A growing divide among Portland demonstrators against police violence resurfaced Wednesday as the nightly protests began for their 70th day.

Confrontations between police and protesters have shifted from downtown — the historic heart of the demonstrations — to police buildings across the city, where a faction of protesters now gather every night.

Downtown protests have not drawn a large-scale police response since July 29, the final day federal officers commanded security of the federal courthouse. Federal police repeatedly released tear gas and munitions on crowds for weeks before they handed off oversight to state troopers.

Calls for calm gained momentum downtown at the same time state police took over. Protesters plan to Black-made films Wednesday after nightfall for the crowds gathered.

Many protesters have shifted from downtown to police buildings elsewhere. Those demonstrators planned to collect Wednesday night at a park near the Portland Police East Precinct on Southeast 106th Avenue, more than six miles from downtown.

In recent nights, demonstrators have also converged in front of a second eastside precinct and the police union building, where protesters and Portland police clashed Tuesday.

Portland police declared the demonstration a riot after some people broke into the union building and caused damage inside.

Officers shot impact munitions toward the crowd to try and clear the area, including around 12:15 a.m.

Several officers in riot gear climbed on a truck outfitted with running boards to transport rows of officers all at once. The officers set off smoke devices as the vehicle retreated. One person picked up a smoke device and threw it back toward officers.

Immediately after, Oregonian/OregonLive photojournalist Dave Killen was hit in the left hip by a rubber bullet shot by an officer. Smoke still filled the air when the green-tipped, 40 millimeter munition struck Killen.

“It’s appalling that our photojournalist was struck by a rubber bullet that appears to be indiscriminately fired,” said Therese Bottomly, editor of The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s incidents like this that led us to join with the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press in an ongoing court battle to ensure safety for journalists covering protests.”

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon has ordered police not to use force against journalists who remain at the scene of a demonstration to document what happens after police declare the assembly to be unlawful.

Tuesday night’s gathering escalated to several tense moments. A driver in a pickup truck raced through the crowd on North Lombard Street. The driver kept going even after the truck struck a motorcycle, pushing it on the concrete street as sparks flew.

The driver was interviewed and released without charges, according to police, who did not respond to questions about the circumstances of the incident and why the driver was released.

Police said they separately responded to two reports of shots fired in the area.

Three people were arrested and jailed in connection with the hours-long demonstration, police said.

Beth Nakamura, Brooke Herbert, Dave Killen, Fedor Zarkhin and K. Rambo of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.

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