 | This article is missing information about most of Portland history.(October 2021) |
Portland, Oregon has an extended history of street activism and has seen many notable protests. [1] [2]
| | This article is missing information about most of Portland history.(October 2021) |
Portland, Oregon has an extended history of street activism and has seen many notable protests. [1] [2]
Portland's first organized demonstration was held in 1857. [3]
Women organized in the late 19th century around several issues. The temperance movement was especially active in Portland. [4] [5] Throughout Oregon and the Pacific Northwest woman suffrage was brought to the ballot five times before it was finally established in 1912. [6] The movement began with Abigail Scott Duniway persuading Susan B. Anthony to join her for a tour of thousands of miles, speaking to people across the Pacific Northwest, in the early 1870s. Duniway would later articulate her non-confrontational approach, stating that it was important to win over men (whose votes must be secured in order to effect change) with a lighthearted, humorous approach: "Men like to be coaxed. They will not be driven." [7]
The Direct Legislation League brought direct democracy to Oregon in the late 19th century.
Beatrice Morrow Cannady, shortly after founding the Portland chapter of the NAACP and joining the editorial staff of The Advocate, organized Portland's protest to the racist film The Birth of a Nation in 1915. [8] The protests resulted in a city ordinance banning films that incite racial hatred. [9] [10]
In the early 1960s, journalists at the Oregonian and the Oregon Journal protested labor conditions, along with journalists around the country. They formed the newspaper The Portland Reporter , which was well received during its five-year run, and undercut the business of its competitors, driven by a strong campaign to persuade readers to cancel their Oregonian subscriptions, and to buy stock in the new paper. Striking workers engaged in protest marches among other tactics. The National Labor Relations Board ultimately ruled the strike illegal. [11]
By the 1970s, national protest of the Vietnam War was peaking. Oregon had long been the site of opposition to the war; U.S. senator Wayne Morse opposed military intervention in Vietnam as early as the 1950s, and was one of only two senators to oppose the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorizing military action. U.S. president Richard Nixon planned to visit Portland in 1970. Some, including governor Tom McCall, predicted violent anti-war protests in the city, and planned a rock music festival in remote Milo McIver State Park to distract from efforts to protest in the city. The resulting festival, called Vortex I, became the only state-sponsored rock festival in U.S. history.
In 1970, a plan implemented by Portland school superintendent Robert Blanchard called for busing Black students to schools in predominantly white districts, and the closure of schools in Black neighborhoods. The Portland chapter of the National Black United Front emerged as the principal adversary of the school board at that time, implementing an array of protest tactics. [12]
The Black United Front organized a "March Against Racism" on April 4, 1981, with an estimated crowd of 1,500 people, 70% of whom were Black. The march was held in conjunction with similar marches in 37 cities across the United States. [13] The march, which occurred less than a month after an incident in which Portland police officers threw dead possums in front of a Black-owned business in Portland, was one of several large demonstrations in Portland. [14] [15] The following year, Oregon voters approved the first public police review committee in Portland with Ballot Measure 51. [12]
The brutal murder of Mulugeta Seraw in 1988 by the East Side White Pride gang further galvanized anti-racist protests in Portland, prompting further protests. [16]
The Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, Oregon's only commercial nuclear power facility, was the subject of protests from its initial installation in the early 1970s until its decommissioning in 1992.
Notable recent demonstrations include Hands Across Hawthorne, which was held in May 2011, and Occupy Portland, which began in October 2011. The 2016 riots were a reaction to the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president. The Women's March was held the day after Trump's inauguration in conjunction with the 2017 Women's March. Subsequent protests during Trump's presidency included the March for Science and Trump Free Speech Rally in 2017. In a retrospective of the city's protests from November 2016 to November 2017, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh of The Oregonian wrote: "Portland's convulsive protests thrust the city into the national spotlight as they often descended into violence and chaos even as most demonstrators remained peaceful... [T]he churn of marches, demonstrations and rallies has become enduring fiber in the fabric of the city. The protests spanned issues – immigrant rights, homelessness, racism, police accountability, free speech. They drew students, parents, anarchists and Trump supporters." [25]
The March for Our Lives was held in 2018 and the End Domestic Terrorism rally was held in 2019.
