Yesterday evening, Occupy Portlanders reunited in force at Pioneer Courthouse Square for their daily General Assembly, where ideas of goals/plans/issues are discussed in a public forum. Backed by piped-in Christmas music from the nearby Starbucks and shadowed by the looming undressed Christmas Holiday tree, there was a clear rejuvenation among the 200 or so after a long-winded, exhausting weekend.

The meeting started off well with clear intentions, but once the PA system was set up and a microphone introduced (what? no mic check?), things started getting weird. Relevant discussions and points were interrupted by folks who just wanted a podium and an audience. Some bashed those with homes to retreat to, others criticized audience members who hadn’t been there since the beginning. Unnecessary and off-topic.

Despite the hero-complexed mic-stealer time, some things we decided. Like where to meet tomorrow night (Spokescouncil meeting at 7 pm at 1126 SW Park). Nothing wild. But! The highlight of the night: Justin James Bridges, the occupier injured by police officers during Sunday’s eviction, arrived by wheelchair straight from Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Bridges shared his upsetting story with the crowd (the same one he told the Mercury’s Sarah Mirk earlier yesterday) between tears and obvious physical pain. “All I have to say is the cowards that showed up in uniform yesterday were not the same respectable men that stood on the front lines the morning before,” Bridges said to the hushed crowd. “You cannot attack peace with violence and expect us to dissipate. We will only grow stronger. I’m in excruciating pain, but I had to come tell you the truth. The police are bold face liars. Wake up America.”

Here’s a shoddy photo from his speech:

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Alex Zielinski is a former News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She's here to tell stories about economic inequities, cops, civil rights, and weird city politics that you should probably be paying attention...

21 replies on “Justin Bridges Speaks at Occupy Assembly”

  1. …and minutes after making his touching speech, he jumps out of his wheelchair to find his lost doobie.
    ‘Damn, they should make wheelchairs with weed pockets’.
    All this boy needs is a tent and a faith healer.

  2. DID BRIDGES ADDRESS THE VIDEO FROM HIS ALLEGED BEATING THAT SHOW A COMPLETE LACK OF A BEATING? DUDE FELL DOWN (ON HIS OWN AND BY HIS OWN ADMISSION )AND WAS DRAGGED FROM THE CROWD. HE WAS THEN PROMPTLY BROUGHT TO THE PARAMEDICS FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT. YEAH… REALLY A CASE OF ABUSE OF POWER.

    WORST. MARTYR. EVER.

  3. “All I have to say is the cowards that showed up in uniform yesterday were not the same respectable men that stood on the front lines the morning before”

    Except they were, weren’t they?

  5. Oregonian reported he had a back injury from 2003 cheerleading incident. Maybe one should think twice about putting himself front and center of a protest, no matter how hard it is to fight his urge to return to his cheerleading glory days.

  9. He was on the Texas Tech cheer leading team in 2008/2009, lifting people above his head, so I’m calling BS on his 2003 broken back being a problem in this situation.

  10. @SROLAND: THOSE PHOTOS ARE FROM 12/28/2004. BUT MAN! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! THIS GUY IS A BAG OF AWESOME TREASURES!

    YOU KNOW WHO ELSE WAS A POT SMOKING CHEERLEADER FROM TEXAS? GEORGE W BUSH!

  11. You’re right, 2004…even worse. A year after his 2003 supposed back injury and he’s lifting people above his head. I’m for this movement but OP needs to rein in some of these rats.

  15. Even better: last night on channel 8 they interviewed a young man at the square who was describing himself as “homeless.” Then he countered that by saying, “Well, I’ve got a *house*, but…in my mind, I’m homeless…”

    I wondered what the houseless homeless in attendance thought of that one.

  17. Oh Portland. The YouTube music video is pretty priceless with the sound off — I will just imagine the wonderful reggae folk song with occasional spoken word hip hop infused poetry.

    Setting aside everything going on right now with Occupy Portland, I am highly tempted to send that to my inlaws who are convinced that all of Portland is some sort of uber-hippie commune. Except they will probably then demand some free pot for Thanksgiving.

  19. So I guess none of you doubters saw the live video images of the cop swinging a large night stick (3-4 ft long at a guesstimate) with both hands repetitively at a person lying on the ground?

  20. It does not matter if there is no video of the beating. There IS video of the police mishandling a spinal injury. There will be damages paid and possibly punitive damages paid. You guys are pathetic.

  21. There is also evidence of the beating all over his torso. There is also evidence of the original back injury as reported by the hospital. Admit it. The police messed this one up, bad.

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