Dozens of women wearing yellow linked arms to form a protective “wall of moms” around Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday as the protesters clashed with federal law enforcement. Video from the scene showed crowds chanting “Feds stay clear, moms are here!” and “Feds go home!” before protesters toppled a fence erected around the federal courthouse. Federal agents fired back with what appeared to be tear gas and flash bangs, the video showed. Hundreds of people had gathered for the demonstrations, blocking roads, Portland police said in a statement early Monday. They said dozens of others “tampered” with the courthouse fence. “The crowd was very celebratory when the fence first came down,” freelance journalist Garrison Davis told NBC News by phone after reporting from the rally. “There was a lot of cheering.” Once the fence was down, police said dozens of people carrying shields, helmets, gas masks, umbrellas, bats and hockey sticks approached the doors of the courthouse before federal law enforcement dispersed the crowd shortly before midnight.
via nbcnews: ‘Wall of Moms’ stand between Portland Black Lives Matter protesters and federal police