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Police, Occupy Portland in Oregon Showdown
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Anti-Wall Street protesters and their supporters flooded a city park area in Portland early Sunday in defiance of an eviction order, and authorities elsewhere stepped up pressure against the demonstrators, arresting nearly two dozen.
The Occupy Portland eviction deadline passed relatively peacefully at Chapman and Lownsdale Squares Sunday morning. The Occupy crowd doubled in size as the deadline approached. (Randy L. Rasmussen/ The Oregonian) Crowds converged on two adjacent downtown Portland parks where protesters are camped after city officials set a midnight Saturday deadline to disperse.
But hours later, the protesters were still there, backed by many supporters who spilled out into the streets next to camp, tying up traffic. They obeyed police orders to clear the street early Sunday.
At one point the numbers swelled to thousands but then started to thin in the early morning hours.
Organizers said they hope enough people will join them to make it difficult if not impossible for police to carry through on any eviction.
"Occupy the street," one organizer said through a bull horn. "Remain peaceful and aware. We have strength in holding the streets."
Demonstrators also used pallets and old furniture, wood debris and even a bicycle to set up makeshift barricades on either end of a street that runs through the encampment, apparently in an attempt to block traffic. Some protesters were arguing about the barricades, though, saying they want them to come down.
Mayor Sam Adams had ordered the camp shut down, citing unhealthy conditions and the encampment's attraction of drug users and thieves.
Police numbers shifted throughout the night, but they showed no signs of moving against the protesters.
Around 4 a.m., a line of about 200 police stretched across a street and in front of a federal courthouse.
Protesters facing them appeared to be in a festive spirits with some banging on plastic pails, another clanging a cowbell while others danced in the streets as a man juggled nearby.
Police had prepared for a possible clash, warning that dozens of anarchists may be planning a confrontation with authorities. Officers seized pieces of cement blocks Friday, saying they were told some demonstrators had plans to use them as weapons against police. They said they believe some demonstrators are building shields and trying to collect gas masks.
"We'll take action that's appropriate, when it's appropriate," police spokesman Lt. Robert King told The Associated Press.
"We are not going to engage in confrontation for a misdemeanor," he said, noting that is the legal violation for remaining in the park after midnight.
It appeared earlier that about 200 campers planned to get arrested. But police action seemed less likely after the crowds swelled the parks in the early morning.
In the hours leading up to midnight, protesters held general assembly meetings where they talked about what to do when the deadline came. The also repeated the main message of Occupy Wall Street movement of peaceful resistance to income inequality and what they see as corporate greed.
As those speeches were going on, some snacked on coffee and burritos as others sang protest song. About 60 bicycle riders circled the camp repeatedly to show support.
"We are a peaceful resistance," said rider Chico Tallman, a 63-year-old accountant. "But we're fed up with the direction the country is going. It's all about profit."
On Saturday, Occupy Portland protesters dismantled large sections of their encampment, but dozens of tents remained after midnight.
For the second time in as many days, Oakland city officials warned protesters Saturday that they do not have the right to camp in the plaza in front of City Hall and face immediate arrest.
The eviction notices come as officials across the country urged an end to similar gatherings in the wake of three deaths in different cities, including two by gunfire.
Demands for Oakland protesters to pack up increased after a man was shot and killed Thursday near the encampment site.
"Your activities are injurious to health, obstruct the free use of property, interfering with the comfortable enjoyment of (Frank Ogawa Plaza), and unlawfully obstruct the free passage or use of a public park or square," the notice read.
Oakland officials first issued the eviction notice Friday after first pleading with protesters to leave the encampment.
Police officials have said a preliminary investigation suggested the shooting resulted from a fight between two groups of men at or near the encampment. Investigators do not know if the men in the fight were associated with Occupy Oakland, but protesters said there was no connection between the shooting and the camp.
The shooting occurred the same day a 35-year-old military veteran apparently committed suicide in a tent at a Burlington, Vt., Occupy encampment. Police said a preliminary investigation showed the veteran fatally shot himself in the head. They said the death raised questions about whether the protest would be allowed to continue.
