Homelessness Protester Attacked Outside City Hall

Homeless protesters pitch tents in the federal plaza in front of Portland City Hall Aug. 8
By AARON MESH

Activist Michael Withey is scheduled this Wednesday to present Portland City Council with a six-point plan to end homelessness, including more campgrounds.

This morning at 4:01 am, Withey was attacked by two women on the sidewalk outside City Hall when he told them to quiet down so homeless protesters in Terry Schrunk Plaza could sleep.

Police arrested 24-year-old Nancy Razo, and say they're looking for the second assailant, an African-American transient in dreadlocks and a tie-dye T-shirt.

Withey is a veteran of the 2011 Occupy Portland camps—a 48-year-old street organizer who worked on the protest's finance committee, tried to find campers a permanent home in a vacant building above the Lotus Cafe, and arranged a softball game between Occupiers and Portland park rangers.

In recent months, he has been a regular presence at campouts outside City Hall, and is calling on Mayor Charlie Hales to let homeless people sleep in church parking lots.

"We demand that people without shelter be able to erect a tent over their heads at night," Withey told WW last month. "We're not asking. We're demanding."

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