Hours after police cleared Portland State University’s Millar Library on Thursday, a small group of people worked to reestablish an encampment, covering a chain-link fence with tarps and, it appeared, getting back inside the building.
It was unclear how many people got into the library around 6 p.m., but people could be seen moving past some of the five-story building’s windows.
A crowd of about 150 people, many dressed in black and wearing masks, looked on from the South Park Blocks. An organizer yelled, “if you have visible tattoos cover them. Cover your eyebrows. Cover your mouths.”
Dozens of police officers returned, ordered the crowd to break up and leave, and made several arrests.
The latest clash capped a volatile day at the downtown campus that drew hundreds of onlookers, students, protesters who variously milled about, chanted, shouted and at one point threw a volley of bottles after police cleared the library and then maintained a visible presence for hours around the building before leaving.
A PSU spokesperson said university officials didn’t realize police would be pulling back from the library, which is near several dorm complexes.
In an email at 7:30 p.m., Mike Benner, a Portland police spokesman, wrote that officers had moved back in and cleared the area.
The crowds did leave the area near the PSU library, marching east away from campus.
Occupation of the library began on Monday and school officials canceled classes for the next three days, with protesters demanding the university to cut ties with any company or organization that has business interests in Israel.
A tour of the library late Thursday showed much graffiti on the walls, damage to ceilings and trash.
— The Oregonian/OregonLive staffers Julia Silverman, Matt Kish, Fedor Zarkhin and Destiny Johnson contributed to this report.