After the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, hundreds gathered at Terry Schrunk Plaza for a "No War in Iran" protest, led by the DSA. [26]
2020 saw the George Floyd protests, Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage, and Red House eviction defense. Portland saw protests following the election of Joe Biden. [27] As of March 2021 the U.S. Department of Justice has dismissed 31 of the 90 protest cases resulting from protests in downtown Portland during the summer, including a mix of misdemeanor and felony charges. [28]
March 2021 saw Portland police responding forcefully to protesters at the Hatfield U.S. Courthouse. [29] The protests spread over two nights and were described by protestors as involving an extension of a protest over the expansion of an oil pipeline, the dismantling of the security fence in front of the Courthouse, and the murder of George Floyd. On the first night (March 12) Federal officers deployed impact munitions, tear gas, flash-bang grenades and smoke bombs at a group of a few dozen protesters who had gathered at the Hatfield U.S. Courthouse and was setting fires and smashing windows. The second night police surrounded a crowd of over 100 protesters using a process known as kettling detaining them for blocking traffic. They used pepper spray on two people outside the perimeter who were confronting the police about this tactic. Spent containers of a potentially deadly gas that had been used by the police in earlier demonstrations were also found. [30]
On October 13, 2021, Portland Police reported that "a group of around 100 anarchists caused substantial damage to businesses and government buildings in downtown Portland Tuesday night" (Oct. 12). Participants broke numerous windows and "35 separate locations were targeted, including banks, retail stores, coffee shops, and government buildings." Police stated that some group members laid down in front of police vehicles to attempt to prevent police response, and that they believe that some people involved in criminal activity were changing clothes to stymie efforts to identify them. [31] [32] The cost of the damage was later estimated to be at least $500,000. Although police officers did give direction to the group over a loudspeaker to disperse and a Mobile Field Force moved in, police did not directly intervene to stop the vandalism. Portland Police Bureau officials said that this was due to legislation which restricts the tools they can use to stop people causing such destruction, and the lack of clarity on the bill. [33]
On November 19, 2021, law enforcement in Portland declared a riot as approximately 200 demonstrators protested the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, who killed two people and injured another in Wisconsin. Protesters were reportedly yelling anti-police chants.and throwing objects at police, such as urine, water bottles and batteries, and the rear window of one patrol car was smashed. .Windows on buildings were also broken and doors of city facilities were damaged, and there were trash and debris fires in the streets. Protesters began to engage in erecting street barricades using fencing they tore down and construction signs. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said a riot was declared after protesters began focusing on and "tampering with" a roll-up gate at the Justice Center. Some protesters had begun moving toward the entrance of the jail and had put large tree branches in the way to stop the gate from closing. Several people were given citations but only one person who had an outstanding warrant from another matter was arrested. By about 11 p.m. the crowd had dispersed. [34] [35]
In solidarity with the Mahsa Amini protests, groups of Iranian-American protesters have met in Pioneer courthouse square on with signage in the Iranian tricolor declaring "A Free Iran is Better for the World", and many signs demanding the ouster of Khamenei. Other signs declared "Justice for Iranian Women", and "my hair, my choice," and "Break the Silence, be Iranians voice." The American stars and stripes flag was featured prominently by one demonstrator. Although most chants were in Persian, an occasional refrain of "Iranian Lives Matter" was given in English. [36] The protests continued on 1 October, with hundreds gathering. [37]
A black bloc is a tactic used by protesters who wear black clothing, ski masks, scarves, sunglasses, motorcycle helmets with padding or other face-concealing and face-protecting items. The clothing is used to conceal wearers' identities and hinder criminal prosecution by making it difficult to distinguish between participants. It is also used to protect their faces and eyes from pepper spray, which is used by police during protests or civil unrest. The tactic also allows the group to appear as one large unified mass. Black bloc participants are often associated with anarchism, anarcho-communism, communism, libertarian socialism and the anti-globalization movement.
