.

The blazes from the top of the state to the California border caused highway closures and smoky skies and had firefighers struggling to contain and douse flames fanned by 50 mph (80 kph) wind gusts. Officials in some western Oregon communities gave residents “go now” orders to evacuate, meaning they had minutes to flee their homes.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered on Labor Day in a small town south of Portland for a pro-President Donald Trump vehicle rally — just over a week after member of a far-right group was fatally shot after a Trump caravan went through Oregon’s largest city.

Later, pro-Trump supporters and counter-protesters clashed at Oregon’s Capitol.

Vehicles waving flags for Trump, the QAnon conspiracy theory and in support of police gathered about noon at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered for rallies and marches against police violence and racial injustice Saturday night in Portland, Oregon, as often violent nightly demonstrations that have happened for 100 days since George Floyd was killed showed no signs of ceasing.

Molotov cocktails thrown in the street during a march sparked a large fire and prompted police to declare a riot. Video posted online appeared to show tear gas being deployed to clear protesters from what police said was an unpermitted demonstration.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered for Black Lives Matter rallies and marches Saturday night in Portland, Oregon, as often violent nightly demonstrations that have happened for 100 days showed no signs of ceasing.

Molotov cocktails thrown in the street during a march sparked a large fire and prompted police to declare a riot. Video posted online appear to show tear gas being deployed to clear protesters from what police said was an unpermitted demonstration. Several people were seen being detained.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — ‎Both the suspect in the slaying of the right-wing protester in Portland, Oregon last weekend and the victim had handguns when their confrontation started after dueling street demonstrations, according to court documents made public Friday.

The documents said victim Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a supporter of a right-wing group called Patriot Prayer, was wearing a loaded Glock pistol in a holster and had bear spray and an expandable metal baton when someone said something like “wanna go,” which is frequently a challenge to a fight.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The beam of a police officer’s flashlight swept across a group of 15 people standing on the sidewalk in downtown Portland, Oregon, recording and taking photos of the nightly protests that have roiled the city for three months.

Most in the recent group wore helmets, reflective vests or shirts emblazoned with the word “PRESS” and had media badges dangling from their necks. But some were demonstrators, taking cover behind reporters despite orders to go home or face arrest.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, shifted their focus to the city’s mayor, and police declared a riot as people broke windows, vandalized a business and set a small fire inside the upscale apartment building where Mayor Ted Wheeler lives.

The demonstration that began late Monday and extended into Tuesday fell on Wheeler’s 58th birthday and featured shiny golden alphabet balloons that protesters used to spell out an expletive.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A plan by the governor of Oregon to use sheriff’s deputies from surrounding counties to help patrol Portland following the deadly shooting of a right-wing Trump supporter was sharply criticized by law enforcement officials who said it wouldn’t end the “cycle of violence” in the city that’s approaching 100 consecutive nights of often-violent Black Lives Matter protests.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The mayor of Portland, Oregon, and President Donald Trump engaged in a real-time argument Sunday as the president sent a flurry of critical tweets about Ted Wheeler as the mayor was holding a press conference about the fatal shooting of a right-wing supporter in his city the night before.

After Trump called Wheeler, a Democrat, a “fool” and blamed him for allowing violence to proliferate in the liberal city, the visibly angry mayor lashed out at the president, addressing him in the first person through the TV cameras.