Police arrested 13 people as far-right groups rallying in the north-western US city of Portland, Oregon, skirmished with left-wing counter-protesters.<\/p>\n
A huge police operation kept the right-wing rally separated from supporters of the antifa (anti-fascist) movement.<\/p>\n
Small clashes that did take place occurred as the rival factions moved away after the rally.<\/p>\n
Rally organisers were calling for antifa to be declared a domestic terror organisation.<\/p>\n
Portland, one of the most liberal cities in the US, is regarded as an antifa stronghold.<\/p>\n
Police said they seized weapons including metal poles and shields from both sets of protesters.<\/p>\n
At least six people suffered minor injuries and one person was taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw said those arrested faced charges including disorderly conduct, interfering with police, resisting arrest and unlawful use of a weapon.<\/p>\n
At the height of the demonstrations there were about 1,200 people on the streets of the city centre, she told a news conference.<\/p>\n
The rally had mainly been promoted by Joe Biggs, a member of the far-right Proud Boys group and former employee of Alex Jones’s Infowars.<\/p>\n
Proud Boys – which The Southern Poverty Law Center, a major US civil rights organisation, has classified as a hate group – have been involved in previous far-right rallies, and violent street clashes, in Portland.<\/p>\n
Proud Boys says incidents of violence allegedly involving members of the loosely organised antifa movement, an international coalition of militant activists and protesters opposed to the far right – justifies a ban.<\/p>\n