Protest in Portland: A Narrative Account

November 6, 2004
By forkfail

Following is a narrative account of my experience with a protest that was held today, November 6, 2004, in Portland, Oregon. What follows include my personal observations, conversations with the protesters, and the events that transpired as the protest occurred.

Image provided by Johnny Peaceseed

I arrived in Pioneer Courthouse Square at about 11:00 AM on Saturday, November 6, 2004. At that point in time, there were very few people in the square, but the police were beginning to mass in anticipation of the protest. Already, over fifty policemen were in evidence.

This is not the first protest in Portland since the election. On Wednesday, November 3, 2004, there was a spontaneous protest [1] [2] [3]. On Friday, November 5, there was a protest by city permit. During the hour or so between eleven and noon, I was able to speak to a number of people concerning the protests on both Wednesday and Friday evenings earlier this week.

Apparently, according to numerous protesters gathering for this afternoon's protest, the primary difference between the Wednesday and the Friday protest had been the fact that the Wednesday protest had not had a permit, and was aggressively controlled and discouraged by the police. The protest on Friday was previously scheduled, and the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition [5], a Portland organization, had a permit for that evening, and therefore, was without as many incidents.

Jessica Horbler described the scene of the Wednesday evening protest, saying that while it had started out as a peaceful protest, it had not ended up that way. Police arrested 7 people during the course of the protests Wednesday evening.

Mrs. Horbler described multiple acts of intimidation by the police wherein officers threatened individuals with stun guns. She also described numerous incidents of police physically pushing the largely peaceful protesters. "The police started the riots," said Mrs. Horbler, in a reference to the violence that occurred during the protests on Wednesday evening.

Another protester, who would only identify herself as Raven, described other incidents during the Wednesday evening protest. Raven indicated that the police used pepper spray at least three times; twice during the protest and once after the majority had dispersed. She also confirmed accounts of the police physically pushing protestors, and added that the police horses were ridden into crowds in order to push them back.

The police present prior to the protest refused to comment on the tactics used Wednesday night. One sergeant, who refused to be identified, said that "We don't use violence" when asked about the incidents on Wednesday. When asked at what point police would escalate their tactics to physical tactics, he replied, "We escalate when state laws are broken, and when public safety is at risk." At this point, he refused to answer any more questions, walking away to rejoin one of the many groups of police gathering in the square.

One Starbucks employee, who asked not to be identified, stated that she had been more of an observer of the Wednesday night protest than a participant. She stated that the protest "was about people being like zombies - not waking up - and letting Bush getting re-elected."

Teresa Teater, a member of the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, a Portland protest group that organizes peaceful protests, described numerous incidents from Wednesday's protest. One of the most appalling incidents related by Mrs. Teater involved the actions of a Portland city policeman on a motorcycle. Mrs. Teater described witnessing a protester attempting to cross the street, when he was run down by the policeman. When the man attempted to rise, the policeman struck him again with his motorcycle, trapping him between the police motorcycle and another motorcycle. Eventually, according to Mrs. Teater, the man was able to get away and make his way away in the crowd.

Mrs. Teater went on to relate that she had taken the license plate of the police motorcycle, and had reported the incident to Gary Blackmer of the Portland Auditors Office [6]. She indicated that she intended to try to bring more attention to the incident, and to see that it was not brushed under the carpet.

A number of other protesters gathering for this afternoon's protest who had also attended Wednesday afternoon's protest related similar stories, including incidents of pepper spraying, police shoving individuals, the use of horses to physically push people back, and knocking people - including disabled people - to the ground.

During the time that the crowd was building for today’s protest, there was a constant police presence. In all, there were approximately 150 police in evidence in the square alone by the time the crowd had grown to its full size. Many were in full riot gear, complete with body armor, face plates, night sticks and cans of pepper spray in evidence. Most refused to answer any questions whatsoever. Many protesters noted that their silence and numbers was extremely intimidating, and were concerned that many protesters would be afraid to take part in this afternoons protest.

