Mayor Charlie Hales axed his planned "March of Hope" event scheduled this afternoon after the recently-formed group leading the local anti-Donald Trump protests, Portland's Resistance, announced plans for a counter protest.

Portland police officers arrested Portland Resistance members Gregory McKelvey, Micah Rhodes, and Kathryn Stevens at a protest last night largely comprised of Portland Public School students.

Here's what Mayor Hales had planned on doing, according to the Facebook event page:

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales invites you to join civic, community and faith leaders on Tuesday, November 22nd at 3 p.m for a March of Hope from the Salmon Street Springs Fountain to the Steel Bridge at Waterfront Park.

As our city and nation work to move forward after last week’s election, the most important thing that we can do, as Portlanders, is to come together and reach out to each other and stand against hate. Reach out to our immigrants and refugees who moved here because they believed this was a good and safe place. Reach out to the women of this city, people of color, LGBTQ community, those with disabilities, and to everyone who needs reassurance in their everyday lives that their civil liberties will remain protected, and say that Portland is a safe place for all and that we will work to keep it that way.

March of Hope
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
3:00 p.m.
Salmon Street Springs Fountain
Waterfront Park

Please join Portland’s leaders in reassuring our most vulnerable communities that our city is committed to ensuring that they always feel safe, welcome, and protected.

Here's the description of the Portland Resistance event, which is still scheduled for 3 p.m. today:

Our call to action: come, but STAY PUT.

Mayor Charlie Hales is hosting a “March of Hope” starting at Salmon Street Springs at 3pm November 22nd.

This march is an extreme reversal from his position last week, when he claimed that the time for protesting was over. Mayor Hales and the Portland Police have consistently perpetuated America’s tragic tradition of assaulting peaceful protestors. On the night of the 21st, we saw the Portland Police conduct deliberate targeting and arrests of three highly visible Portland's Resistance organizers. Some of these arrestees were brutally handled and publicly humiliated in front of the over 100 youth who attended the protest.

We support the first amendment right of those attending the march and respect many of the organizations currently involved in this event.

However, we DO NOT support Charlie Hales’ hypocrisy, brutality and his neglect of the police policy issues our group advocates for. Our faith in the Hales Administration is crumbling and these recent actions have done more to divide the community than to unite them.

For these reasons, we are calling on folks to join us in a silent protest of Mayor Hales' March for Hope. We will be rallying at 3pm at Salmon Street Springs, and staying behind while the Mayor leads his march to symbolize the Portlanders that the Mayor has left behind.

Please help us in making signs that read:
Not Marching Today
Apologize Hales
Arrest Me Too
Hope For Police Reform
IAmPDXResistance
Free Mateen

And here's what Mayor Hales' office put out this morning:

After hearing about a planned counter protest, I am disheartened to announce that the March of Hope event planned for this afternoon at 3 p.m. will be canceled. In the weeks following the election, I heard from many community leaders that the city needed to come together in unity and share a message of hope. The goal of this march was to show solidarity with our vulnerable communities and demonstrate that as Portlanders we are all stronger together. I am disappointed that the March of Hope cannot move forward as planned.

Canceling this event does not mean our community is canceling hope. I encourage everyone to continue to reach out to each other and stand against hate. Reach out to our immigrants and refugees who moved here because they believed this was a good and safe place. Reach out to people of color, the LGBTQ community, those with disabilities, and to everyone who needs reassurance in their everyday lives that their civil liberties will remain protected, and say that Portland is a safe place for all and that we will work to keep it that way.

Questions and requests for more information can be directed to mayorcharliehales@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-4120.

H/t to Chris O'Connor for the headline:

@dirquez More like "March of Nope" right? (you can use that for a headline if you want)
— Chris O'Connor (@ChristopOConnor) November 22, 2016