The surprising thing is not that Portland had a large and dedicated turn-out, we are pretty good at that here.
The Surprising thing is the amount of civility on all sides. Anyone who knows Portland knows that our police have a well-deserved reputation as some of the most vicious thugs in the nation, especially when it comes to protesters.
But the police are playing nice. I'm a bit shocked, really.
Portland also has an unfortunately deserved reputation for protests being fucked-up and de-railed by a small "anarchist" contingent.
But they have been blessedly absent. I'm a bit shocked by that as well.
(x-posted to GD)
Occupy Portland continues to go strong.
Occupy Portland Day Six Update
POSTED BY SARAH MIRK ON TUE, OCT 11, 2011 AT 12:53 PM
Who would have thought that an anti-establishment protest would turn into a love fest for the local police force?
The widespread support for the Portland police is the most striking thing about our Occupy protest as it settles into its tent-city vibe for another peaceful day in downtown Portland.
On the East Coast, Boston police spent the wee hours of the morning arresting 100 protesters and piling the entire camp—tents! sleeping bags! protest signs!—into lines of garbage trucks. In Seattle, Mayor McGinn sent seriously mixed messages, telling police to threaten protesters with arrest, but then not actually arrest them.
Meanwhile, the Twitter feed for Occupy Portland has turned into a stream of appreciation of the Portland Police's cool headed approach to the protests (with occasional interjections from KPAM host Victoria Taft). The Occupiers have also made a bunch of videos, including this one about the interactions with the Portland Marathon:
Full story:
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archive...http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=...http://occupypdx.org /
Urgently needed if you can help. socks, tarps, rain gear, batteries, seal-able storage bins, hand sanitizer, foot powder, extension cords.