{"id":460,"date":"2018-08-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/pdx\/?p=460"},"modified":"2023-08-24T09:09:14","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T16:09:14","slug":"nlg-pdx-statement-on-portland-police-bureaus-response-to-anti-oppression-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/pdx\/2018\/08\/07\/nlg-pdx-statement-on-portland-police-bureaus-response-to-anti-oppression-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"NLG PDX statement on Portland Police Bureau’s response to anti-oppression protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[Originally posted to PortlandNLG.org on August 7, 2018]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Portland Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) condemns the actions taken by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and other coordinating law enforcement agencies on Saturday, August 4th, 2018. We are horrified by the level of state violence enacted, and decry PPB Chief Outlaw\u2019s responses, which, among other things, called the injuries the PPB caused to anti-fascist and anti-racist counter-demonstrators, journalists, and other civilians mere \u201callegations\u201d to be investigated. At least two people were hospitalized with severe physical injuries, many others sustained less severe physical injury, and hundreds of people were indelibly traumatized by experiencing such extreme state violence. No one but the police were deploying flash bang grenades, full strength pepper spray, pepper ball projectiles, and other impact weapons that amount to use of deadly force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NLG had legal observers on the ground monitoring the police throughout the entire mobilization on Saturday, who witnessed truly disturbing action taken by the police. Despite the threats of gun violence emanating from the right-wing, which had proliferated throughout the internet in the days leading up to \u201cUnite the Right West Coast,\u201d the Portland Police Bureau focused their attention, and directed all uses of force, toward anti-fascist and anti-racist counter-demonstrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day began with Patriot Prayer, Proud Boys, and other far-right groups and individuals rallying at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, leftists rallying at City Hall and Chapman Square. When leftist counter-demonstrators marched to the waterfront to demonstrate their opposition to right-wing ideology, PPB\u2019s riot police lined up to face them. Though we understand the intention behind keeping the two opposing groups separated, it was visibly apparent that the police were there to \u201cprotect and serve\u201d only one side. They faced the counter-demonstrators, and chose to try to make them disperse, despite the First Amendment implications, and no escalation from their side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometime around 1:40pm, the anti-fascist and anti-racist counter-demonstrators marched east on SW Columbia, to again visibly oppose the far-right\u2019s un-permitted march down the waterfront. Though there was no escalation from the anti-fascist and anti-racist crowd, the police began giving dispersal orders, saying that \u201call those standing at SW Columbia and SW Naito need to move to the west immediately.\u201d At this point, both sides were standing in that area. Shortly thereafter, however, just before 2pm, Portland Police officers stood close to the far-right group at the waterfront, and loaded and began deploying numerous rounds of flash bang grenades, then other projectiles, including chemical agents. As they launched the weapons into the crowd of hundreds of counter-demonstrators, the far-right was heard cheering, and police officers were photographed appearing to be laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We reject the PPB\u2019s assertion that they deployed \u201cless-lethal\u201d munitions on the crowd of counter-demonstrators \u201cin response to the violent and assaultive behavior of the crowd.\u201d If anything, the \u201cviolent and assaultive behavior\u201d was exhibited and initiated by the police. From our standpoints, and from journalists\u2019 video evidence we have reviewed, no \u201cprojectiles\u201d were thrown at the officers until after they escalated into use of deadly force. Even then, those few \u201cprojectiles\u201d were mostly water bottles that wouldn\u2019t injure anyone at the protest, let alone the police\u2014outfitted in full, militarized riot gear. The insinuation that the counter-demonstrators were the ones making the event unsafe is patently absurd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the police escalation continued, their skirmish line used batons to forcefully hit people, throwing them to the ground and drawing blood from numerous people caught up in the melee. A flash bang grenade or other explosive projectile hit one woman in the arm, causing it to break. Another hit the back of someone\u2019s head, lodging it in their helmet, and causing a severe head wound that likely would have been lethal had the person not been wearing a helmet. Riot police sprinted after people, using their momentum and batons to launch those who could not get away fast enough into the air and onto the ground. Even after people had dispersed the area, and were a long distance from the far-right march, police continued to deploy impact, explosive, and chemical weapons on the terrified counter-demonstrators. The police had turned downtown Portland into a war zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After police ended their assault, many counter-demonstrators returned to SW Naito, to do the same thing they had been doing all day: outnumber and oppose those who had again chosen to rally in Portland to express violent, oppressive ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remarks made by Chief Outlaw and Assistant Chief Ryan Lee, made at a press conference on August 6th minimized the terror and trauma the community felt at the hands of the police. When asked about accountability for police actions, Outlaw responded, \u201cWhere is the accountability on both sides?\u201d As if there is no unequal power distribution between police and anti-racist and anti-fascist civilians. Only one side is imbued with the power to use any amount of violent force on anyone they deem a threat, then infringe on their freedom by jailing them. That this response also referred to the police and counter-demonstrators as \u201cthe two sides\u201d acknowledges this oppositional relationship, which is not what we have seen between far-right demonstrators and the police. Outlaw\u2019s repeated assertion of the PPB\u2019s \u201cneutrality\u201d is quickly rebutted by near-ubiquitous videos and firsthand accounts of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, this type of police violence is not new, and the potential for injury and death by flash bang grenades is well documented nationally. Our legal observers have watched the police escalate into militarized use of \u201cless lethal\u201d force since the fall of 2016, following the Trump election. Since that time, police have deployed numerous flash bang grenades at protests, among other weapons, and have injured multiple people with that force. Flash bangs have most commonly been used as part of the War on Drugs, maiming and terrifying the mostly Black residents whose lives have been subjected to the violence of home raids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To summarize, we are outraged, dismayed, and heartbroken by the one-sided violence the police displayed on Saturday. Those who come to defend their community against the violent ideologies of white, male, cis, hetero, Christian, and American supremacy should never be met with deadly force by the police. We join the calls for PPB to discontinue their use of militarized \u201cless-lethal\u201d weapons, at protests, during house raids, and for any other purpose. Funding for such weapons and their training can and should be redirected away from the police, and into the services that create real safety for the people of Portland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In solidarity against oppression,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Portland Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Originally posted to PortlandNLG.org on August 7, 2018] The Portland Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) condemns the actions taken by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and other coordinating law enforcement agencies on Saturday, August 4th, 2018. We are horrified by the level of state violence enacted, and decry PPB Chief Outlaw\u2019s responses, which,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15607,"featured_media":464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"default","_kad_post_feature_position":"default","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-statements"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t