In Salt Lake City, police arrested 19 people Saturday when protesters refused to leave a park a day after a man was found dead inside his tent at the encampment.
The arrests came after police moved into the park early in the evening where protesters had been ordered to leave by the end of the day. About 150 people had been living in the camp there for weeks.
Authorities in Denver forced protesters to leave a downtown encampment and arrested four people for interfering with officers who removed illegally pitched tents, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
Jackson said police had advised protesters since Wednesday that their tents in Civic Center Park and on a nearby sidewalk were illegal.
Violence marked the protest in San Francisco Saturday where police said two demonstrators attacked two police officers in separate incidents during a march.
Police spokesman Carlos Manfredi said a protester slashed an officer's hand with a pen knife while another protester shoved an officer, causing facial cuts. He said neither officer was seriously hurt, and the assailants couldn't be located.
Meanwhile, in Southern California a small group of protesters braved soggy weather on Saturday to gather for the first time under the banner of Occupy Inland Empire. Members of Occupy movements in Fontana, Redlands, Riverside, and other nearby towns marched past banks and in front of San Bernardino City Hall in what they called a "visibility action," The Sun newspaper reported.
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34 Comments so far
Show AllHold strong dear Oregonians. Anyone who can tolerate 9 months of rain every year can tolerate some wantabe black ops cops. The 'establishment' (remember that word?) has their way of placing money to harass, and that is what they are doing to your CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. Welcome to the new amerikkka...may it fall apart so we in the 99% can rebuild...it doesn't take a hurricane to destroy a country, just a bunch of greedy, self-serving, whorporate hypocrites from bank to scumming bank.
I like that line for the sign, "Got Your $$$ 13 Million $$$ Bonus Check?" .............
IN THESE TIMES...Greg Palast article on the truth behind why Europe and US is collapsing. wow!! I asked a couple posts back...where are the lawyers?... last night that question blew back on me like a pile of dog shit...IN CONGRESS dumbass!!!!!!!!LOL... I can be so dumb sometimes.
Some (maybe very few, but some) lawyers are helping the Occupiers.
In the city I live in, a young civil rights attorney who is helping the Occupiers filed a law suit against the city for violating the Constitutional rights of the Occupiers. The police have invoked a city ordinance that prohibits anyone from placing any object on public property (including plazas, sidewalks, and streets), in order to forbid the Occupiers from putting signs, backpacks, etc., on the ground. At the press conference, the lawyer pointed out that the cameraman was in violation of the law because he had placed his camera tripod on the ground of the plaza where the press conference was held.
There is a great need for lawyers specializing in constitutional law to help OWS and other progressives in order to counter the serial anticonstitutional actions and efforts of the US Government, led by the constitutional law expert currently occupying the White House.
I think occupiers need some new weapons and one for sure is: statistics on murders and assaults per region. Personally, I am amazed at how peaceful these demonstrations have been kept. When something does happen - as in the Oakland shooting - occupiers were quick to get the information out that the shooting had nothing to do with them. In such a crime ridden area, police should be "working with" occupiers. It certainly seems like they are doing much to keep the peace. Congratulations, Occupy America!!!!
Agent Provocatuers are rife in trying to create violent confrontations, murder is not beyond their operations. So everyplace that has murder, death, theft or drugs use should be dismantled? USA military, Banks, Congress, Cities, Suburbs, Countryside. These agents are coming from the Corporate/Federal arsenal. The campers have no right to protect themselves from gas attacks and beatings? We in Santa Fe New Mexico are being asked to obtain permits for propane, campfires etc. We have power in our sheltering and feeding of the homeless and hungry, in fact the homeless give us power because they are some of the most steadfast campers and have a deep gut understanding of oppression and resistance to such.
Nice post. It is indeed strange that the sheeple have been conditioned to believe that they are not entitled to protect themselves from violence when it comes from the state. Essentially if a cop wants to kill you it is entirely within their right; if you protect yourself, you deserve life in jail.
