“I was one of two medics on scene when the man who died last night was shot,” she wrote on Twitter on Sunday, August 30. Her tweet the following day would go viral. Danielson, who would die from a gunshot wound moments later. Ninety-three days later, a photo would circulate across the country that captures a turning point in the protests: a young Black woman, identified as a medic by a red cross on her bike helmet, kneeling by the body of Aaron J. “My entire purpose is the protection of life and safety – to treat people as best as I can,” Boyne said. Why Portland? The city's history of protest takes an exceptional turn Late Wednesday Wheeler joined protesters at the front of the crowd and was hit with chemical irritants several times by federal officers dispersing demonstrators. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler speaks to Black Lives Matter protesters on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, in Portland, Ore. She has been part of the protests since day one and serves as a volunteer medic – a loosely organized group qualified to render first aid but lacking certification as EMTs or medical professionals.
Trained to provide first aid, Boyne grabbed her medical kit and joined the crowd. It was the first day Portland police had declared a riot – many such nights would follow. When she arrived at the federal courthouse in downtown Portland, the scene was chaotic: car horns blaring, protesters, outfitted with goggles and helmets, emerging from billows of tear gas. “I wanted to know what that (text) means, so I hopped into my car and drove downtown,” Boyne told CNN. And she felt Portland, ripe with a rich tradition of protest, would soon support the Black Lives Matter movement and take to the streets to denounce police brutality. The text message that pinged on Sierra Boyne’s phone on May 29 was blunt: “Portland is on fire.”īoyne had watched protests erupt in Minneapolis after George Floyd’s killing at the hands of a White police officer.