By approximately 12:30 PM, approximately 600 people had gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square. There were numerous groups represented, though no one group appeared to have been in an organizational position. In attendance and bearing signs from their organization were Democrats [8] and volunteers from the John Kerry campaign [7], members of the National Organization of Women [9], and members of other protest groups, including the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition [5] and several gay rights and anti-war groups. It should be noted that while members of these organizations bore signs and buttons indicating membership, none of these organizations were responsible in any way for organizing the protest.

At approximately 12:30 PM, a man who identified himself simply as "Michael B." addressed the crowd, making a short speech, impassioned speech via a portable electric megaphone. Following this, numerous people came forward to speak and let their voices be heard. Few of the speeches were prepared in advance; the content of the speeches showed a depth of concern about a range of matters.

The common vein running through all of the speeches was concern about the direction that our government has gone; concern that things had reached a point that the government was no a functional democracy, but rather, had become simply the tool of the already powerful.

The speakers themselves ranged widely, from teenagers to middle aged house wives, from educators to retired veterans, from upper class, suburbanite, white-collar office employees to blue-collar workers; all had something that they wished to say.

For example, one middle aged speaker addressed the war in Iraq, stating that he supported the war in Afghanistan, but that the war in Iraq was based upon lies and falsehoods. This speaker also expressed concern about Social Security.

Another speaker, who later identified himself as Richard Hernandez, spoke concerning the standing of the United Sates in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Yet another speaker related evidence collected via direct contacts in other cities and on the web concerning problems with the Diebold voting machines [4] - problems that he said were going unreported by the mainstream press. In support of his accusations, he distributed fliers to the crowd that consisted of a printout of an Associated Press news release via yahoo.com that clearly indicates voting machine fraud. He gave his website as http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

Another man, who identified himself as T.W. Jackson, spoke about the need to fix our education system. He extolled the crowd to not forget our children, and reminded them that without education for our children, all other efforts were in vain.

Joshua Hughes extolled the crowd to not accept the outcome of the election, and told people that the results could - and should - still be challenged.

Other speakers addressed the war in Iraq, health care in America, and the national deficit.

But every speaker seemed to have something in common - they were all concerned that the nation was going in a bad direction, a direction not intended by our founding fathers. They spoke of root causes, of the growth of fascism and theocracy in America. They spoke of the necessity to be heard and not to let our democracy die. They spoke of the loss of the American ideal, of how it was being submerged by intolerance, fanatic religion, ignorance, fear and hatred.

Yet despite the threats to democracy that the protesters spoke of, none advocated violence. Everyone was explicit in their advocacy of peaceful protest. There were no cries to rebellion, no calls to rise up in arms. Rather, these people from across the spectrum advocated working together to make our nation great again. While some did indicate that if things did not change, their chosen course of action might have to take a more radical path, no one had yet reached the point of advocating open rebellion, rioting, or destruction. However, it was apparent that many of these people had been pushed far closer to the line than one would have believed possible half a decade ago.

Yet while most were not ready to give up faith in the American system, many thought that it had been corrupted and could no longer be trusted. This distrust manifested itself in numerous ways, with some protesters addressing the fact that everything that is said by the White House is vetted by Karl Rove, and others addressing the fact that the voting process was, in their opinion, not to be trusted.

Of the corruption of the voting process and the voting machines, one protester, Joan Turley said, "I'm sorry I've been asleep for four years. If we don't get rid of the machines, it will be over. It will only get worse."

The passion felt by the speakers was obvious, and it was understated by the fact that the people present to protest the state of the nation were so diverse. Black and white, Hispanic and Oriental, rich and poor, homeless, middle class, young and old - there were people from all demographics present.