Frecking exactly .. the fascist empires, be it amerika, israel or england murder and destroy daily ! The fascist agent/ provocatuers will keep doing their overlords bidding, BUT the People will not be broken ! The propoganda rags/ mouthpieces...msm, will keep spewing deadly lies, BUT the World Family Revolucion will bring down the oppressors !
"Violence marked the protest in San Francisco Saturday where police said two demonstrators attacked two police officers in separate incidents during a march.
Police spokesman Carlos Manfredi said a protester slashed an officer's hand with a pen knife while another protester shoved an officer, causing facial cuts."
LOL. These cops are just sad. Not even worthy of the term "pig". Just pathetic little wimps.
Non violence works when backed by the threat of real violence. OCCUPY ONWARD!
Iconic animation for the 1%: http://earthens.net
I think you missed the point of non-violence.
Kyle, your post is highly suspect. Either you're a troll, planting this bullshit, or you're some rightwing schmuck with a blog, who will then point back to this bullshit, or you're a pathetic tool working for the shadow government planting this bullshit, but one thing is for certain, you are NOT part of this movement.
Seriously, go fuck yourself…you went there, and now I have too.
Now to your post…
"Someone made you the boss of the movement? Or do YOU just set the criteria for everybody else? What the hell? This poster understands, as all of us do, what "the point of non-violence is".
The criteria for this movement, has been repeated at every GA in every city, and in every organizing meeting, that makes up this movement. That criteria is first and foremost, that this is a non-violent movement.
For someone who slams my face in the dirt, lecturing me on the "turning point" in the anti-Vietnam War protests, one would think if they didn't know better, that it was the protesters who became violent at Kent State, etc. Get your facts straight.
"And just who the fuck is the "shadow government"?"
Seriously, that is a question? Well okay…my shadowy reference, is primarily referencing, US government entities that came into existence, post WWII, via the National Security Act. You know, stuff like creating the CIA, and the NSC, and coalescing the burgeoning MIC into a nice neat package, Department of Defense. Add to that, the post 9/11 creation of the DHS, and the long list of security companies that fall under no direct transparent oversight by a representative government, and guess what you have there Denruter…a fucking "shadow government" dude.
I'm trying to speak in your vernacular so maybe you get my point, bro.
But anyway, if you feel so strongly, that Ghandi had it wrong, and MLK had it wrong, and that the bulk of the peaceful protesters protesting violence had it wrong, then who the fuck am I to stop you? If you must help sideline this movement by using violence, then that is a travesty, and you are working for the wrong side.
If you protest violence, with violence, then the message is lost. What is so hard to understand about that?
In any of these "occupations" across the US, had the protesters been the instigators of violent acts against the police, or anyone else, then this movement would have been crushed already.
But go back up what you believe, and live out your violent dreams. What the fuck can I do about it? I'm just a pathetic peace nik right?
This is the post I replied to, that then you attacked me for my response, in which you bludgeon me with expletive laden accusations that I want to be the boss of the movement.
Again.....here is the post that I dared respond to, that you seem to have not yet read.
"Non violence works when backed by the threat of real violence. OCCUPY ONWARD!"
Granted, I am assuming this poster was insinuating that the words "backed by the threat of real violence", referred to protesters backing up their actions with the threat of "real violence". The original reply to that post, beneath mine, also made that same assumption, which was a reasonable assumption to make.
This post seemed to be a call to violence to me, but perhaps only you can read between the lines, and distill Ghandi's ultimate strategy that you correctly cite.
I too have protested every fng war, and was watching the news coverage of Kent State, as a 9 year old, the afternoon it occurred. In fact, it was that afternoon, that I decided I did not ever want to be duped by a government that would do such a thing. Thus, my obsession with a "shadow government". It was of course the violence against those protesters, that was the turning point, including my parents finally waking up, because of that event, and supporting those peaceful protests.
I've interacted with many Veterans for Peace, at the various events and groups that I've associated with over the years, and appreciate your good work.
