Comments

1
They're down here below my residence. Wish the damned cop chopper would leave. Freaking my dogs out.
2
Take a picture and send it over to my residence, if you would. news@portlandmercury.com
3
Matt, how is it that you're able to blog "from the safety of [your] downtown condo", yet we see these pictures from street level? Have you acquired your own unmanned drone?
4
Matt has street cred with all segments of society.
5
if you're insinuating that Matt has cred with respectable members of society, you'll make him cry. and swear.
6
My boyfriend told me to get away from the window before somebody saw me. What? http://i40.tinypic.com/2vwsbpc.jpg
7
@devyn, Pointy Hat guy sees all...
8
hot protest action...im turned on
9
the police don't have a helicopter. Thats the news channel..
10
Cops don't have a helicopter that is the news
11
Update: Protesters smash Bank of America door with rock.

http://twitpic.com/1bvk6c

Oregonian reports 200 gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square.
12
I'm glad those guys are straightening out our city. They look completely effectual.

On a serious note, I wonder if I could pay a cop to push those guys with the bike for five minutes. The police could help close their budget by selling turns.
13
My gods, this is all so circa 1972.

Fuck the anarchists, for never having a reasoned response beyond "smash the state".
(will you never grow up?)

Fuck the state, for never having a reasoned response, period.
(will you never grow a brain?)

Fuck the media entire for not only pandering to, but actively searching (and pimping)the lowest common denominator.
(will you never grow a soul?)

Lord help us all, because as a society we are well and truly fucked.
(will we...?)

And lastly? fuck me, because I persist in paying attention to this shit.
(will I never learn?)
14
I really enjoy the large banner calling for the death of the police. I can not think of a single more effective method of conveying how stupid you are than that banner.

OH wait, I can. But that banner is up there.

Did this "Black Bloc" even bother to bring a drum core with 'em? Because nothing makes a tedious three hour march more fun is having someone who can't count to four banging on a 5-gallon bucket the entire time. Someone remind me why I quit going to actions.
15
Hehh...And to think that I saw it all from The Heathman's dining room...I looked at my girlfriend's father and said, "Seven years ago, I was right out there, wearing a suit and taking pictures. People on either side of me were being beaten and gassed, but I was left alone because I was wearing a suit, and taking pictures."

Shame? Not really. Those folks out there were idiots who were also cowards. Also, protest don't do shit.
16
I went for the first two hours, I did not agree with the message of every chant so I did not participate in any I felt were over the top (I followed Graham's advice and avoided 'pig' for example). I saw the BOA windows get smashed, some guy spilled a bag of large river rocks into the walk and other people took it from there. I did not witness any other property damage aside from the knocking over of newspaper boxes, sorry Steve, Asian Reporter was hit especially hard.

The crowd was pissed, but kept their cool for the most part, angry words aside. I felt the split was 50/50 black block gear versus street clothes. It felt good to scream in the cops face, my message was that they need to admit when they are wrong if they want us to trust them. Some of the other protesters told me I was wrong, that the cops can never be trusted, but we agreed to disagree with a shrug and nobody told me to leave or anything. I took a bike to the shin, but most of the cops were trying to behave. The Alberta Ministerial Alliance's events look like press conferences rather than protests to me, so I was glad to have an opportunity to really get out there and show the police how upset I am. I hope people kept their cool after I left, police included. World changing, no; cathartic, hell yes.
17
@devyn I used to live in that building. Salmon and 10th. Fun to see it from that angle again.
18
black *bloc*

*cops' faces*
19
Sad. We could have used some of these folks at the protest yesterday where a small crowd went from site to site around town to commemorate the dead and honor their families.

Dickie Dow died 12 blocks from my house, I never knew, never noticed the tiny memorial plaque nestled in a dwarf rose arbor on Lombard. Never heard of him, even.

Dickie Dow was a big, African American, developmentally delayed man who was excitable, lived down the street from where he was killed, with his parents. His parents always knew how to calm him down.

One day, he was at the donut shop across the street, he became rowdy, 911 was called. Soon, there was a fracas, many officers surrounding Dickie. Parents were called by neighbors. When they arrived they demanded to be allowed to talk to Dickie. They were thrown in a cop car, where they were held for five hours, for interfering with a police officer.

An officer was on Dickie's neck with his knee, someone noticed he wasn't breathing. A bystander said- I know CPR., but he was not allowed to help. Dickie's throat was crushed, and he died on the corner of Lombard and Fenwick.

So now, PPD has a policy that officers need to know CPR. Some complained at first-that wasn't their job, they said.

That was in the early nineties.

Dear God, why is it that the only people out in mass today are these heartless angry crows?
20
This was all well and good, but they made my bike commute to Goose Hollow in the rain longer than it had to be. That was the real crime.
21
I find it disheartening that you found the strangest looking man and threw his image up almost to say - look at these nutters.
We weren't changing the world, we (I) simply wanted to voice our anger at the killer mentality these "good ole boys" seem to have. It was extremely cathartic and dissent is a good thing guys.
Ps heartless, I think not. I spoke at the ipr meeting, as well as attended most of the other assemblies and I recognized many faces today. Bottom line is most of us were there for the same reason- we are fed up with the unnecessary death that has become a regular event in our fair city.
22
gonetorio, it is sad but when I read you quoted in the Oregonian it made me want to avoid the Everyday People group all the more. Your vociferous recall support taints anything you touch by my thinking. Maybe I should get over it, I appreciate your passion when it is in line with what I believe, but it is so hard.
23
gonetorio, Dickie Dow wasn't black.
25
i was down there today and it was a fucking parade of fools. be smarter than your anger and get organized. these people dressed in black? do they think they're anarchists? anarchism is a way of thought which values honesty, fairness and equality. it values an individual's right not to be oppressed. so, trying to intimidate a group of people while dressed like a soldier isn't anarchism, it's impulse mixed with ignorance and anger... careful with that brew, it may turn you into what you claim to hate. maybe check out the buddhist take on anarchy. or better yet, libertarian socialism... it can't hurt.




