Unlike Monday’s protests, which prompt a community forum, Thursday’s assembly in downtown Portland goes calmly
Police escorted more than 200 chanting union marchers through downtown Portland on Thursday to Powell’s City of Books, but unlike Monday’s May Day parade that erupted in clashes with police, this second demonstration was city-sanctioned, orderly and not overrun with police in riot gear.
At 3:30 p. m. , as curious bystanders watched marchers wind their way from the Hilton Hotel to Powell’s followed by a small police brigade, Mayor Vera Katz and Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker said they would hold an “unprecedented” community forum Tuesday to hear citizen concerns about the police response to Monday’s controversial worker rights rally, to discuss videotape of that response and to explain tactical decisions made by on-scene commanders.
“This has never been done before,” said Katz, who thinks police showed “reasonable restraint” in most instances. “But the chief feels strongly, and so do I. It’s risky, and we are vulnerable.”
In the aftermath of Monday’s events, participants have highly criticized the police – who arrested 19 people for disorderly conduct and vandalism – calling their tactics heavy-handed and the 150 riot-squad members sent out to maintain order abusive. Without provocation, they said, police charged their horses into the crowd, fired beanbag rounds at marchers and hit participants with batons, causing injury – charges that prompted an otherwise-satisfied Kroeker to launch an internal review of the mission.
Thursday’s peaceful rally was organized by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in support of a labor contract for recently unionized em ployees of Powell’s, and its leaders had a permit from the city to parade Thursday. Organizers of the May Day Coalition demonstration, who took their Monday parade to Powell’s in a separate show of support for bookstore workers, did not have such a permit, a failure police say contributed to that day’s trouble.
The May Day group, according to city officials, was made up of diverse factions, including anarchist types intent on causing destruction. “It was clear there was a group of protesters who weren’t going to obey rules and regulations,” Katz said. The union leaders, by contrast, the mayor said, showed Portland how public protests should be carried out. Police described their relationship with the union protesters as “cooperative” and said the parade permit enabled police to influence the route and direct traffic.
Even so, Detective Sgt. Mike Hefley, a police spokesman, said the police had mobile field force squads on standby in case any of Monday’s troublemakers infiltrated the union crowd.
“This is a peaceful demonstration,” Stephen Strausbaugh, a five-year Powell’s employee, said as he addressed protesters, whose ranks grew to nearly 350 outside Powell’s. “Anyone who thinks property damage, vandalism and destruction is going to help our cause. . . go home now.”
Not everyone agreed Thursday about what the crowd’s real aim, however.
One protester,26-year-old Judah Larson, who disliked police tactics on May Day, stood amid union activists holding a sign reading, “Dump Chief Kroeker.”
When the Powell’s rally was over about 4:30 p. m. , union leaders ordered their group back to the Hilton. But younger demonstrators, who appeared to represent environmental and anti-police groups, tried to get the group of 200 to change direction and parade to the Park Blocks to speak out against police brutality, but most union activists refused. They marched back to the Hilton, where the parade began, led by two squad cars and flanked by more than a half-dozen officers on motorcycles.
The 200 or so other demonstrators continued their march to the Park Blocks and decided to finish a trek to the U. S. Forest Service headquarters at Fourth Avenue and Stark Street that was disrupted by Monday’s skirmish. Police escorted the group, ready to arrest any demonstrators who blocked traffic, but the march proceeded without incident, eventually wrapping up at Pioneer Courthouse Square with about 50 people just after 6 p. m. Police made no arrests Thursday.
In spite of Thursday’s calm, however, questions about May Day persisted for some elected officials.
Commissioner Charlie Hales wondered aloud how the riot-control response fit into Portland’s community policing methods and questioned why police cruisers were allowed to jam up Southwest Third Avenue. “The fact is, a main arterial was out of commission because it was used as a parking lot for police cars,” he said.
And said Commissioner Erik Sten: “I need to understand what prompts the chief to send out 150 to 200 police in riot gear. That’s a really large response. We probably had one officer in riot gear out there for every two or three protesters.”
Although Kroeker will brief each commissioner individually, Sten said there are good reasons to have a public airing. “I’m a little nervous that we pronounced everything good before there was any possible way to evaluate it,” he said, adding,“I think the police chief has the right to decide tactics, but I think the community has some right to question him after the fact.”
Katz said Thursday that she felt a third-party review was unjustified, that a public forum was actually preferable – “It’s a public review” – and that the police chief would consider the input as he shapes future police response. The mayor also said she thought the contents of the internal review should be made public when they are available, probably in three to six weeks, but that she wouldn’t use that information to micro-manage the Police Bureau.
For Commissioner Dan Saltzman, May Day raised no policy issues great enough to warrant a more-formal review by the City Council. Referring to the violent World Trade Organization protests in Seattle last December, he said: “We are in a new era of public protest and police response to protests. It’s kind of a new ballgame, and Seattle was the catalyst.”
A mediator will lead the discussion at Tuesday’s community forum, which will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p. m. in Maranatha Church of God,4222 N. E.12th Ave. All of the Police Bureau’s advisory committees will be specifically invited, as will residents who contacted the mayor’s office by mail or phone regarding Monday’s protests.