I have no idea how an obvious call for violence in a post got so completely confused. Perhaps I should have been more gentle in opposing such a call?
Wait.....that would be nice nice.
Enough said.
"The original reply to that post, beneath mine, also made that same assumption, which was a reasonable assumption to make."
It's more than an assumption - it's a straightforward interpretation of a straightforward statement. Denruter's replies are convoluted non sequiturs.
When I see Occupiers in different cities chanting "remain calm" and "we are peaceful" while being assaulted by police, it gives me great hope. There's as much wisdom in those urban camps as there is moral darkness in the halls of government.
Thank you for that John.
These deaths at these OWS sites are unfortunate, and maybe more so given the fact that the local law enforcement should have put as much emphasis on preventing acts of violence from outsiders against the OWS people as the law did on brutally beating the OWS people in Oakland and some other locations.
The OWS movement can't be blamed for these deaths as they did what they could to prevent them and be non violent.
The oligarchy is restless
The powers that be should start registering pitch forks.
Wars and violence are the modus operandi of the international banking cartels and the corrupt Wall Street banksters. To paraphrase Gandhi: First they ignore you, when you are not a perceived threat; then when you get a little momentum, they laugh at you and demonize you; and when they see you as a real potential threat they provoke violence to discredit you. Looks like the agent provocateurs are hard at it and the good news is that the OWS movement has entered that last phase now.
Thanks for invoking the inspiring words from Ghandi. The exact quote is even more hopeful:
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
'Yes, indeed, but first Gandhi and his followers got the shit beat out of them ....'
I know. Didn't mean to sound in any way Pollyanaish. We've got a long struggle ahead and a lot of it won't be pretty. But if we're smart and can learn from the best history has to offer, I'm optimistic.
Yes, that is why Gandhi said non-violence is not cowardice and if you are not willing to die like the soldiers on the battlefield for non-violence you are no good to his movement.
We also have to remember that Gandhi suffered to show his humbleness and to assure the people that he was in it for the long haul. He went on many a hunger strike. He spun his own cloth, he lived a simple life, and he accepted all into his fold.
The emotion of empathy may not exist anymore in this country.
The rightwing politicians have just about made this all too human emotion non-existent and have substituted it with hatred, voracious greed, and the desire for one’s own survival at the cost of another. Without this connection to the “other”, it will not be long before the human race will become extinct.
(Sometimes I get paragraphs and sometimes I don't.!@#$%^&@!)
Re: "(Sometimes I get paragraphs and sometimes I don't.!@#$%^&@!) "Particularly see closing "Note" in red!
To create paragraph breaks, type this pair (i.e. you need to use two) of HTML tags where you want the break, like this:
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You need to take out the spaces between the angle brackets "< and >" and "br" shown in the above example. Those spaces are included in the example just so it will display and give you the general idea.
< p >< p > should work also. (Again, without the spaces between the letter and enclosing brackets.)
You can test or check if you're doing it correctly by using the "preview" feature. Hope this helps.
Note: This is only necessary when posting comments to "News" articles.
Using the carriage return key (↵ "enter" key), aka "leaving a line blank" still works to create paragraph breaks in comments threads in the "Views" and "Further" columns.
The fact that myriad city officials across America have still not grasped that Occupy is in for the long haul is reflective of just how cossetted and out-of-touch they are.
The decisions of officials and actions of the police are clearly more dangerous than any supposed health hazards from the encampment alone. And the drug dealers and thieves will still be out there, so how does clearing the parks remedy that situation? How about some positive solutions that help people express their First Amendment rights.
The governments want Occupy to go away but it won't.
It's going to get ugly people... there are reports that anrchists who are just heading to Portland to fight with the police. How many civilized protesters are going to end up in the line of fire? Please try to quell the violence and not add fuel to the fire! Read more of the report here: www.occupyamericamovement.com/forum/topics/oregon-police-fear-occupy-protesters-arming-themselves-for-loomin
'Police spokesman Carlos Manfredi said a protester slashed an officer's hand with a pen knife while another protester shoved an officer, causing facial cuts. He said neither officer was seriously hurt, ...'
