On Sunday night in Portland, peaceful protests juxtaposed “unlawful assemblies.” The two major protests that occurred the night of June 14 were vastly different in energy, police presence, crowd makeup and message. The first protest was held in NE Portland, while the second one, which was declared “unlawful” by the Portland Police Bureau [PPB] occurred by the Justice Center downtown.
Protest in NE Portland
The protest in NE Portland, began in the early evening around 6 p.m. Approximately 5000 protestors attended the rally and march. Attendees met at Jefferson High School and then proceeded to march to Alberta Park.
There were no officers in uniform visible during both the march and rally. Instead, members of the community on bikes, motorcycles and in trucks led crowds. They rode ahead and blocked off streets, directing motorists so that commuters were not inconvenienced by the protests and so that protestors remained safe.
Along the route various people were stationed off to the side handing out snacks, water, ear plugs, masks and basic medicine, like Advil. There were also protestors dispersed throughout the crowd with signs indicating that they carried these same supplies. There were protestors who were registering people to vote as well.
The crowd spanned for blocks and was so large that different sections chanted different chants at the same time. Some protestors chanted an intricate call and response, “Give me a B, I’ve got your B, I’ve got your B. Give me an L, I’ve got your L, I’ve got your L… What’s that spell? black lives matter, black lives matter, black lives matter.”
Others chanted the names of black people who have been shot by police, such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Freddie Gray. Still others chanted “Take to the streets, defund the police, no justice, no peace.”
After marching a little over a mile, protestors filtered into Alberta Park as music played over loudspeakers. The sound system broadcast noise so effectively that anyone in the park could hear the rally.
As the park began to fill, motorcyclists paraded, revving their engines around the outside of the baseball fence. They positioned themselves in lines by the truck that would function as a stage for the speakers. They remained there as a protective presence for the duration of the rally.
There were also a few Portland firefighters at the protest. They carried first aid bags and were present to make sure that protestors could be treated if the event turned violent or if there was a medical emergency.
Once most of the crowd had arrived, the first speaker began to talk and the crowd quickly sat down, spread across the lawn. The speeches were all given by younger, black community members, many of whom had been involved with organizing the event.
Speakers discussed the “institutions of state violence” in America and encouraged protestors to think more expansively. Some called for the abolishment of the Portland police force as a whole, while others insisted that the police union be disbanded. They talked about the prison industrial complex and called for the abolishment of prisons, along with detention centers.
“Think about instruments of war as an extension of violence against black lives,” one of the speakers urged.
Speakers quoted revolutionary leaders and writers. They also encouraged those listening to familiarize themselves with the words and ideas of people like Angela Davis, W. E. B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells and Malcolm X.
The final speaker talked about parenting black children and discussed the double standards that black children face compared to white ones. He talked about how he worried whenever his children went places, especially his teenage boys. He discussed how he wanted the medical community to believe his young daughter when she is in pain and does not want her to lose her happiness to racism.
“I want [my daughter] to not know what the police are. I want them to be a joke,” he told the crowd and was met with cheers.
Following the speakers, organizers announced that the rally was over. They urged demonstrators to pick up any trash on the ground before they left. The protestors then began to march back to Jefferson High School around 9:30 p.m., as “This Is America” by Donald Glover played over the loudspeaker.
Protest at the Justice Center
At the same time, a very different scene was unfolding at the Justice Center in downtown Portland. Surrounding the Justice Center was a reinforced fence with police behind it. It was scaled down significantly and moved back closer to the Justice Center on Monday night, but Sunday it was still fully constructed.
The fence is now infamous in the Portland community and has been one of the major contributing factors in the declaration of unlawful assemblies, as protestors climb, throw things over and touch the fence. The Justice Center itself has seen nightly clashes between protestors and police.
There is a heavy police presence in the general area surrounding the Justice Center. Officers had their names covered by their internal identification numbers.
There are also hundreds of messages written in graffiti in that area, including all over the walls of the District Courthouse. These messages include phrases such as ACAB [all cops are bastards], FTP [fuck the police], fuck 12 [fuck the police], burn it down, and no justice, no peace.
Slightly before 9 p.m., protestors began to climb and cut the fence. One person made it through the fence and refused to leave, resulting in arrest. Soon after, those gathered at the fence began to throw a number of projectiles over the fence at officers in their vehicles. These projectiles included a large firework which police are saying is likely commercial-grade.
