MAYBE HE SHOULD ASK PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR HELP: Portland protesters cause mayhem again, police officer hurt: Protests in Portland, Oregon turned violent again even after the mayor pleaded with demonstrators to stay off the streets.

Portland’s nightly protests turned violent again even after the city’s mayor pleaded for demonstrators to stay off the streets and a police officer hit by a rock early Friday suffered what was described as a serious injury.

The protesters who came out Thursday night clashed with officers near a police precinct station and also used metal bars to disable police vehicles, police said in a statement.

The nightly clashes this week have ratcheted up tensions in the city after an agreement was reached last week between state and federal officials for federal agents to pull back from their defense of a federal courthouse that was prevously the focus of the protesters’ rage.

The strategy initially appeared to calm down the protesters, but violent demonstrations re-emerged on the streets this week, miles away from the courthouse – marking a new phase in the nightly protests for Portland that have happened since May 25, following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Tear gas was used by Portland police on protesters Wednesday for the first time since the U.S. agents left the city. On Thursday, Mayor Ted Wheeler warned the protesters clashing with police that “you are not demonstrating, you are attempting to commit murder.”

So much for the summer of love. But Portland’s mayor appears to be part of the general pivot on these protests, which must be hurting the Democrats badly.