Photographs by Denis C. Theriault A Portland City Council hearing on proposed police accountability reforms—a vital issue, but also wonky and dense—erupted with a flood of emotion this afternoon after dozens of Occupy Portland protesters packed the council chambers to vent in front of Mayor Sam Adams and Police Chief Mike Reese about what’s been […]
Occupy
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The Occupy Portland T-shirts That Cost Close to $3,000
In the middle of this week’s news story on Occupy Portland—looking at the movement’s debate over the merits of camping—I mention the curious case of some 500 T-shirts that an occupier had ordered several weeks ago without the approval of the movement’s general assembly. This was troubling for a few reasons. One was the cost: […]
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School Abruptly Shuts Down Panel on Occupy Portland
Confirming a report that went up on Twitter this afternoon, Occupy Portland members who had been invited for an afternoon teach-in by a sixth-grade teacher at Astor School told me they were asked to leave the building by administrators just 20 minutes into their presentation. Raya Cooper, 23, said she was one of four occupiers […]
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Police Respond to Video Showing Plainclothes Cops at Occupy Portland Meeting
Last week, I wrote a story that looked at Occupy Portland’s growing tactical awareness that the Portland Police Bureau has been—and will continue to be—keeping close tabs on the movement, either by openly attending or watching meetings, but also by relying on information passed along by sources among Occupy. One question was whether the bureau […]
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Occupy Portland: No More 24-Hour Occupations?
Denis C. Theriault Occupy Portland’s turbulent occupation of Shemanski Park didn’t get a third night after all. The Portland Police Bureau showed up right at the South Park Blocks’ 9 PM appointed curfew, told a few dozen occupiers that, this time, they’d have to go somewhere else, tents or not, and perfunctorily ushered them out. […]
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Police Union President: Not Automatically Arresting Protesters Goes “Against the Very Grain” of Cops’ Training
No surprise: Portland Police Association Daryl Turner is no friend of Occupy Portland. And, maybe, protesters in general. A month after demanding, in his union’s monthly newsletter, that Mayor Sam Adams and Chief Mike Reese end to the occupation of two city parks—a request they did eventually grant—the boss of the 900-strong rank-and-file labor group […]
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This is Your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Getting Casually Pepper Sprayed
Gothamist, via Reddit I know, I know, this meme is sooo exactly two weeks ago, but the holidays are coming up, and what better to get your favorite Occupant or meme enthusiast than a festive, slightly-too-late-to-be-topical Pepper Spraying Cop sweater? Thus begins a 20-day series I am calling “Christmas Crafts for the 4chan Fan.”
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Occupy Portland’s Shemanski Occupation Hanging On
Will Occupy Portland hold onto Shemanski Park in the South Park Blocks for a third consecutive night—adding to the group’s first extended reoccupation, among just a handful nationwide, since its eviction from Chapman and Lownsdale Squares last month? It seems Occupy might get its wish—but only in the most technical sense possible. The parks bureau’s […]
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Mayor Sam Adams’ Occupy Twitter Rampage
Our fair city’s mayoral Twitter feed is always interesting, but yesterday Mayor Sam Adams used his 140 characters to respond over and over and over to criticisms of his handling of the weekend’s Occupy protest and park re-occupation. In 18 tweets, the mayor argued that, basically, the attempt to take over and camp out in […]
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Updated: Drug Dealers, Not Riot Cops, Drive Away Occupy Portland
Denis C. Theriault Update 8:35AM: After some tension last night over whether to continue occupying the park, while I was typing the original post below, a few dozen people showed up and walked back over to Shemanski for an Occupy Portland governance meeting and decided to stay no matter what. That meeting stretched past the […]
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Another Protest/March Planned for Sunday Morning
The Portland Alliance sent out a press release this morning announcing a rally/march planned for 10 am (WHEN DO YOU GUYS SLEEP??), to protest the National Defense Authorization Act, which they claim would allow the military to detain Americans indefinitely, without trial, if they are considered to be “terrorists”. From the Christian Science Monitor: “This […]
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Police Release Their Account of Occupy Portland’s Defiant Night
At about 2:20 AM, some 75 or so people are still here at Shemanski Square, eating pizza after the Portland Police Bureau abruptly called off an imminent raid more than two hours ago for a pizza party of their own. The police, meanwhile, have sent out their summation of the night, reporting some 19 arrests—including […]