Police arrest 27 Occupy Portland protesters

By DON RYAN Associated Press and KATU.com Staff Published: Oct 30, 2011 at 10:38 AM PDT Last Updated: Oct 30, 2011 at 1:36 PM PDT
Police arrest 27 Occupy Portland protesters »Play Video
Protesters react as police move in for arrests in Portland, Ore., early Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. A large group marched from the downtown Occupy Portland camp to Jamison Park in an attempt to occupy the park when police moved in with riot gear and horses to make 27 arrests. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Police arrested 27 anti-Wall Street protesters in Portland early Sunday, dragging and carrying them to waiting vans, after they refused to leave a park in an affluent district.

Police said 25 people who were seated in Jamison Square were arrested and charged with interfering with a police officer, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. Two others, 20-year-old Benjamin Harris and 28-year-old Benjamin Burson, were arrested before the other 25, police said.

Police said three women who chose not to give their name were arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Jail as "Jane Doe". Harris, Burson, 24-year-old Matthew Denny and 60-year-old Cathy Alexander were also booked, police said.

The other 17 adults and 2 juveniles were given citations and released from custody, according to police.

The arrests came after protesters from the Occupy Portland movement marched to the Pearl District, with some saying they viewed its residents as part of the wealthy demographic they're protesting.

Hundreds gathered in Jamison Square Saturday evening to defy a midnight curfew to vacate.

As police moved in around 2 a.m. most of the protesters backed off, but a core group of 27 to 30 people sat in a circle in the park and awaited arrest.

An Associated Press photographer said most of the protesters went limp and police carried or dragged them away. There was no violence during the arrests, which took about 90 minutes.

The protesters — all appearing to be in their 20s and 30s with many were wearing Halloween-style face paint — were handcuffed before they were place in police vans and driven off.

"We are the 99 percent," one arrestee continued to chant.

The crowd of supporters thinned out around 3:30 a.m. as the last arrests were made.

Police said they arrested more than two dozen people on charges that included criminal trespassing, interfering with a police officer, and disorderly conduct.

The showdown came in the shadow of high-rise condos in the middle of the Pearl District, with some residents watching the events from their balconies.

At a meeting earlier in the evening, about 30 Occupy Portland protesters decided they would intentionally violate the curfew and face arrest.

Shortly after midnight police on horseback, on bicycles and on foot who had been at the perimeter of the park began moving closer to the group of protesters.

The demonstrators who had decided to risk arrest were seated on the ground. They were encircled by other protesters who walked around them chanting "Whose Park? Our Park!" and "Make No Arrests."

Police eventually pushed the supporters of those being arrested to the park perimeter.

Saturday afternoon, dozens of protesters marched through downtown, across the Willamette River and back, some of them carrying sleeping bags, saying they planned to camp out in the Pearl District park.

Some protesters said they want to camp in the Pearl District because they view its residents as part of the wealthy demographic they're protesting.

Police have allowed the demonstrators to remain in the adjacent Chapman and Lownsdale parks since Oct. 6 despite policies outlawing camping. The parks are surrounded by office buildings, mostly for the government.

But Mayor Sam Adams said last week he would not allow the demonstrators to take over any more parks. In a letter to demonstrators, Commissioner Randy Leonard said it would be inappropriate to expand the demonstration into a neighborhood park.

"We — the entire city council — are your friends ... at present," Leonard wrote. "However, our friendship and support are now being unreasonably tested by the decision to occupy Jamison Square."

Police released the following names of other protesters who were arrested:

  • 46-year-old Angela Irene Hammit
  • 51-year-old Alberta Ellen Lozon
  • 22-year-old Jessica Freeman
  • 22-year-old David Jensen Thomas
  • 31-year-old Joseph Montique Gordon
  • 21-year-old Axcelle Deone Bell
  • 22-year-old Grant Curtis Booth
  • 51-year-old Daniel Keller
  • 25-year-old Sarah Coble
  • 18-year-old Hannah Grundner
  • 23-year-old Nadia Greene
  • 24-year-old Caitlin Triall Wilson
  • 57-year-old Cathy Diane Alexander
  • 36-year-old James Michael Lopes
  • 27-year-old Mitchell David Scott
  • 28-year-old Mathew Walsh
  • 28-year-old Bradley Clair Beach
  • 24-year-old Matthew Denny
  • 20-year-old Cameron Whitten