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The president of the Seattle City Council and police watchdogs expressed concern Saturday that a judge’s decision to block a new ban on tear gas, blast balls and other crowd-control weapons could escalate tensions or chill free speech amid protests this weekend. Seattle police Chief Carmen Best, meanwhile, said Saturday the department “promised” it wouldn’t use tear gas. (Groover, 7/25)

Weeks of violent clashes between federal agents and protesters in Portland, Ore., galvanized thousands of people to march through the streets of American cities on Saturday, injecting new life into protests that had largely waned in recent weeks. One of the most intense protests was in Seattle, where a day of demonstrations focused on police violence left a trail of broken windows and people flushing pepper spray from their eyes. At least 45 protesters had been arrested as of early evening, and both protesters and police officers suffered injuries. (Baker and Bogel-Burroughs, 7/25)

Protests took a violent turn in several U.S. cities over the weekend with demonstrators squaring off against federal agents outside a courthouse in Portland, Oregon, forcing police in Seattle to retreat into a station house and setting fire to vehicles in California and Virginia. A protest against police violence in Austin, Texas, turned deadly when a witness says the driver of a car that drove through a crowd of marchers opened fire on an armed demonstrator who approached the vehicle. And someone was shot and wounded in Aurora, Colorado, after a car drove through a protest there, authorities said. (Martin, 7/26)