Protestors Must Stay on Sidewalk for Bush Visit (Portland)

[Nambe]

PORTLAND, OR 2003-08-20 (OPB Radio)

Portland police are warning people to stay on sidewalks, and not in the street, if they plan to demonstrate when President Bush visits the University of Portland Thursday. Police spokesman, Brian Schmautz, says no groups have applied for a permit to march, which means they'll have to obey traffic laws or face arrest.

--- The event itself is in a contained area but the potential for problems is much greater because of the amount of square footage of the property.

Schmautz says they'll cordon off areas for people who want to protest the presidential visit, and for those who want to show support. Potential crowd sizes range from one to 20,000. Portland police will be joined by officers from six other agencies and the city will bill the federal government for some of the costs.

[stevedeshazer]

1. Yeah, right

Like that'll happen.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. why break it off?

Into supporters and protestors?

Isn't free speech for everyone?

I bet the supporters will be a lot closer to Bush than the protestors will be.

[Wwagsthedog]

8. Silent Protestors With Bowed Heads & No Signs Crowd Out Supporters....

.... by occupying the supporters space? Just an idea.

[Jacobin]

9. I like that a lot

Or all have their backs turned to him.....tens of thousands of them and not say one fricking word. Just silence. Silence can be defeaning in some situations.

[LiberalFighter]

12. Or provide the supporter area with....

material that prevents them from showing their support of the idiot.

If I had the manpower I would paint their sidewalk with black enamel paint. It should hold in the heat from the sun.

Find a way to give them a shower.

Use mirrors to blind them.

[Zhade]

13. Freedom of speech is for those we disagree with, too.

Otherwise, we're as bad as the fascists in power.

[gristy]

3. I'd sure like to see a good showing in Portland

It seems that wherever bush goes, protests are pretty minimal, not well covered by the press, or both. Somewhere, in some city a dam is going to break and a critical mass of protesters is going to be achieved. So many that the press and the nation will be forced to take notice.

And bush will have no rest from us from that day on.

Will Portland lead the way?

[Athame]

15. When he was in Thousand Oaks CA last week

a huge protest was planned. Many I know were carpooling and bussing from Santa Barbara and beyond. I'm sure others were coming from the south. The Secret Service changed the venue at the last minute and supporters only were bussed to the location in the mountains--nearly inaccessible. The single bus left at 7:00 AM. I don't know much more about what happened. The NION group tried to get the word out about the change of plans. I know there was a protest anyway. But there was NOT ONE WORD on any local media about the president even being in the area and certainly nothing about the protests.

If that happened here, I am sure it is also happening elsewhere. The protests are not getting through and not being covered.

[depakid]

4. How many people do they think they can arrest?

The downtown jail is already close to full and doesn't have the money to pay for adequate staff. How many other inmates are they willing to release in order to make room for protesters?

Instead of inviting disruption by making empty and unproductive threats, police spokespersons should be issuing statements to the effect of "stay cool, and please refrain from damaging public and private property."


Unfortunately, that would require more common sense than the Portland police seem capable of demonstrating when Bush comes to town.

[LauraK]

10. Multnomah County Inverness Jail can take a thousand.

And you can bet they are clearing it out as we speak! It is in NE Ptld, not that far from the protests and they have booking facilities there too. Ask Nambe, she's been there done that from the last moron visit.

[StandWatie]

5. didn't his dad call Portland..

Little Beirut?

Why in the hell would he want to go there of all places right now? :shrug:

[stevedeshazer]

6. 5000 supporters @ $2000 per plate

And 20,000 of us will be there waiting for them.

[papau]

7. He can't go to the Nat'l Park because of fires - this may save a few

trees -

as we have all noticed, when Bush praises something (Americore, Headstart, veterans) it always means he is about to screw them over.

Good Luck, Portland!

:-)

[dArKeR]

11. We need to start filming the people who go to these fund raisers and put

it on the net just as the Moral Majority does to women going into abortion clinics!

http://darkerxdarker.tripod.com/

[0rganism]

14. This is the MO the cops use to make arbitrary arrests, by the way

They just love to knock people off the sidewalk to make a bust.