The protest was then declared a civil disturbance and unlawful. A large area of downtown, from SW 10th Ave to SW Naito Pkwy and SW Lincoln St to SW Harvey Milk, was closed. Right before this announcement was made on Twitter, PPB released a video of Lt. Tina Jones, the lead Public Information Officer, discussing the media’s relationship with the police and how they are affected by unlawful assemblies. The video stated that media are not exempt from unlawful assembly declarations and that if they remain with protestors who are refusing to leave, members of the media are also subject to arrest.
The police made announcements via their sound truck ordering protestors to leave. The group split up into several smaller groups. These smaller groups wandered through the closed zone.
Officers continued their attempts to disperse crowds. Police followed in vehicles and continued to make announcements saying that if protestors did not leave immediately they would be subject to arrest and use of force. Officers in riot helmets and vests occasionally got out of police SUVs and rushed towards those gathered. Arrests were made.
As they wandered through the streets, the groups did not seem to have any clear plan or direction. They focused most of their efforts on moving away from the police vehicles. As they did this they yelled and chanted “Fuck you, pigs,” “All cops are bastards,” “ACAB” and “Shut up, pigs.”
There was also discussion about staying away from any homeless camps. One protestor stated that “it is our responsibility to steer [police] away from them.”
At around 10:45, most of the remaining protestors had formed a group of roughly 100 and were gathered at SW Taylor and 11th, a block outside of the closed zone. The group lacked the diversity of the protest in Alberta Park, with the overwhelming majority of these protestors being younger and white. There was no clear leader and different members of the crowd wanted to do different things.
As they discussed what to do next, demonstrators began to put on gas masks, helmets and goggles in case crowd control munitions were used by police. A couple protestors were walking around and asking people if they had umbrellas or other objects that could be used as shields. A different few walked through the crowd making sure that people had the numbers to call to get a lawyer and bail if they were arrested.
Protestors eventually decided to march forward one block to 10th Ave, the very edge of the larger closed area. When they were gathered in the intersection, a young woman made an announcement and stated that the Jefferson statue at Jefferson High School had been pulled down. She was met with cheers.
A vote was then held on what to do next, remaining and conducting a sit-in or moving towards the Justice Center. The latter won.
Around 11:15 p.m., protestors moved up a block to the Simon And Helen Director Park, across from the Nordstrom. Protestors remained there for about 10 minutes, sitting down, chatting and taking a break.
After this short break, they continued on towards the Justice Center. At Taylor and Broadway, they were quickly met by members of the PPB riot gear and their SUVs positioned about half a block from protestors. There were no announcements made from police.
Protestors put their hands in the air and began to march towards officers chanting “Who’s streets? Our streets,” and “peaceful protest.” After less than five minutes the standoff ended and police got into their cars and drove away.
Protestors pushed on for a few blocks. Officers pulled up in their cars and used the vehicles to block the protestors path. Demonstrators pushed forward, towards the vehicles, with hands raised. PPB turned their cars around and left.
Demonstrators continued towards the Justice Center. As they marched, they chanted “Stay together. Stay tight. We do this every night.”
They soon arrived at the Justice Center and gathered by the fence. Some protestors threw things over the fence. Police then told protestors to leave or face arrest, the announcement did not include the possibility of crowd control munitions.
The next series of events occurred in rapid succession, taking roughly ten minutes. Several police cars raced up the street towards protestors and stopped abruptly on the edge of the crowd. Approximately a dozen officers got out of the vehicles and quickly walked towards the protestors, with batons raised. Police yelled “Move!” and “Go!” at demonstrators. A man who was loudly yelling and positioned at the back of the group was grabbed by multiple officers and arrested.
Protestors were steadily pushed up to Main St and 4th Ave by PPB. They stopped in the intersection with police in a line on the east side. Several officers held projectile guns and one was pointing the gun directly at members of the crowd. Protestors began to chant “peaceful protest” and talk at the police. One officer was identified by name and the demonstrator who identified him told the others to remember it.
More officers arrived to the right of protestors. They got out of their cars roughly half a block away and stood there momentarily. Then, both lines of officers ran at protestors with their batons raised, although no crowd control munitions were used. Protestors ran and the group fractured.
Most protestors preceded to leave, although a couple small groups remained. They stuck to the sidewalks, which officers told them was ok and would not result in their arrest. As they passed, PPB thanked people for being off the roadway.
The crowd was fully dispersed by 1 a.m. and, in total, 14 adults were arrested on Sunday night. Protests in Portland are expected to continue nightly indefinitely.
