Portland loves its occupation

I am so tired of smiling, my face is sore. The most wonderful thing has happened: the people of Portland turned out in the thousands (estimates range from 5000 to 10,000)--in the rain and the wind, smiling. I left at about 1:30 a.m., at which time no arrests had been made. So many people had flooded the streets that the police could not get near the parks. Clergy bears sang and carried candles. Anarchists waved flags and talked on megaphones. Hundreds of people on bicycles are still circling the parks. By midnight the crowd had become a great sea of people, all chanting, "This is what democracy looks like," and defending the occupation.

I took over 300 pictures, some of which are quite satisfying (the portraits turned out surprisingly well, I thought, despite the rain and the dark). I've chosen one that gives an idea of the size of the crowd, though it stretched out over several blocks, so no one picture can cover it. I'm writing this a little after 3 a.m., so I'm not going to post more pictures  tonight. After I've had a few hours of sleep, I'll add more here.

Adam Rothstein kept a wonderful live blog here, and many of us contributed photographs to the blog as the evening progressed. So far, peace has prevailed. There was singing, smiling, musicians playing drums and guitars and one French Horn, many signs celebrating peace and nonviolent action. Most persuasively, there was the energy of a peace-loving crowd. There were thousands of people saying to the occupiers, "Thank you." A young man in his twenties stood on a bench, tears streaming down his face. I reached up to touch his arm, and he said, "I've never felt so loved and appreciated in all my life. I really do have hope for the human race."

Eventually I'm sure the crowd will disperse, and eventually the police will clear the parks. Some people will be arrested. But so far, there has been no violence. The Portland Occupation has been deeply, widely, hugely appreciated. It will rise again, in some form, but for tonight, the people kept the occupation.