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Tens of thousands of Portlanders, some wearing repurposed Burger King crowns or dressed as tacos, marched across the Willamette River this afternoon in a show of numbers aimed at opposing President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign and mocking his birthday celebration.
The “No Kings Day” protest starting in Tom McCall Waterfront Park was one of more than 2,000 held in cities across the country Saturday to protest Trump’s aggressive expansion of executive power. The marches arrived amid an ominous backdrop, with rising national tensions punctuated by Trump sending troops into Los Angeles to quell protests of his immigration crackdown; a military parade to fete the president in Washington, D.C.; and the assassination of a Minnesota state representative early Saturday morning.
Yet the mood in downtown Portland was wholly peaceful, most closely recalling the Women’s March of early 2017 in its size and the breadth of its attendees. Families and retirees stood next to performance-art troupes and black-clad activists. As the march commenced down Southwest Naito Parkway, it stretched at least nine city blocks.
“We have a group of people who are prepared to organize to defend our neighbors,” City Councilor Angelita Morillo said in a speech before the march began.
“I want you to make a promise to me now,” she added, and then led the crowd in a call and response: “My love for my neighbor will overcome my fear of the fascists.”
The marchers circled the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents have arrested four asylum seekers over the past two weeks. “Chinga la migra,” people in the crowd chanted.
Protesters pounded drums and held up signs supporting Moises Sotela, a man from Newberg who ICE reportedly detained and transported to a Tacoma facility on Thursday.
Portland police closed Naito and other streets near the waterfront to traffic, and allowed marchers to cross into the Central Eastside on the Hawthorne Bridge. Downtown restaurants and coffee shops saw lines stretching out the doors from demonstrators seeking refreshments.
The calm did not extend to ICE headquarters in South Portland, where police have arrested more than a dozen people in the past week. An offshoot of demonstrators marched to the protest encampment there, where federal agents deployed tear gas and flash-bangs to disperse the crowd early this evening.
Shortly after 6:30 pm, Portland police declared the standoff a riot and ordered several hundred people to leave.
Hours earlier, speakers called on marchers to not only oppose Trump but to build something better.
“It will always be easy to for us to scream how much we hate something,” said state Rep. Travis Nelson (D-Portland). “But let’s be mindful of what we are asking—what we are seeking and what we are demanding. What we are saying here, in this moment, is we are pro-justice. We are pro-community. We are pro-diversity. We are pro-equity. We are pro-inclusion. We are pro-human dignity. And we are still here.”
The waterfront march was the flagship event among several in the region. A ground of seniors gathered in the Irvington neighborhood, while demonstrators assembled on the main streets of Beaverton, Lake Oswego, West Linn, and Hood River, among other towns.
Most of today’s marchers brought handmade signs, although some went further: One group carried a puppet of Trump with a head made out of a clear plastic tub of cheese puffs, while an older couple wore matching felt taco hats, a reference to the Wall Street saying that “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Sarah and Mark Remy came to the waterfront because they were exhausted from reading the news and not doing anything with their frustrations.
“I was born in Canada, and it feels like it’s time to go home,” said Sarah. “I came here for opportunities and I made a life here—I’ve met my husband, I have my kids, I have great friends and I love Portland. But it just seems messed up beyond compare, and it’s almost like Canada isn’t far enough.”
Sarah’s husband Mark said that they won’t be leaving the country. “The choice is to stay and fight.”
Protesters offered clear signals of how deeply they have come to disdain a president who seeks to bend the nation to his will. As the march passed under the Morrison Bridge, a chant began, and the crowd repeated a refrain: “Fuck your birthday.”
Asa Gartrell, Senya Scott, Tyler Brown, Aaron Mesh and Kenzie Bruce contributed reporting to this story.