Occupy Portland had countless moments of beauty, absurdity and anger. In the end, it was downright ugly.
The 39 days of
occupation in Lownsdale and Chapman squares began as an idealistic
statement of protesters seeking economic equality and social justice.
Within days the camp
became a tent city for the homeless and mentally ill, dominated at times
by trouble-seekers and drug dealers. The protest camp turned two city
parks into a putrid smear of mud.
But
Occupy Portland also accomplished a great deal. In a way that labor
unions, academics and writers could not, the organizers raised this
city’s awareness of an economic system gone devastatingly wrong.
The campers also
accomplished something they surely never intended: They teed up the
mayoral hopes of the city’s relatively untested police chief, Mike
Reese.
Reese led the
often-troubled Police Bureau through a carefully orchestrated effort to
reclaim the parks without the violence, tear gas or stun grenades police
used against Occupy protesters in other cities.
Through sheer stamina
and rope-a-dope tactics, Reese’s officers exhausted a raucous Sunday
morning crowd of 5,000 in the streets—then strolled into the Occupy
Portland camp a few hours later to clear out tents, tarps and other
debris.
In the end, the
bureau’s riot squad efficiently shoved about 100 remaining protesters
out of the park and made more than 50 arrests. By 2 pm Sunday, the parks
were back in city hands.
Running through the
story of Occupy Portland are elements of chance and unpredictability,
namely that the political movement appeared just as Reese, who has never
run for office before, was privately contemplating a mayoral campaign.
On Nov. 11, while preparing his troops for the weekend takeover of the
two occupied city parks, Reese filed the paperwork forming a campaign
committee.
Reese says his political aspirations didn’t influence his approach to Occupy Portland or any other police matter.
“There was never any
intersection between our actions and my considering running for mayor,”
Reese says. “I’m really good at compartmentalizing my life.”
But the endgame for
Occupy Portland may be a rare case where political considerations
actually improved the outcome of a difficult situation.
WW’s
on-the-ground reporting, and more than 900 pages of correspondence
obtained under the state’s public records law, show how Reese and the
Police Bureau, over the course of five weeks, took command of the Occupy
Portland situation and controlled the public message.
They were able to do so because two key players in the drama gave them the opportunity.
One was the Occupy movement itself. Its political message was overwhelmed by organizers’ inability to control the camp.
“The atmosphere
changed,” says Reid Parham with Occupy Portland. “The squatting
detracted from the movement, and people made some awful behavioral
decisions that made what was a safe space unwelcome to a lot of people.”
The approach of another player, Mayor Sam Adams, who oversees the Police Bureau, helped create the opportunity for Reese.
Adams
faced a daunting problem: trying to communicate with a leaderless and
increasingly chaotic group of protesters who were unable to formulate
any specific demands.
WW asked Adams if, once he allowed Occupy Portland to stay in the parks, he had a plan to deal with the group. His answer: “No.”
“Mayors all over the country had the same answer,” Adams says. “We all agreed we’d just have to see how it played out.”
Adams was reluctant to challenge the group, even when it shut down Southwest Main Street for nearly a week.
“I was trying to channel what I thought were the collective principles of this city,” Adams says.
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It's a sad comment about the people of Portland if turning PDX into a police state improves your chances of becoming mayor. Reese should be fired for squandering $450K in taxpayer money that could have been used for services to improve conditions for the homeless and the mentally ill. Has WWeek found any evidence that police proactively tried to destroy the camp by encouraging homeless from other parts of the city to go there? (This tactic was used in NYC.)
The question for Chief Reese is: As our chief law enforcement officer, what have you done to investigate and refer for criminal prosecution those individuals who fraudulently and corruptly caused the crash of our local economy? If you try to hide behind "lack of jurisdiction," then tell us Chief Reese: What did you do to encorage those with appropriate jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the white collar criminals?
Really that is the job for the sheriffs department. they are the elected officials. Portland Police are the city military. They the body that stands for its citizens. Appointed vs Elected.
Adams, Reese, King And Occupy Portland - Applause Please
Kudos to Portland mayor Sam Adams and police chief Mike Reese for their respectful, appropriate and successful handeling of the Occupy Portland ad hoc campground event in parks near city hall. Congratulations also to Lt. Robert King whose graceful and subdued TV spokesperson performance was exemplary in helping to keep things calm.
TV reporting was a mixed bag. Local television news is mostly about "blood" and "puppies." There wasn't much of either at the Occupy Portland encampment. Nevertheless, one blond woman reporter in a hyper excited voice tried her best to find controversy where none existed. She clearly would have relished a fight or a fire. She wondered on camera why so many of the Occupy Portland folks didn't like the media.
Most citizens most of the time don't have a clue how government works nor do they care. 18% of age eligible citizens don't even bother to register to vote in Portland. It stands to reason that if you don't know how something works it's hard to fix it. Nevertheless, Occupy Portland, despite it's reported lack of focus has accurately and authentically expressed the frustration and anger of the 99%, the "rest of us" - an apt phrase once used by Apple computer.
Even if most of the local TV news crowd doesn't get it - the rest of us do. America's national political/economic system is broken. Our congress is dysfunctional. Our president seems more a bystander than a player. The Republican candidates for president perform as a very bad reality TV show where ignorance, deception and the assault on reason are the main attractions. We mere citizens can't compete with those individuals and corporations that have most of the money and the power to keep getting more. The best we can do is stand up in public and SHOUT, "We are in pain. Your greed is killing us." That shout from Occupy Portland was heard around the world. Thank you.
Richard Ellmyer
North Portland
that's me in the first picture. I wasn't "keeping vigil" and I wasn't alone. I was retaking the territory that the Salem riot squad surrendered. I followed them, seated or scooting, across the street to the crosswalk where I sat. I did it as a symbolic protection of the First Amendment. There was a General Assembly meeting being held behind me as the police came to retake the street. I didn't want that meeting to end until we decided it should end. The caption does not tell the story on the ground.
The system is broken but you'd never know it from reading the WW. The angle here chosen is baffling; 7,000 people show up in freezing rain to lend support to a movement that polls show has sympathy from a majority of Americans and we get the scoop on the druggy tent and the Reese for Mayor campaign.
You owe your readership an apology.