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Portland police chief resigns amid George Floyd protests

Not yet six months into her job as chief, Jami Resch is stepping down

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Demonstrators march Saturday, June 6, 2020, in Bend, Ore., to protest racism and police brutality.

AP Photo/Andrew Selsky

By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. — Not yet six months into her job as chief, Jami Resch is stepping down from leading the Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau as George Floyd protests roil the city.

Resch on Monday announced that she asked Charlie Lovell, an African American lieutenant, to serve as the next chief of police of Oregon’s largest city.

“He’s the exact right person at the exact right moment.,” she said at a news conference.

Demonstrators held two peaceful George Floyd protests in Portland but a third one that lasted until the early hours of Monday resulted in at least 20 arrests, with some demonstrators throwing objects at police, who fired tear gas and sponge-tipped projectiles.

Full beverage containers, glass bottles, hard-boiled eggs and rocks were thrown or fired at officers using sling-shots, police said in a statement Monday. A medic who was working with the officers was hit in the stomach with a rock.

The protest that turned violent happened at the Justice Center in downtown Portland.

The ACLU of Oregon has called on Portland police to end the use of tear gas, impact weapons and flash bang devices.

“We join the protesters in calling for a new approach in our community, and demanding that we uphold the rights of people who have historically had their rights and humanity denied,” the rights group said Sunday.

Portland Commission Jo Ann Hardesty slammed the recent police response.

“I’m incredibly troubled by the excessive force used nightly by PDX police since the protests began,” she said. “The videos and painful firsthand accounts of community members getting tear gassed and beaten by police for exercising their 1st amendment rights should be concerning for us all.”

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