AP journalists working in all formats produced powerful, distinctive stories, images and footage during a rough and often violent week of protests in Portland.
When more than 100 federal agents ramped up the U.S. government’s presence at the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, they energized the racial injustice protest movement in the state’s largest city and renewed the debate over the limits of federal policing powers. For more than a week, thousands of people turned out for nightly demonstrations that erupt in violence. Every night federal agents tear-gassed protesters – including the city’s mayor on one night.
AP’s all-formats coverage shined all week, keeping the cooperative ahead in both developments and searing images of clashes involving lasers, fires, homemade bombs and tear gas.
On Tuesday, Portland-based reporter Gillian Flaccus’ spot enterprise story examining concerns by legal experts of federal overreach was an online hit. AP Managing Editor Brian Carovillano said of the piece: “It appeared in several widely-read morning newsletters and I saw it tweeted last night by the LA Times. It tackles some very weighty issues in a smart and accessible way and has just the right tone.”
Photographer Noah Berger, arriving early in the week, captured stunning images of a flag being burned, pitched battles between protesters and agents and the danger that people on all sides faced.
A protester burns an American flag outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 20, 2020. Several hundred demonstrators gathered at the courthouse where federal officers deployed teargas and other crowd control munitions.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters hold their lighted smartphones aloft in Portland, Ore., July 20, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Federal agents use crowd control munitions to disperse protesters near the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 20, 2020. Officers used tear gas and projectiles to move the crowd after some protesters tore down a fence fronting the courthouse.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
A protester carries an American flag as teargas fills the air outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 21, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
KaCe Freeman chants during a Black Lives Matter protest outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 20, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
William Isham examines wounds after federal officers used tear gas and projectiles to disperse protesters outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 20, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Romeo Ceasar holds a sign during a Black Lives Matter protest in Portland, Ore. July 20, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Norma Lewis, second from left, holds a flower while forming a “wall of moms” during a Black Lives Matter protest in Portland, Ore., July 20, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrate at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 21, 2020. Protesters removed portions of the boards covering the building’s ground floor before federal officers used chemical irritants and rubber bullets to disperse the group.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
A federal officer pushes back demonstrators at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 21, 2020. A federal judge was hearing arguments on Oregon’s request for a restraining order against federal agents who had been sent to the state’s largest city during weekslong racial justice protests.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Federal officers disperse demonstrators at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 22, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Members of the “wall of moms” lock their arms during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 23, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
A group of military veterans stand with demonstrators outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., during a Black Lives Matter protest, July 24, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Federal agents use crowd control munitions to disperse demonstrators during a protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 24, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Black Lives Matter protesters try to move a projectile launched by federal officers at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 24, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Demonstrators shield themselves with umbrellas as federal officers launch tear gas outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., during a Black Lives Matter protest, July 24, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
A Black Lives Matter protester uses a shield as federal officers use chemical irritants to disperse demonstrators at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 24, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Federal officers use chemical irritants and projectiles to disperse Black Lives Matter protesters at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 24, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
A protester lies on the ground as federal officers, background, use chemical irritants to disperse Black Lives Matter demonstrators at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 24, 2020. Since federal officers arrived in downtown Portland in early July, violent clashes have largely been limited to a two-block radius from the courthouse.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Federal officers advance on demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 25, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Federal officers launch tear gas at a group of demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 26, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
A demonstrator tries to climb over a fence during a Black Lives Matter protest outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 26, 2020. On the streets of Portland, a strange armed conflict unfolds night after night. It is raw, frightening and painful on both sides of a steel fence separating the protesters on the outside and federal agents guarding a courthouse inside.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Green beams from protesters’ laser pointers cross the darkened lobby of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Ore., as federal officers wait for a possible clash with demonstrators, July 24, 2020. The beams, which can damage eyes, are routinely aimed at U.S. Marshals guarding the courthouse.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Federal officers disperse Black Lives Matter protesters at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 24, 2020.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Demonstrators walk along a steel fence as federal officers launch tear gas during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 26, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Demonstrators sit and kneel as tear gas fills the air during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 26, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
A demonstrator speaks to a crowd from the bed of a pickup truck during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Ore., July 26, 2020.
AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Flaccus worked overnight Wednesday from the scene, enabling AP to be among the first to report that Mayor Ted Wheeler was tear-gassed, and securing user-generated images and video. Oregon statehouse reporter Andrew Selsky wrote about a Navy veteran being beaten and pepper sprayed by federal forces, an assault that was captured on a viral video and that led to an internal government investigation. Selsky’s Navy vet story was the number one online story globally last week, with 383,000 page views, while the spot story about mayor being tear gassed was number two.
Working with the race and ethnicity team, Selsky also documented how the tremendous attention on the Portland protests was seen within the context of the greater Black Lives Matter protests.
Berger, along with photographer Marcio Sanchez and video journalist Aron Ranen, night after night delivered images of protester passion, including destruction and clashes with agents. All three put themselves in the middle of the conflict, exposing them to tear gas and considerable danger.
By the weekend, the protests had ramped up even further, as did the AP team. Federal law enforcement reporter Mike Balsamo embedded overnight Friday and Saturday with federal agents as Flaccus was outside the perimeter with protesters. Sara Cline in Salem, Oregon, tracked activities nightly via social media and reporting.
As the team produced a steady stream of spot updates and images, it also worked on a larger exclusive that would be the capstone of the week, moving overnight Sunday. Photos by Berger and Sanchez would give readers a close look at the experiences on both sides of the fence. A video piece shot by Berger and Ranen, and produced and tracked by Krysta Fauria, explained how complex the situation was.
For a week’s worth of powerful, revealing stories and startling images that provided insight into the events in Portland, the team of Flaccus, Berger, Sanchez, Ranen, Balsamo, Selsky, Cline and Fauria wins AP’s Best of the States award.