Yet not everyone present in the Square was of a like mind. Several people were actively staging an anti-protest. Steve Smith, who bore a sign proclaiming, "Biggest United States Hero," was unequivocal in his opinion of the event. "This is crap," the Republican supporter stated. He went on to state that it was critical that the United States finish the war in Iraq. When asked why, he stated that Iraq had to be brought under control because he believed that Iraq was behind the September 11th attacks, and had an alliance with Osama bin Laden.

By 1:20 PM, most of the protestors who wished to speak had had a chance to do so, and the group began its march around the city. With chants of "Stop Bush", "Racist, sexist, anti-gay - George Bush, go away!" and "Hey hey, ho ho, George Bush has got to go", the group headed east from Pioneer Courthouse Square towards the Ankeny Square Market, near the Willamette River.

The police were quick to respond as the crowd of protestors, now numbering approximately 1000 people, began to move. While the leaders of the march did attempt to control the direction, they were often directed and corralled by police.

Though no violence was observed, the police were masterful in their control over the crowd. Within several blocks, it was obvious that it was the intent of the police department to break up the protest by fragmenting the protesters. At every intersection, the police carefully would let a small number of protesters across the street, then block the rest of the group for two cycles of the stop lights in order to attempt to split one group from another.

In other instances, the police would allow one group to head off in one direction, then prevent the entire rest of the protest group from following the original group. Though groups that were split off rejoined the main march, the technique did have the effect of bleeding a certain number of protesters off from the main body.

In addition to the divisive tactics employed by the police, certain laws were enforced with a ridiculous level of zeal. For example, several people were arrested for jaywalking and taken to jail. Numerous protesters commented that the police had targeted several individuals for removal from the crowd, and had pushed them off the sidewalk so that they too could be arrested for walking in the street.

Yet despite these tactics, the marchers maintained their peaceful approach, responding by varying their chant from the originals to "Peaceful Protest! Peaceful Protest!" and "Wondering what a police state looks like? This is what a police state looks like!" At least, a number of the officers had the decency to look embarrassed when confronted with the latter.

Reaction along the route form Pioneer Courthouse Square to the Ankeny Square open market was mixed, but, in large, supportive of the protesters. Numerous cars honked their horns, and a number of passer-bys wished the protesters well. A few drivers shouted obscenities at the marchers, and one advocated in somewhat vulgar terms that they "all go to Canada." However, these were, for the most part, isolated incidents.

Once the protesters reached Ankeny Square, the march halted. Here, protesters chanted slogans and spoke with the Saturday shoppers in the open air market. However, once the march began to attempt to move again, it became apparent that the approach of the Portland Police had become far more draconian.

It must be realized that Portland is divided through its downtown area by the Willamette river. There are eleven bridges spanning the river; the Burnside Bridge crosses the river from the Ankeny Market. The Portland light rail also runs through the Ankeny Square; from the stop in Ankeny Square, one can catch a train across the river.

It was at stairs leading up to the sidewalks on the Burnside Bridge that the police began to exert more draconian methods. Police in full riot gear, with their face masks down, blocked the entrance to the bridge, and would not let any protesters up on to the bridge. When the marchers found their way blocked, they decided to board a train in order to cross the river that way. However, the trains had evidently been instructed not to stop and allow the protesters to board the train; no trains stopped in the market.

At this point, several more people were arrested when they accosted the police and accused them of acting in an illegal manner.

Given that the marchers were obviously not going to be allowed on to the bridge or on the trains, the column of marchers attempted to circle the block and come back to the bridge from a different approach. However, the efforts of the police to split the protest into smaller groups and, in so doing, cause it to lose its momentum and energy, were redoubled. Numerous times, small groups were allowed down one street; when the rest of the marchers attempted to follow, they were blocked.

Eventually, with the total number of protesters down to about half of the original number, several of the groups which had been calved off from the main group assembled near the Steel Bridge. When the police saw where they were going, they immediately realized that it might be possible for the protesters to get across the river, and the race was on. Hundreds of people ran towards the sidewalk leading up to the bridge; however, the police were on bicycles and motorcycles, and the protesters really had no chance of beating the police to the entrance.

