‘Naked Athena’ protester confronts Portland police

Protester dubbed ‘Naked Athena’ strips off her clothes and dares police to shoot her with tear gas during a tense stand-off in the 50 day ‘Battle of Portland’

  • Unidentified woman struck a series of ballet and yoga poses in front of officers 
  • Surreal video footage from the scene shows the woman striding towards cops 
  • The ‘Naked Athena’ protester wore nothing but a beanie and face mask 

A protester dubbed ‘Naked Athena’ confronted Portland police wearing only a face mask and beanie. 

The unidentified woman struck a series of ballet and yoga poses in front of anti-riot officers at around 1.45 am on Saturday morning. 

Surreal video footage from the scene shows the woman striding towards the officers, who were in heavy protective gear including gas masks and helmets, almost completely naked. 

The standoff comes after the city of Portland marked its 50th consecutive night of unrest following the death of George Floyd, with crowds taking to the streets to denounce racial injustice. 

A protester dubbed ‘Naked Athena’ confronted Portland police wearing only a face mask and beanie

Surreal video footage from the scene shows the woman marching towards the officers

Surreal video footage from the scene shows the woman marching towards the officers

Surreal video footage from the scene shows the woman marching towards the officers, who were in heavy protective gear including gas masks and helmets, almost completely naked

The unidentified woman struck a series of ballet and yoga poses in front of anti-riot officers at around 1.45 am on Saturday morning

The unidentified woman struck a series of ballet and yoga poses in front of anti-riot officers at around 1.45 am on Saturday morning

Officers proceed to fire pepper balls at the woman’s feet and another protester is filmed rushing to protect her with a makeshift shield. 

However she side-steps him to perform a series of yoga poses in front of the officers and even reclines onto the street at one point. 

Her graceful poses stand in stark contrast to the heavily-armed guards. 

According to Dave Killen, a photographer for The Oregonian, the officers left around 10 minutes after the naked woman showed up. 

‘She was incredibly vulnerable,’ he told the news outlet. 

‘It would have been incredibly painful to be shot with any of those munitions with no clothes on.’ 

Officers proceed to fire pepper balls at the woman's feet and another protester is filmed rushing to protect her with a makeshift shield

Officers proceed to fire pepper balls at the woman's feet and another protester is filmed rushing to protect her with a makeshift shield

Officers proceed to fire pepper balls at the woman’s feet and another protester is filmed rushing to protect her with a makeshift shield

In Portland, courts have recognised nudity as a form of political protest which overrides public decency laws.  

It comes as the city of Portland has seen daily Black Lives Matter protests decrying police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Most protesters have demonstrated peacefully, although smaller groups began setting fires and vandalizing property, causing nightly clashes with city police.  



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