Police appear to repeatedly punch detained Portland protester who was lying in the road

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A Portland police officer was filmed appearing to punch a detained man in the face multiple times, after he was arrested during Black Lives Matter protests over the weekend.

In the footage, that was shared to social media by journalist Laura Jedeed, several officers were shown holding a protester face down to the road in Portland, Oregon.

One of the officers detaining the man then appeared to hit him several times as colleagues shouted at other demonstrators to “get out of the street”.

The Portland Police Bureau said in a statement on Monday that an “unlawful assembly” was called on Sunday night, after rocks and eggs were thrown at officers, as demonstrators blocked traffic during Black Lives Matter protests.

The bureau said that officers repeatedly told demonstrators to leave the area, but shortly before 11pm they declared an unlawful assembly and arrested people for offences including resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Ms Jedeed told ABC News that after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly, officers told the crowd to disperse and started arresting any demonstrators who remained in the area.

“They kept saying things like, ‘You! Not press! You’re going to jail!’ They were basically grabbing anyone without a press pass,” the journalist tweeted on Sunday evening.

The bureau also announced on Monday that officers arrested 29 people during rallies on Sunday, as Black Lives Matter protests continued in the city that has been gripped by demonstrations for more than three months.

Black Lives Matter protests have been taking place in Portland for more than 100 days, following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.

Mr Floyd’s death sparked protests in every state in the US in opposition to police brutality against African Americans, and protesters in Portland have called for reform of the city’s police department.

Some protests have ended in violence and vandalism in recent weeks, including a man being fatally shot on Saturday, and last month the Trump administration deployed federal agents to the city, after the federal courthouse became a target of nightly violence.

After some demonstrators started a fire outside the Police Bureau’s East Precinct building, Mr Wheeler pleaded for violence to stop and said he will not “tolerate” similar actions during future demonstrations.

“When you commit arson with an accelerant in an attempt to burn down a building that is occupied by people who you have intentionally trapped inside, you are not demonstrating, you are attempting to commit murder,” Mr Wheeler said.

The mayor added: “I believe that city staff could have died last night. I cannot and I will not tolerate that. This is not peaceful protests. This is not advocacy to advance reforms.”

On Sunday, amid the ongoing protests, Oregon governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, announced a plan to bring the violence to an end in the city, and said she will convene a forum with protesters and community leaders to “discuss racial justice and police reform in the city of Portland”.

The governor told reporters: “We all must come together – elected officials, community leaders, all of us – to stop the cycle of violence,” and added: “But this is only the first step.

“Real change will come from the hard work to achieve racial justice. And it starts with all of us listening to each other, and working together.”