It’s been a couple of days since Seattle SWAT officers busted into an apartment in the wee hours in search of “paperwork—anarchists,” and less than a day since riot cops in Los Angeles surged against a group of sidewalk-chalking protesters, and worry is pretty high in Portland right now (at least according to a cursory survey of social media) that something similar is about to happen.
Which leads to this. I just received a worrisome press release from the well-organized group of housing-justice activists who helped, on May Day, to return a woman to her foreclosed home. They say they got word, from someone who overheard officers talking outside an Occupy trial this week, that one of their members had been mentioned as the target of a raid. The information is fairly specific, including the name of an officer, which caught my attention.
On Tuesday, July 10, housing justice organizers working in NE Portland received information that the Portland Police Bureau is planning a raid targeting Dirk Zizka, an organizer with the Blazing Arrow Organization (BAO) and We Are Oregon. This information was received from a person who overheard a conversation between PPB Officer Susan L. Billard and another officer at the Multnomah County Courthouse, earlier that same day.
Dirk and other BAO members have been active housing justice organizers in Portland since October. We are all core organizers of the community reclamation of Alicia Jackson’s home on beginning on May 1st. The PPB has named Dirk as their target, however this is an attempt to destablize the ongoing defense of Alicia Jackson’s home, and attack the growing movement in these neighborhoods for economic justice and human dignity. This is not the first instance of repression against members of BAO. On March 17, in the weeks leading up to the May 1 home reclamation, Ahjamu Umi was detained and harassed by three unidentified, armed men wearing suits.
Furthermore, this is emblematic of coordinated police violence against poor, working class, and people of color in North and NE Portland, where the BAO is based. There are more than 200 arrests per month on N Killingsworth St between N Interstate and NE MLK alone.
It is apparent that this police attention is in response to effective organizing for community control over housing and resources, and is part of an escalating trend of repression against an emerging grassroots movement for economic justice. Only two days before we received word of these plans, organizers in the Seattle Red Spark Collective were targeted by an early morning SWAT team raid. Seattle police smashed in the door to their apartment, before throwing in a concussion grenade and detaining Red Spark members at gunpoint while they confiscated political literature.
“The BAO will continue to organize in the face of this repression. We’ve demonstrated our effectiveness through our work with Alicia Jackson to reclaim her home, and will continue to unite with our neighbors to defend our communities from eviction, displacement, and police violence. We are working class, queer, and people of color, committed to creating a society that both meets our basic needs and respects our human dignity. We are prepared to defend ourselves and the work we are doing, and invite others to stand with us.”
I asked the Portland Police Bureau for comment. And this reply came back from Sergeant Pete Simpson, a bureau spokesman:
[I have] no idea what they are talking about here and even if I did, we would never share information about an ongoing investigation, upcoming search warrants, etc. I have never heard of this guy or organization.
Of course, it’s a big police bureau. So we’ll see.
ARE YOU SURE THIS ISN’T JUST SOME BLACKALCIOUS FANFIC?
Housing activists = squatters. C’mon now.
Reporting on every instance of paranoia amongst Occupy is going to take up more time than you have in the day.
I wants to move in wit them. Room for one more?
This obviously has nothing to do with Occupy, dumbasses– it’s pretty clear that this is organizing with black folks in NE. Didn’t any of you see the news about what these people did in NE on May Day? Oh wait I forgot, Portland doesn’t give a fuck about black people or gentrification.
Nice to see some of the fine folks from OregonLive commenting here too.
Speaking of paranoia …
Yeah right, KillaBeez. You don’t know shit. Recently, there was an elderly black woman who was conned out of her home by three scumbags, all with ties to Occupy Portland. Since when is cheating an elderly black woman out her home a good thing? I’ll save you the trouble. It isn’t fucking cool. These squatters don’t want to work so they don’t have money for housing. They want the government to subsidize their “free” lifestyle.
So yeah, it makes perfect sense that two police officers would have a conversation like this within earshot of a known occupier. Because you know the cops love occupiers and want to make sure that no one gets hurt or arrested. C’mon Denis, stop listening to everything that OPDX tweets, blogs or posts of Facebook. There are a lot of people there (within OPDX) who have no idea what “tactics” are, and you should stop being nice to them!
First off, the housing activists are not squatters. The majority of them live in the communities which they are active in, and there are a few who happen to be houseless. Stop demonizing people jus because it suits your own political agenda which includes turning a blind eye to people losing their homes due to gentrification or illegal foreclosures.
Second, the story of the elderly woman who was “kicked out” of her house by “three scumbags linked to Occupy Portland” has some serious holes in it. The first being that this happened in September, Occupy Portland didn’t come not existence until October. Other holes include that she didn’t even question the letter she received, she just said “ok” and then vacated the house. (really? Nobody does that). The link, like last time, happened to be some papers with Occupy on it…just like the last time they tried to play this game.
anybody remember the recent story about OWS being linked to a 2004 murder by DNA evidence? Yeah, we saw how that went. This just in from the ME’s office and the lab: “uhhh…oops?” Its remarkable though, all of these things happening roughly within the same timeframe as one be another.
Finally, the bit about tactics. You’re seriously going to try and says that the PPB employs an excellent use of OPSEC and other strategic tactics? You know, the same group that runs into each other at intersections because they can’t properly clear crossroads, the same group that was on video faceplanting off a bike in their zeal to dogpile a 115pound female protester, and the same group that has a history of not knowing when it’s appropriate to use force? You are seriously overestimating the abilities of a large portion of the PPB’s membership.
The PPB has the toughest job in Portland. Activists provoke and attack them all the time. So when they get caught in a mess with the PPB, keep in mind they bring that negativity on themselves. The PPB wouldn’t even be there if these people were peaceful and tried to do good. These are the same people who shit on and burn the American flag. If they hate this country so much, then maybe they should opt for positive change, not simple dumbfuck civil disobedience and vandalizing. Add to it squatting. I stand by my statements above. I never said the PPB is perfect. They deserve our respect for protecting the citizens of Portland. This liberal extremism is doing more harm to the community than good right now. Piss or get the fuck off the pot. I’m sick of the excuses. Be better citizens and concentrate on real change. IMHO that will only happen through positivity and actual work. Think like MLK Jr. Also, the three people involved in the Mississippi house OCCUPATION can move the fuck on. Fooling people out their homes isn’t the right thing to do. EVER. No matter how much people try to spin it to their own selfish advantage, that is the real truth.
BLAZING ARROW ORGANIZATION ???
hahaha
What are these guys – 12 years old or something?
stjohnsrules:
I understand that I am talking to someone who doesn’t give a fuck about the truth,
however it is important to point out to anyone else reading that the folks who were living in that house that got evicted a couple weeks back were not occupiers and DID NOT SEND A FAKE EVICTION LETTER. I know that to be true.
Believing everything that the cops tell you is pretty much the worst way to find out what’s really going on.
Here is a link that proves you’re a liar, gentrified:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.s…
From the very liberal O-Live site, no less. Sucks to be you. I told the truth and YOU lied. If you want a debate in the future, you might want to come better prepared.