Puts into clearer focus

"Its official, one of the Portland protests that really have become nightly confrontations with law enforcement has officially now been declared a riot. That designation applies to last Saturday's event.

Meantime, the Justice Department inspector general is launching a probe into law enforcement in Oregon and also federal efforts here in Washington, D.C. The situation in Portland puts into clearer focus President Trump's decision to put federal forces on the streets.

Correspondent Dan Springer shows us the situation seems to be getting worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SPRINGER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It was one of the most violent nights yet in Portland. A new fence put up around the federal courthouse did not stem the chaos. Arsonists through Molotov cocktails and hundreds of fireworks over it, vandals cut through it.

While Portland police state away, federal officers there to protect the courthouse and federal buildings repeatedly fired tear gas and deployed flash bang devices."

1. Does 'puts into clearer focus' mean 'something becomes important?'

2. ‘It was one of the most violent nights yet in Portland‘ - My impression is usually 'yet' is used with 'not' so I'm confused why do we need 'yet' here?

3. 'While Portland police state away' - is 'state away' a set phrase? I'm a bit confused by the grammatical structure of this sentence. How does it look like if we want to convert it into a full sentence? 'While Portland police IS state away'?