When the police reached the entrance to the bridge, they formed a human wall, and did not allow any protesters on to the sidewalks that cross the bridge. They were silent and menacing, refusing to answer queries as to why no one was allowed to cross the bridge. I asked three officers why they would not allow anyone on to the bridge, who had authorized them to disallow pedestrians’ legal access to a pedestrian walkway, and under what law and what authority they were operating: not a single officer deigned to answer.

In short, they had orders, and intended to carry them out, legal or not. Furthermore, they did not feel obliged to provide any justification for their action. Given that the protesters had made a point of keeping the protest peaceful, and given the fact that there had not been a single violent incident, this was clearly a violation of the law on the part of the police.

However, there is a second way across the Steel Bridge for pedestrians - there is a walkway that runs under the roadway to the promenade on the other side of the river. A number of protesters – now down to about a hundred strong, took this route.

Once the remaining marchers reached the Eastern shore of the river, the police managed to further split up the group. Some were allowed to proceed along certain pathways that led into the shopping centers on the east side of the river; these paths were then closed to the rest of the group. IN this manner, the police managed to completely disperse the remainder of the marchers. At one point, the police kept approximately 60 people contained in an area below the bridge, walled off by fences, train tracks, the river and the riot police so that they could not rejoin the rest of the marchers.

By this time, many of the remaining marchers felt that they had gotten their message out for the day, and decided to return home, or go to their jobs. As the group that I was with headed back towards the east side train station at the Rose Center, we encountered a number of police blocking the east side of the Steel Bridge.

When asked, their leader, Officer Luiz, said that he did “not know who authorized the blocking of the bridges and roads”. He went on to say that the order came from "very high up," and implied that it came from outside of the department. However, he refused to say more than this. Furthermore, he flat out refused to cite a law, ordinance or other piece of legal code authorizing such an action. While it is more than possible that he thought that he was being cute with a snippety answer, the fact remains that he was likely in violation of the law himself given the tactics that he had ordered and the fact that peaceful people were not allowed on pedestrian walkways by his order. His refusal to indicate what statute, or by what authority he had taken his action, is extremely disturbing.

By now, the crowd of protesters had pretty much completely dispersed. As I awaited the train that would take me back downtown, I observed about a dozen police in riot gear loitering at the station. One of these officers had broken away from the rest, and was talking to several members of the transit authority.

I approached this officer, with the intent to ask him a few questions. However, this turned out to be unnecessary, as his comments to the transit authority officers were more telling than any answers to my questions could have been.

It seems this officer - who, upon closer inspection I found to be another Sergeant - was bragging about his use of pepper spray on some of the youths involved during the Wednesday night protest. He showed a positive glee in describing the way that one of the youths had cringed in anticipation of being hit with the blast of pepper spray in the face. When this officer of the law related that his pepper spray canister had failed to operate, he showed extreme disappointment.

If there was any doubt as to the accuracy of the protesters chant of, "Wondering what a police state looks like? This is what a police state looks like," they were dispelled by this incident.

Soon, the train arrived, and I returned to Pioneer Courthouse Square. As I returned home to write this account, I could not help but thinking how normal everything looked, where hours before the roar of a chanting crowd had attempted to wake the people of this city to the disastrous course that this nation has set itself upon.

Yet at the same time, I realized there is something new in the air. There is an air of desperation, an edge of anger, a new level of frustration and a feeling of betrayal. And many people are not willing to be silent about the issues that they see facing our nation; they are not willing to accept the lies and propaganda of the neo-cons and the current Republican administration. And they are not willing to go silently into the darkness of totalitarianism.

As discouraging as the current political situation is, as agonizing as it is to see the way that George W. Bush and his cartel are perverting the foundations of America, it gives one hope to see the passion and energy of those who still believe in their hearts in the American way and in a working, vocal democracy.

October/November 2004 Column Listing