KEEPING IT WEIRD: Clashes break out as supporters and opponents of Trump descend on Portland.

Police in riot gear made 14 arrests and used pepper spray and flash-bang grenades to break up the crowds. But the violence was far less than city officials had anticipated after a white supremacist was accused of stabbing to death two men who tried to defend a pair of teenagers from his anti-Muslim insults and racist taunts on a city train. A third man was injured during the confrontation May 26.

Trump supporters held signs aloft saying, “Don’t tread on me,” “God, guns and Trump” and “Make America great again,” as they engaged in heated arguments with black-clad protesters holding signs saying, “Black lives matter,” “You have blood on your hands” and “Portland stands against hate.”

The pro-Trump March for Free Speech drew the ire of many Portlanders after images went viral showing the 35-year-old suspect in the killings attending a similar protest in April led by local video blogger Joey Gibson, who also organized Sunday’s demonstration. As Jeremy Joseph Christian was arraigned Tuesday on charges of murder and attempted murder, he shouted a stream of threats: “Free speech or die, Portland. You got no safe place. This is America. Get out if you don’t like free speech.”

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler tried and failed to get a federal permit for Gibson’s rally revoked, saying its participants “peddle a message of hatred and bigotry.” In a message to residents last week, Wheeler urged “everyone participating to reject violence.”

Freedom of speech is a rejection of violence.