Portland woke up to broken windows, boarded-up businesses and graffiti-marred walls from downtown to the east side in the aftermath of an anti-Trump protest that turned violent overnight and led to the arrest of more than two dozen people.
Police used pepper balls and flash grenades to try to quell the mob after it snaked from downtown to neighborhoods near the Moda Center, to the Pearl District and back downtown, leaving a swath of vandalism in its wake.
Police Chief Mike Marshman estimated that the damage reached more than $1 million and called for protesters to take a break from demonstrating to allow his force to regroup.
He doesn't want protesters bent on destruction to "hijack" legitimate activists again, he said.
Mayor Charlie Hales was in San Diego during the protest but returned by mid-morning and was out surveying the destruction in Northwest Portland. He called the melee "completely unacceptable."
"I know in Portland we are a community that believes love conquers hate -- let's be that example for the nation," he said in a statement.
In one of the worst-hit areas, Babs Jacobsen explored the damage as light dawned on Northwest Lovejoy Street and said the shouting from the protest woke her up the night before. The unruly demonstrators were "terrifying," she said.
"I woke up crying," said Jacobsen, who lives in the Pearl Court Apartments. "This is our neighborhood. We love our neighborhood."
Nearby, cleanup had begun. Plywood covered broken windows at businesses including a FedEx office, a Chase Bank branch and a Starbucks. Workers pressure-washed graffiti from a ZoomCare location.
Thousands had gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square for a third consecutive day to protest the election of President-elect Donald Trump. They chanted and marched to the waterfront and then over the Hawthorne Bridge before some of the protesters became destructive.
Police said many demonstrators were "trying to get anarchist groups to stop destroying property" and that "anarchists" were refusing to do so. Demonstrators at many points shouted "peaceful protest."
The unrest led to 25 arrests, police said early Friday. Some protesters hurled bottles, shot fireworks and taunted police in riot gear who blocked streets and told the crowd repeatedly to disperse. The crowd grew to 4,000 people at one point.
Gregory McKelvey, spokesman for the new Portland's Resistance organization, said that the group's protest wasn't responsible for the violence.
Resistance leaders organized a fundraiser to repair the damage and said they're partnering with Latino civic engagement organization Milenio to raise money for damaged businesses. They also set up a GoFundMe page, which has raised more than $13,000 on Friday afternoon.
Security guard Arturo DeLeon, wearing a reflective yellow jacket, walked all night throughout his beat in the Pearl District, speaking to people and looking at the damage left behind.
DeLeon said he understands the frustrations people are feeling against the president-elect, but causing property damage isn't the solution.
"They just demonized themselves and made him (Trump) look like a better person," DeLeon said. "His response will be I told you. They gave him the presidential leverage to do more harm than good."
He said he saw the crowd around 10 p.m. Thursday at it walked along Lovejoy after crossing the Broadway Bridge. Some people broke windows to businesses, such as the Chase Bank at the corner of 11th Avenue and the Urban Pantry a block west of the bank. By then, Portland police labeled the protest a "riot," citing "extensive criminal and dangerous behavior."
Within in an hour, maintenance crews arrived on Lovejoy to begin cleaning up and replacing broken glass with plywood, DeLeon said.
Between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., he saw police officers return to the area to survey the damage. They spoke to no one, he said.
By 5 a.m., residents were out walking their dogs, getting coffee while groups of joggers dashed along Lovejoy.
Marsha Ober and her co-workers walk through a plywood-covered entrance door at Urban Pantry on Northwest Lovejoy Street before opening at 11 a.m.
Within just an hour of opening, people came in and gave lots of hugs and well wishes, she said. Business has seen a bit of an uptick as customers walked in to buy a sandwich or other food and wine sold at the eatery.
"There's definitely been an influx of people today, which is awesome," Ober said. "That's the Portland I know. The ones that come out to support, not the ones that come out to destroy everything."
Janelle Baglien, one of Urban Pantry's customers Friday afternoon, walked in looking for some lunch. Baglien and Ober spoke for a bit about the damage.
Later, Baglien said she watched the crowd last night and noticed many of the participants seemed younger and better dressed than past Portland protests. Blaming the damage on an anarchists group is a bit of a copout, she said.
"If you aren't stopping it, then you're part of the crime, an accessory to the crime," she said. "If you're too scared to stop it, then that might make you question whether this is a good expenditure of your valuable time."
She questioned what protesting the results of an election would accomplish. A better time to protest under the Trump administration or the new Congress would be when people disagree with legislation, she said.
Meanwhile, people continued to pour into Urban Pantry, some just to say, 'I'm sorry,' Ober said. With more protests planned for later in the day, she wondered if they would return to Lovejoy, since protest routes appear to be random every night.
"My main thing is to keep it safe," Ober said. "Keep it peaceful. There's no need for this (damage)."
The most concentrated damage came across the Willamette River at the Toyota of Portland car dealership.
Steven Schumacher, service director for the Toyota dealership, surveyed damage to about a dozen cars -- smashed windshields and a caved-in roof. The police chief estimated damage there alone at least $250,000.
The dealership management decided late Thursday to stay away from the business as the protest continued to unfold, he said.
"We weren't going to get in the middle of it," he said. Early Friday, employees arrived to "pick up the pieces."
Employees at the restaurant Seres on Lovejoy and 11th Avenue cleaned up broken glass on Friday morning after protesters threw rocks through the restaurant's windows on Thursday night.
Jimmy Yan, a Seres employee, said customers and many of his coworkers were inside the building when protesters began throwing rocks shortly before 9:30 p.m. A co-worker called him and he rushed over, he said.
When he arrived, he found his co-workers standing outside the restaurant, where broken glass covered the floor. Businesses next door and across the street were damaged as well, he said.
"I was shocked," he said. "I've been working here for 16 years and never seen that happen before."
Seres will reopen Friday afternoon, Yan said. Though he is nervous about protests Friday night, the restaurant is taking the risk so it can serve its customers, he said.
Kevin and Amy Dushane, who were out for their daily walk in the Pearl District, said they were disappointed by the vandalism to the neighborhood. Kevin Dushane said the graffiti, which included vulgar references to Trump, crossed a line.
Said Amy Dushane: "I am proud to still be free. I think this is an opportunity for us to join together."
Annette Radford of Klamath Falls, her husband and daughter endured two nights of protests as they stayed in a hotel not far from Pioneer Square, where demonstrators have gathered each night to start marching.
She had trouble sleeping as she heard people chanting and police officers on loudspeakers with the loud flash grenades going off, she said.
"(The election) is done. It's over with and Oregon voted for Hillary," Radford said. "There's nothing left that can be done."
In the meantime, she was waiting to catch a MAX train to the Portland Zoo. She and her family plan to be back in doors before sunset and the possible next round of protests.
Ben Stadey, a seven-year resident of the Pearl, walked along 11th and reflected on the resentment that built around the presidential election.
Despite living for years in urban Portland, he grew up in Estacada, where conservatives outnumber liberals, he said. He's seen frustration with elected leaders from both sides of the political spectrum and understands them.
A former teacher, he said politicians would come to his school for a "photo op" and talk about the value of education "and then nothing happens ... you can pick your category of issue."
"The people who were trying to have a peaceful protest last night, I feel their message was overshadowed by whatever you want to call them, the anarchist," he said.
If more protests come, he said: "Just leave the baseball bats at home. I do feel people need to let it out and express themselves and in these protests that's a form of unity as well. I think people feel alone and scared."
Unity for Stadey comes from his friends at a local yoga group. He was on his way to a session.
"That's where I find my strength, although that's a very Pearl District-y thing to say, but I'm a trailer kid from Estacada."
