Occupy Portland Meets the Police

More than twenty protesters were arrested between 1 and 3 a.m. Sunday morning in Jamison Square (in the Pearl District of Portland) when they staged a sit-in  in solidarity with other Occupy sites. About 75 police in riot gear, six mounted police, another twenty or so police on bicycles, and a number of police in cars, vans, and on foot made the arrests during a non-violent protest. The riot police were wearing guns and carrying billy clubs.

I was there from 4:30 p.m. till 3:30 a.m., serving as a volunteer liaison between protesters and news media.

There were some fears that police might use tear gas. Fortunately, that didn't happen. One of the female protesters cried out as she was being arrested and may have been hurt. It was dark, it was misting rain, and visibility was poor, but the protesters said their purpose in being present was to raise awareness of our broken system, to stand in solidarity with Occupy protesters in Oakland and elsewhere, and to make positive use of Civil Disobedience.

Update: I've been on phone and internet all day. Just finished a phone interview with CNN's Don Lemon. I'm very safe. Most of those arrested last night have now been released. I spoke to one of them on the phone a while ago and he said, "Portland demonstrated how passionate they are about providing a better future. I felt really supported and loved. The police were hard on a couple of people, but they were great to me, so I have to say it wasn't as bad as I feared it could be."