26
Best headline ever, makes me smile.
27
In your face, newspapers boxes and glass bank door! Message accomplished!
28
Sorry I didn't get any pics, Matt. Wasn't much to see, honestly (I'm eleven floors up).

The FOX News chopper quickly left the area as the police chopper showed up (for those stating that the cops don't have a chopper, you're completely wrong). I watched from my rooftop garden on the 12th floor as the FOX News chopper quickly left the area and the cop chopper took over their airspace.

The crowd of protesters made it to the PSU gym, where they ran to the back of Hoffman Hall and a few of them changed clothes. The cops were all over the South Park Blocks with police SUVs, motorcycles, and bicycles swarming.

I didn't see any hot protester action, unfortunately. Just a lot of shouting. My dogs were going ape-shit. I realized I was standing in my rooftop garden with my wife and both of us had black hoodies on. Oops. It was raining and guess what? Portlanders like black hoodies. :) We dropped our hoods when the police chopper came close to our apartment, just so that we didn't get falsely accused of being somehow a part of it all. I could just see the cops thinking we were rooftop snipers or something. LOL
29
From the cops:

"News Release from: Portland Police Bureau
PORTLAND POLICE RESPOND TO DOWNTOWN PROTEST
Posted: March 30th, 2010 6:32 AM

Last night Portland Police Officers responded to protesters in Downtown Portland. The protest went on for several hours and eight people were arrested for various crimes that included Disorderly Conduct, Criminal Mischief and Riot. Officers are continuing to investigate property damage that did occur but a report was taken for damage to broken windows at the Bank of America located at 1001 SW 5th Avenue.

Three officers were injured during the protest and investigators are continuing to investigate these assaults in order to make future arrests of the individuals that assaulted the officers."
30
@ntrecek, "good ole boys?" The cop who shot Collins (Walters) is a cyclist and a vegan.

Not to say you CAN'T be a "good ole boy" with those traits, but I'm comfortable assuming those traits prove that he's not.

In summation, I've (very) successfully employed a stereotype to prove it's not useful to stereotype people.
31
Jake,

The recall effort, at its heart, is a rejection of the zero-accountability social and political culture which is taking our country down like so many Titanics.

See, people don't like the fact that even the fucking Pope is an evader of accountability, along with Rosie Sizer and all the many cops who have wrongfully killed people in Portland. And all the money types who steered us into the financial meltdown, and the teachers who, in spite of the fact that our educational system is in crisis, refuse to quit teaching even though they have no talent for it. And the DHS people who let that 15 year old from Eugene get slaughtered like a piece of cattle by her psychotic parents, even though DHS had been called MULTIPLE times. And the people who let the information about the Christmas day bomber get lost in the shuffle of "we didn't have sufficient derogatory information to place him on a no-fly list". And the doctors who KNEW that Nidal Hasan was crazy and transferred him someplace bigger "so he could be more closely monitored", and NEVER nixed his deployment to Afghanistan.

On and fucking on.

Go read about the girl from Eugene. Last I heard, not a SINGLE person has been fired.

And why doesn't anyone ever get fired?
a. unions
b. an apathetic public who thinks it's just fine to let a liar and manipulator continue as mayor of one of the country's best and most loved cities.

Just let us have a voice about Sam Adams.
Some of us want to fire him.
It's called democracy.




32
@gonetorio: You'll get a chance to fire Sam Adams in 2012. I give you about a 0% chance of doing anything substantive before then.
33
Moar photos from police protest are up at http://photos.benlat.com/Street-Scenes/PPB…
34
@ gonetorio: "the teachers who, in spite of the fact that our educational system is in crisis, refuse to quit teaching even though they have no talent for it."

The Recall folks are about to fail their SECOND attempt at getting on the ballot, so clearly, they have no talent for it. They should thus quit as well, right?

I'm no fan of what Adams did, but part of living in a democracy is having some understanding of the level of political support for your cause, and when you realize it isn't there and won't likely materialize, guess what: you quit pushing a failed idea, and you adjust your strategy (a la Graham's suggestion, most likely).

Yay for democracy!
35
@gonetorio: How does Sam Adams personally factor into this? Police killing people (needlessly or otherwise) has been happening for a loooooooooooooong time. In Portland, too. Long before Adams took office.
36
"...and the teachers who, in spite of the fact that our educational system is in crisis, refuse to quit teaching even though they have no talent for it..."

Who determines which teachers are talented and which ones should quit in shame due to being talentless hacks? And why are we lumping them and the mayor-- people who ostensibly at least mean well-- in with people who ruthlessly make millions a year by exploiting the system and the people?
37
Colin,

Black and white don't suit you. Many people labor for what appear to be lost causes, and eventually succeed, in spite of all the failure preachers....

38
According to Peebody you should avoid the black or white thing too.
39
"Just let us have a voice about Sam Adams."

What? Elections aren't enough? Recall efforts aren't enough? You have a voice. Giving you more of a voice would require a massive upheaval of democracy. Having a second failed recall attempt is a pretty strong indictment of your attempts.

@blownspeakers: I think gonorrhea wants Adams' ouster by any means necessary. Tying Adams to anything -- ANYTHING -- negative is merely a means to an end. This neglects to consider what sort of shenanigans the PPB would get up to with either of the recall effort faves in office. Lets give the keys to City Hall to business interests in the wake of these cop problems, I mean, it's not like business interests in big cities have coerced the cops into unfair enforcement of draconian and inhumane laws, nope, no way.

Please wait...

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