Portland Police Report White Claw Was Thrown at Officers Amid Protests, and Twitter Is Having a Field Day

Police in Portland, Oregon published a photo of objects thrown at police during protests, briefly giving Twitter users something to laugh about. The odd collection included a partially eaten Granny Smith apple, a can of garbanzo beans, a brick, and a full can of White Claw hard seltzer. While the photo earned several funny responses, many others pointed out the disparity between what was thrown at police and the police’s response to protesters.

Early Sunday morning, the Portland Police Department shared the picture on Twitter. “More items recovered that were thrown at officers: Full beverage cans, bricks, bottles, rocks, food,” the caption reads. The tweet earned thousands of comments, with some noting that the small items were countered by police using tear gas and wearing full riot gear. “I’m not a scientist but I believe the bullets and tear gas you shoot at innocent people would hurt a lot more than a can of low sodium garbanzo beans,” comedian Tony Posnanski wrote.

Portland residents have joined Black Lives Matter protests throughout the week, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody last month. Officials have faced criticism for the police department’s tactics, leading Mayor Ted Wheeler to order Portland police not to use sonic warning tones. He also said Friday he supports a month-long ban on tear gas. The Long Range Acoustic Device (LARD) will only be used to share information from now on, Wheeler tweeted.

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The sonic tone was used at 1:30 a.m. Friday morning, near the end of an all-night protest against police brutality, reports Oregon Live. Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis said the tone was used to disperse a disruptive group without hurting the peaceful protesters. It was only the second time police used the tone as an alternative to tear gas. Police did not use tear gas Thursday night, as activists have criticized police departments for using the gas across the country. Some experts say it could hurt efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Seattle already put a 30-day moratorium on using tear gas during protests.

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During a press conference Friday, Wheeler, who also serves as police commissioner, said he supported a pause on using tear gas, but would only outright ban its use if there is a better alternative available. Portland “should ban the use of tear gas with an important provision,” Wheeler said. “I would support the discontinuation of tear gas provided that there are viable alternatives for dispersal that do not involve higher uses of force.”

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The latest protests against police brutality and racial inequality began after Floyd’s death on May 25. Floyd died while in Minneapolis police custody when an officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, even after Floyd lost consciousness. He was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter and was fired.

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