An unconfirmed report that the police have lost control of the streets of
Portland, Oregon tonight. Perhaps they ought to pull that one officer off
of Indymedia Portland disruption duty.
[...]
The center of Portland is in chaos tonight.
There are at least 4 groups of several hundred protesters (each)
wandering the center of Portland tonight. The original rally and protest
accounted for perhaps 5000 folks, dwarfing a pro-war rally of maybe a
couple of hundred at most. Completely unplanned (some times painfully so)
the march split on several occasions with groups going different
directions.
Three bridges are closed (another one earlier.) I-84 is closed and I-5
had been closed for some while. Another group has wandered from the West
to the East side of town, through the second major commercial center of
town and back to the west side. A McDonalds had several windows broken
out.
At the same time Critical Mass bike riders of a couple of hundred have
been circulating through the city. I have just heard Critical Mass has
shut down I-405 as well.
Police have been 'reasonable' to this point 8 pm. Only a couple of
arrests and some tear gas. Oops! Now it says Critical Mass has had
several folks seriously beaten and arrested.
From Portland Indymedia
http://portland.indymedia.org/
BREAKING NEWS:
Reports from the Street:
8:40 pm from the newswire, photos
8:25 pm: Newswire post at 7:50 pm: "Cops cornered bike riders on Morrison bridge and threw them on the ground and beat them. Cops are becoming more violent. They cornered critical mass riders coming back from the i-405 liberation and beat the crap out of several riders. The cops have the riders tied up, face down on the bridge waiting to take them away."
8:20 pm The bicycle cops have retreated from 2nd and Burnside. Riot cops have amassed and are standing midway across the Burnside Bridge.
8:18 pm The marches have joined together at the 2nd and Burnside FreeState. This diverse group is sitting in the road and milling around. Three times today people have been physically assaulted by corporate media for attempting to block their cameras. Nobody ever touched the cameras, people were only standing in front of them to block them from filming.
8:04 pm The group of around a thousand on Grand St has liberated the Broadway Bridge and are heading south toward Burnside.
7:57 pm From the 2nd & Burnside FreeState. Hundreds are still at this intersection. A very diverse group of people are sitting in the intersection have surrounded a few who are locked down in the center. They are determined to sit there all night or until they are arrested. Riot cops dispersed after chanting and protesting. Now riot cops are approaching that intersection coming from the east over the Burnside Bridge.
7:49 pm KBOO: I - 405 is now shut down! Newswire Post: "Critical Mass has blocked the diverted 1-5 traffic. I-5 traffic was diverted to 1-405. Critical mass blocked the diversion and have stopped traffic on I-5 South bound and I-405. Critcal Mass rocks!"
7:41 pm KBOO: Critical Mass has stopped traffic... somewhere...Candlelight vigil has started at 3rd and W. Burnside..... Morrison and Burnside Bridges are completely shut down!
7:26 pm From Burnside Bridge above I-5. East end is blocked. Around 1/2 hour ago, first the entrance, then the entire Southbound lane of I-5 was blocked by around 80 people at it's peak. When police arrived many left, but 8 sat down and refused to leave. 3 are still sitting cross-legged in the middle island, not clear why. Police were rough with 3 of them. People were on the Esplanade watching through the fence and the police fired 2 pellets upward toward the onlookers. About 50 people are watching the arrests now. One activist was hit by a car that went speeding through the line of people. The activist was knocked to the ground and was sitting very shaken when the reporter talked with him. He seemed okay a minute later, but very shaken. Activists on tscene got the plate no.Peeps writes on Thursday March 20 2003 @ 08:48PM PST: [ reply | parent ] Wonder how many highways that the peace movement can shut down over the weekend. The NCAA tournament is also happening this weekend in cities around the country.