A protester shoved an officer????? A protester slashed an officer's hand with a penknife???? These threats to national security need to be shipped off in chains to one of the American client states that torture Americans more cheaply than it can be done domestically, and then thrown into solitary confinement at Guantanamo for 43,937 years, or life, whichever comes first. Or maybe they should just be executed in the Disneyland of Capital Punishment - Texas, by the Head Goof there, Dickhead Perry. Dickhead is all about killing people, and, gollleee, he's even got his state makin' money doin' it! But I'm so relieved that the precious, innocent little police officers are okay after being senselessly brutalized by those horrible commie fag socialist protesters.
'Going' to get ugly, 'markman2008'? It is already ugly, and it is going to get a lot uglier. Get used to it, though we all wish we didn't have to. But the reality is there, and you can't stick your head in the sand and wish it away. Despite whatever concessions toward quasi-peaceful handling that currently exist on the part of the state (meaning individual states as well aqs the larger, national State), the truth is that the police in Oakland have already deliberately shot two vets, they may well have been shooting to kill, but we'll never hear the truth about that as long as the fucking cops investigate themselves; and law enforcement is lousy with mentally retarded and/or psychopathic little boys with guns, tasers, etc., who are constantly itching to use them, who are not properly controlled by civilian authority, which is largely fascistic anyway, and the American mentality about conflict, tension and confrontation is driven by a testosterone-poisoned, male-supremacist, 'fuck peace', punitive mentality that loves incarceration and war of any type or level. The Occupy movement should not back down, but the fascist shift in America means it will come in for increased brutalization until the country dissolves into civil war. Remember, there are millions upon millions of guns in private hands, and remember that there are lunatic right-wing 'christians' out there who think nothing of murdering abortion doctors, and there's that gang of thugs - Blackwater - and all these corporations with private security firms. And then there's the fact that Bush unleashed a battalion or something of the U.S. Northern Command on active duty on American soil before he fucked off to immunity from prosecution. Oh, yes, it's going to get VERY ugly.
One of the most profound challenges in this emerging evolution of traditional presence - is the living of it. It is necessary to turn away from violent rhetoric, aggressive paranoid prognostication etc. otherwise one is simply mirroring everything that the OWS movement seeks to shed.
Theres an old sufi aphorism: If you want to see the light, you need to stop looking at the pillow.' What you pay attention to is what you will be conscious of. This is a beginning - the eternal returning encounter, not a line of fire. think and feel very deeply about what it is you seek to have happen here.
Another metaphor is that if you open a dark closet, the darkness does not spill out, but rather the light floods in. Imagine beyond the paralysis of conflict.
For over 235 years the constitution has served its purpose, freedom was granted to those who dared go to a strange new land, fight harsh weather, fight wars, And as the population grew, and the country's prosperity with it, the constitution had to be whittled away, but first the country's wealth had to be controlled, enter the FED reserve take over of 1913. Then WW1 , the depression, WW2, the economic expansion and the slow take over of the military industrial complex and bankers. Then the Korean War, Vietnam War, cold war, Oil Wars, 9-11, and the Stasi war on Terrorism. We have watched full circle as the super rich elite have stolen our country freedoms from us, and now they want our lands, our jobs, all our money, and complete servitude.Why else are the Black uniformed stasi forcing people to stop protesting. They want us fighting in the streets, so they can impose martial law. As a victim of 24/7 stasi surveillance here in Tampa Florida for over 5 years, I have seen what is coming for all who protest. As an innocent American victimized by a powerful few, who control community watch gang stalking stasi, I can tell you more is coming and far worse than we have seen so far. Why? Because we have no democratic leadership, both Republicans and Democrats are bought and owned by the New World Order elite. As long as we allow this treacherous group of murderers to continue the WAR on Terror, they will control us and our economy,resources and military.