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Activists protesting the new contract with the Portland Police union camped through the night in front of Mayor Charlie Hales' house.
The Don't Shoot Portland activists left today as a typhoon-powered storm rolled into Portland—but vowed to return.
"We want to spread the message to the public and let people know what happened two days ago," organizer Gregory McKelvey shouted through his megaphone during a Friday rush-hour march. "We are taking our message throughout the city."
Upon arriving at Hales' house last night around dusk, protesters held up signs and chanted for his resignation. They set up 12 tents in front of his house, six on either side on the street.
"We're camping at Hales' house until he gets the message," says McKelvey. "We need him to resign."
Protesters, many of them affiliated with the national Black Lives Matter movement, are outraged by the new contract—and by a draft policy that would allow officers to review body-camera footage before writing incident reports.
By midnight there were around 75 people outside the house, says Micah Rhodes, a spokesman for Don't Shoot Portland. Although a police car waited near by, the protestors were uninterrupted all night.
A night of camping in the rain only added to their numbers. On Saturday morning, 23 tents were pitched outside the house. Protesters had added tarps and chairs—an echo of the 2011 Occupy Portland protests that seized downtown parks for 39 days.
Some of Hales' neighbors in Eastmoreland provided food and water, dry clothes and even a propane heater, protesters said.
Frank Martinez who was arrested during Wednesday's protest, camped outside Hales' house, sleeping in his car as his tent was soaked. Although he says the night was "freezing as fuck," it was worth it and he is optimistic and excited about what will happen next.
Protesters decided to pack up in advance of a band of heavy storms moving in to Portland this afternoon, The Oregonian reported.
Willamette Week
