Portland Police Accused of Civil Rights Abuse After Kettling Armed Protesters
On 3/15/21 at 11:43 AM EDT
A coalition of civil rights groups are calling for an investigation into Portland Police after a large number of protesters were detained and arrested.
The Oregon Justice Resource Center, CAIR-Oregon, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon have accused officers of civil rights abuse after they rounded up around 100 protesters in a controversial crowd control tactic known as kettling on Friday, March 12.
Police formed a barricade around the protesters at about 9:15 p.m. after some began breaking windows on the block.
After kettling in the crowd, which also included journalists covering the protest, on Northwest Marshall Street between Northwest 13th Avenue and Northwest 14th Avenue, officers told protesters that they were not free to leave and they should comply with officers lawful orders or face arrest.
Police surround, detain protesters, vandals in Pearl District
A planned direct action ends in 13 arrests with more arrests and charges possible.
Portland police wasted little time dealing with protesters and vandals who smashed windows in the Pearl District on Friday, March 12.
Authorities formed a perimeter around the protesters, detaining them for suspected criminal activity on Northwest Marshall Street between 13th and 14th avenues, Police said. About 100 protesters were inside the perimeter when it was formed around 9:30 p.m. Thirteen people were arrested.
The direct action event began around 8 p.m. in Jamison Square in Northwest Portland. After a while the group began to march in the streets. Police used a loudspeaker to tell them the march was not a permitted march.
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Police Use Mass Detainment to Curb Resumed Portland Protests and Property Damage Some activists on the ground said they were there to oppose a “return to normalcy,” which the dismantling of the courthouse fence represented. Homeland Security officers defend the federal courthouse. (Suzette Smith) Updated March 13 The removal this week of a 10-foot-high fence surrounding the Mark O. Hatfield U.S, Courthouse was, in some ways, an optimistic gesture. It signaled that federal law enforcement, under a new president, no longer saw Portland demonstrators as a threat to resuming conventional routines.
Portland Police Bureau
Windows were broken Friday night in Portland s Pearl District; police displayed some of the items found on those detained
Also: Man indicted in Portland s Roosevelt statue toppling last fall
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Portland police said they detained a crowd of about 100 protesters Friday night when violence broke out during a demonstration, halting the march minutes after it started. Thirteen people were charged with crimes.
The mass detainment shortly after 9 p.m. Friday in the Pearl District appeared to an example of kettling, a police tactic of surrounding a crowd and containing people within a perimeter, The Oregonian/OregonLive.com reported.