New- article from this past weekend is out now where a rally organized by a coalition of labor unions and community members turned violent when federal agents unleashed tear gas, rubber bullets, and other munitions on Portlanders, including young children, highlighting the deepening militarization of law enforcement and the community’s unwavering resistance.
I spoke with multiple people who were on the ground, including a street medic who said “I’ve been working in this field for over 8 years now and I’ve seen a lot of shit, but that was truly one of the most terrible things I’ve witnessed and I never thought that I’d have to see actual children getting gassed like that, but here we are I suppose.”
“This couple with a stroller emerged from the cloud with their maybe 2 or 3 year old daughter sitting barely conscious in that stroller. The parents were coughing and could barely walk, couldn’t see anything, this poor little girl was covered in her own vomit and sputum and mucus was pouring from her nose. She was just sitting there barely conscious, wheezing heavily, barely breathing through the wheezing…”
The medic told me that they had treated at least four children that day, adding "I’m never ever going to forget the sounds of those kids wailing in pain hacking up a lung in full panic mode. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my 8+ years of street medicine and EMS work."
https://www.wewillfreeus.org/portlands-labor-against-ice-march-faces-brutal-federal-response/