The Trump administration and Oregon's governor unveiled an agreement Wednesday for federal agents who had been deployed to defend the courthouse to draw back and be replaced by state troopers. The federal agents, who came from agencies including Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, were a flashpoint for conflict over the past two weeks.

They wore camouflage, numerical identifiers instead of name tags, and patches with their affiliation that were difficult for many to recognize. They used tear gas and projectiles such as flash bangs and rubber bullets and took some people they said were suspects off the streets in unmarked vans. Local and state Democratic officials said they didn't belong in the city. Some protesters threw things, including frozen water bottles, at them and shot fireworks at the courthouse, according to the federal government.

Since Thursday, the first night without federal law enforcement visible, protests that had been increasingly violent have been mostly peaceful. On Saturday, the mothers stood with their backs to the fence that had previously been graffitied and the scene of violent encounters as some protesters tried to climb over it. They led the crowd of thousands, including a group of drummers, in chants, including, "Black Lives Matter" and "Take it to the streets and [expletive] the police."