Occupy Portland considers options as eviction deadline looms: Fight or move

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/11/occupy_portland_consider...


Occupy Portland considers options as eviction deadline looms: Fight or move
Published: Thursday, November 10, 2011, 9:17 PM Updated: Friday, November 11, 2011, 12:27 AM
Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian By Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian The Oregonian

Now that they face a deadline to leave two downtown parks by 12:01 a.m. Sunday, the members of Occupy Portland must decide what's next for the movement. So far, protesters appear divided between relocating peacefully to other city parks or manning the barricades.

Gathering Thursday in front of City Hall, demonstrators passed around a bullhorn asking for solutions to the group's dilemma -- triggered by an ultimatum from Mayor Sam Adams to clear the two small squares of the tents, tarps and hundreds of people ensconced there since Oct. 6.

After a woman suggested scattering to different quadrants across the city, the next speaker declared: "The hours are ticking down. Defend your camp. Defend your home."

Occupy Portland volunteer Katy McNulty urged the mayor to negotiate a later deadline.

"I think we can obtain a peaceful transition, but in three days?" McNulty said. She's worried that's not enough time to organize all campers -- many who are vulnerable and unprepared to pick up and move, she said.

Police Officer West Helfrich watched the City Hall assembly and was philosophical about what's to come. "Everyone knows it has to end," Helfrich said. "Some people are going to make our job easy, and some will make it hard."

"We're not leaving!" a passing protester yelled at Helfrich and a fellow officer.

"That pretty much sums it up," Helfrich said. "You can't reason with people who are illogical, whether they're drunk or high or whatever."

Hundreds of Portland police are expected to work late Saturday night and early Sunday, from mounted police and bike officers to Rapid Response Team officers in riot gear.

The Justice Center jail -- across from one of the occupied parks -- has posted notices on its front doors, telling family and friends of inmates that they can't make any social visits to prisoners after 2 p.m. Saturday because of the Occupy Portland eviction.

The mayor set up the showdown when he announced, with Police Chief Mike Reese at his side, that a rise in crime around the encampment and health concerns had forced him to close down Chapman and Lownsdale squares. The city also will clear Terry Schrunk Plaza next door, a federal park across from City Hall.

"Occupy has had a considerable time to share its movement's message with the public, but has lost control of the camps it has created," Adams said.

Police have responded to two recent overdoses at the parks, including one Wednesday when officers arrived at a tent where a man had turned blue after taking heroin he bought in the encampment. Emergency workers revived him as nearly 100 people gathered around them.

Earlier in the week, police arrested a man found at the Occupy camp for allegedly damaging the stairs of the World Trade Center with a Molotov cocktail. Bail is set at $1 million for David J. Hodson, 29, charged with first-degree arson. He told investigators he obtained all the components for the device from within the encampment.

"I cannot wait for someone to die in the camp," Adams said. "I cannot wait for someone to use the camp as camouflage to inflict bodily harm on others."

The downtown squares will be closed temporarily beginning in the early hours of Sunday so officials can clear and restore them. Once the squares reopen to the public, the mayor said the city will enforce all city laws in the parks and on the sidewalks.

Some Occupy members encouraged supporters to invite at least 10 people they know to swell the number of people in the parks to more than 5,000 by Saturday night, effectively thwarting the city's efforts to remove them. Others talked about moving to Holladay Park in Northeast Portland, the waterfront or the Park Blocks near Portland State University.

Occupy Portland(video): A stalemate appears headed for a confrontation this weekend Occupy Portland: A stalemate appears headed for a confrontation this weekend The City of Portland on Thursday set a midnight Saturday deadline for the Occupy Portland movement to disband their encampment at Lownsdale and Chapman square parks. At 12:01 a.m., anyone still in the park will be subject to the regular rules and ordinances, which include no camping, etc. Hundreds of Portland police officers will be ready to move in and clear the park early Sunday morning. Protesters appear to be evenly split on how to proceed. Some want to move to other parts of the city or indoors; others swore to stay and fight the eviction. Watch video(click at the link to see)


Cathy Highet, an attorney with the Portland Law Collective, offered those assembled at City Hall a choice of legal options to consider, including filing a temporary restraining order asking the courts to stop the city from clearing the camp.

Part of the legal argument, she said, would be that the police didn't adequately protect the parks and could have used other methods or some kind of internal security to make the parks safer.

She also said an option for protesters would be to leave the tents up but not sleep in the parks -- "creating a symbolic camp" -- so they wouldn't get arrested.

Portland police are preparing for anything, with rumors swirling that campers are collecting rocks to throw at officers to campers advertising for plywood on Craigslist to serve as shields.

But the mayor and chief said they hope the park closures will be peaceful.

"We're going to be very deliberate and methodical," Reese said.

"We will be prepared for any reasonable eventuality," Adams said. "We will be prepared to make arrests. My preference would be we don't have to. That is part of the reason we are being communicative about this right now."

Group members at the encampment watched them speak on a computer that carried the news conference live.

"We're not going to quit," said Mike Withey, a 46-year-old Occupy volunteer. "But this is pretty much a homeless camp. We need to move to indoor space so our movement can occupy professionally. But I imagine we'll be split; I think some people will want to stay and fight."

Brenton Roy, a farmer from eastern Washington, walked through the area with his wife and three young daughters. "As organized as they are, they're not sustainable," said Roy, who was visiting his brother in Portland. "As much as you might love free speech, it's about to get colder."

As the news sunk in, another Occupy volunteer, Gayle Groff, 32, said she plans to suggest that people stay put over the weekend.

"Whoever can come down Saturday and squat is invited," Groff said. "Creating a perimeter of supporters is key."

-- Stuart Tomlinson Tweet