"She stepped off the sidewalk, so of course I had to pepper spray her and beat her senseless with my truncheon. There was simply no other way, your honor."

[Yentatelaventa]

16. They have as much right to protest as the Ten Commandment protesters have

Anyone disagree?

[FlemingsGhost]

17. For those who are interested:

Just for the record...


The PPRC strongly reaffirms and endorses every person's right to protest at the University of Portland this coming Thursday during George W. Bush's visit to Portland. PPRC is committed to peaceful, nonviolent forms of protest and advocates proactive efforts to maintain safe and inclusive protest actions.

The Portland Peaceful Response Coalition wishes to clarify that it is neither a co-sponsor nor an endorser for the Columbia Park Bush Protest gathering and march, and that PPRC has not taken part in any of the planning for this event.

PPRC applied for a permit for a separate gathering and a "feeder march" to the Bush protest at the University of Portland campus. The city chose to withhold granting that permit until a Portland Police Bureau representative had verified that the Columbia Park protest planners had refused to accept a permit. In other words, it appears that the city decided to offer the Columbia Park protest planners a permit for their action (which the protest planners had NOT requested), and that until it was clear that the offer of a permit was turned down, the city refused to grant PPRC's formal application for a permit. PPRC has chosen to cancel all plans for an independent feeder march.

PPRC's police liaison has been informed by the Portland Police Bureau representative, Commander Rosie Sizer, that the following will be the PPB's approach to the Columbia Park gathering and march. According to Commander Sizer, since the event is not permitted, the PPB will expect participants to stay on sidewalks, not cross against traffic lights, and to otherwise obey all relevant traffic laws. Commander Sizer said that the incident commander on the scene will decide whether and how to enforce these traffic laws. She said that one factor that will influence the incident commander’s decision will be the size of the gathering.

PPRC has no way to predict how the police will actually respond to the Columbia Park protest gathering and march.

Commander Sizer also informed the PPRC police liaison that an area has been designated for protestors. That area has been tentatively set to be N. Willamette Boulevard from N. Portsmouth Avenue to N. Olin Avenue. THIS DESIGNATED PROTEST AREA HAS NOT BEEN VERIFIED, AND MAY CHANGE. (PPRC does not endorse, nor do we recognize the Constitutionality of the PPB’s policy of creating a "designated" protest area.)

The behavior of Portland Police has been difficult to predict. PPRC urges protest participants to weigh carefully the kinds of actions that you take part in on Thursday. If you choose to attend the protest, go with a group of friends that you feel comfortable with, and consider the likely consequences of actions that you choose to take part in. You do not have to take part in the Columbia Park gathering or the protest march in order to participate in the protest at the University of Portland.

PPRC does not have the medical or legal competence to endorse or promote reliance on either of the following resources and is including them here for information purposes only:

Advice on first aid and the sorts of crowd control tactics used by the PPB (pepper spray, etc.) is available at http://www.blackcrosscollective.org/

A jail support telephone number has been posted for the Bush protests: [phone]

In solidarity,

PPRC General Meeting

[dw]

19. "N. Willamette Boulevard from N. Portsmouth Avenue to N. Olin Avenue"

So if our fearless leader approaches from the east, taking Lombard or Portland Blvd, he'll be able to sneak into the barbed wire compound that used to be the UofP without ever having to encounter his tormentors.

The man is a prisoner of his own people.

[Pastiche423]

18. Barbed wire?

From someone that has staked out the protest site:

There is a fence all along Willamette - the U of P is pretty well fenced in with a 7 foot fence with barbed wire on top. There are concrete barriers blocking off the streets that intersect with Willamette right there by UP. People are out in the neighborhood canvassing - reassuring the neighbors that we are planning a
peaceful protest with huge emphasis on being kind and respectful to the people, homes and property in the neighborhood.