Arbitrary Detention of 100+ People at "Free Speech" Rally
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So the right wingers had their little "free speech" rally yesterday - just a week after the stabbing deaths of two people who stood up to protect a couple young ladies who were being harassed by a white supremacist on a light rail train. Its certainly their right to hold a rally and about 200 - 300 right wingers came out of the woodwork for it, but then they were surrounded by about 4,000 counter protesters - the unions to the east, the socialists and immigration activists to the west, and the black clad anti-fascists in an adjacent park to the north.
A legion of federal, state, and local cops did a surprisingly well job keeping the right wingers safe and the two sides apart, although there was a good amount of shouting and taunting across the police lines.
The question then became how are those Trumpers going to get home? Didn't have to ponder the question too long, because just as the right wing rally was winding down, a line of cops started clearing the park to the north, setting off flash bangs, deploying tear gas, and firing rubber bullets. I took a rubber bullet to the crotch, but it didn't hurt that bad - sort of like a paintball round without the paint. Contrary to the news reports, nobody was throwing bricks or other projectiles at the cops and it was apparent that it was done just to give the right wingers a safe path out of the plaza.
After the cops cleared the park, a group of a couple hundred people began an impromptu march through downtown. However the cops quickly regrouped and surrounded the marchers, boxing them in on one city block. A phalanx of riot cops then charged into the crowd and circled the folks on the east half of the block. A police loudspeaker announced that they were detaining the pinned in group of 100+ people on "suspicion of disorderly conduct." I was on the west side of the block so avoided the mass detention, but it was BS. They kept those people there for an hour before checking IDs, making some arrests, and then letting most of them go. I couldn't believe how they could simply detain over a hundred people for an hour for simply marching down the street, or for many, just walking down the sidewalk.
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: My Name is
All I can say ain't it a
All I can say ain't it a shame! Glad you didn't get hurt Ken. When will all this hate end...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cb
It's Trump's America
It's Trump's America
We're just living in it.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Thanks for the on the scene
Thanks for the on the scene report, Ken, and thanks for being there. I think the authorities in Portland are really scared of "things getting out of control". Sorry you got hit.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: My Name is
I have been reading about the
I have been reading about the July 2nd Impeach Now Protests that will be taking place all over the U.S.A. Looks like this one will be one of the biggest protest coast to coast to date. This is just one of the sign up lists
http://dailycaller.com/2017/05/18/liberal-activists-organizing-nationwid...
Thanks again Ken for the real news.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Philzone Refugee
Portland seems a little
Portland seems a little unstable, like Seattle's schizo cousin that no one is comfortable talking about.
Glad you're okay, Ken, and that the situation didn't escalate. I fear that now that the veil of the Portlandia image has been pierced, and Portland's underlying history of racism and bigotry has been exposed, that you are in for a long hot summer. It's not as if things are that much better here, as the elevation of the alt-right movement to positions of power has seemed to bring racists and all sorts of phobes out of the woodwork both in Seattle and throughout the country. We just haven't had as horrific an incident as happened on Portland's subway occur yet to galvanize the masses.
My best hope is for cooler heads to prevail, and that these ugly incidents can be used to teach the need for tolerance and community building to the youth.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
Despite the various attention
Despite the various attention garnered on them - this thread seems much more important than any of the Vermont threads.
Glad you are okay, Ken. Scary shit is going down all over - but what happened in Portland yesterday was not right.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: charmskooldropout
Did you cover your face?
Did you cover your face?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: _
I'm just glad no one was hurt
I'm just glad no one was hurt.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
SO wait...they definitely
SO wait...they definitely weren't throwing bricks? That part was totally fabricated?
And how they hell can there be "suspicion of disorderly conduct?" What the fuck does that even mean? They were either disorderly or they weren't.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
>>>they definitely weren't
>>>they definitely weren't throwing bricks? That part was totally fabricated?
I didn't see anybody throwing bricks, glass bottles, or any dangerous projectiles. There was one guy who shot a few bottle rockets toward the cops/Trump people, but he was scolded by the crowd and quickly cut it out. After the cops made their initial charge into the park, with flash bangs blasting, I saw one water bottle getting tossed at the cops and a few more bottle rockets, but 99% of the violence was on the cops' end.
I really think the cops made up the whole brick throwing bit as an excuse to clear the anti-fascists from the park to give the right wing people an escape path. And no, I didn't cover my face. That is something I learned in my old Earth First! days - wearing a mask to a protest just makes you look like a criminal. But it seemed to be a de rigueur fashion statement for a ton of younger protesters.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: An organ grinder’s tune
maybe because every fucking
maybe because every fucking thing is video recorded and put on social media?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: 19.5 Degrees
Holy Crap ... glad you weren
Holy Crap ... glad you weren't seriously hurt!
Sounds like total BS the way it was handled. I can kinda understand wanting to get ahead of something and take control, but in the absence of any real harmful activity, it would seem to be an overuse of force. Likewise re: mass detention.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: charmskooldropout
Whoa brah, why are you
Whoa brah, why are you handcuffing me? It was only a bottle rocket!