The South Park Blocks form a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon. The Oregonian has called it Portland's "extended family room", as Pioneer Courthouse Square is known as Portland's "living room".
Edward Tevis Wheeler is an American politician who has served as the mayor of Portland, Oregon since 2017. He was Oregon State Treasurer from 2010 to 2016.
Occupy Portland was a collaboration that began on October 6, 2011 in downtown Portland, Oregon as a protest and demonstration against economic inequality worldwide. It is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on September 17, 2011.
On November 10, 2016, three days of protests in Portland, Oregon, turned into a riot, when a group of anarchists broke off from a larger group of peaceful protesters who were opposed to the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.
The Women's March on Portland, also known as the Portland Women's March, the Women's March on Washington, Portland, and Women's March Portland, was an event in Portland, Oregon. Scheduled to coincide with the 2017 Women's March, it was held on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump. The march was one of the largest public protests in Oregon's history with crowd estimates as high as 100,000 participants. No arrests were made during the demonstration.
March 4 Trump was a series of more than two dozen demonstrations organized throughout the United States on March 4, 2017, in support of President Donald Trump. The official message of the demonstration was "Stop the fight. Let's all unite." The founder of the March 4 Trump movement is Vincent Haney, who says he was inspired to create a peaceful pro-Trump movement after listening to commentary by famous individuals speaking out against Trump and watching the anti-Trump marches. Some of the March organizers were part of the Tea Party movement.
The 2017 May Day protests were a series of protests that took place on May Day over worker and immigrant rights, throughout the United States and around the world. Protests became violent in Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. Many demonstrators were protesting against the policies of President Donald Trump, specifically those related to immigration.
Patriot Prayer is a US far-right group founded by Joey Gibson in 2016 and based in Vancouver, Washington, a suburban city in the Portland metropolitan area. Since 2016, the group has organized several dozen pro-gun, pro-Trump rallies held in liberal cities in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. Often met with large numbers of counter-protesters, attendees have repeatedly clashed with left-wing groups in the Portland area. Far-right groups, such as the Proud Boys, have attended the rallies organized by Patriot Prayer, as well as white nationalists, sparking controversy and violence.
Andy Cuong Ngo is an American right-wing author and social media influencer, who is known for covering and video-recording demonstrators. He is a journalist and editor-at-large for The Post Millennial, a Canadian conservative news website, and a regular guest on Fox News. Ngo has published columns in the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal.
The End Domestic Terrorism rally, sometimes subtitled "Better Dead Than Red", was a far-right demonstration organized by the Proud Boys and held in Portland, Oregon on August 17, 2019. The event, the purpose of which was to promote the idea that the "antifa" anti-fascist movement should be classified as "domestic terrorism", received national attention. The rally drew more counter-demonstrators than participants, with at least one group urging its members in advance not to attend, and ended with the Proud Boys requesting a police escort to leave.
Starting in May 2020, protests following the murder of George Floyd were held in the city of Portland, Oregon, concurrent with protests in other cities in the United States and around the world. By July 2020, many of the protests, which had been held every day since May 28, drew more than 1,000 participants. Protests continued into August, September, and October 2020, often drawing hundreds.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Teressa Raiford is an American activist and politician in Portland, Oregon. She founded the local Black-led non-profit Don't Shoot Portland.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in Indiana, United States. As of July 2020, protests had occurred in at least 25 communities throughout the state.
Local protests in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area quickly spread nationwide in more than 2,000 cities and towns, as well as over 60 countries internationally in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. In Minneapolis, destruction of property began on May 26, 2020, with the protests involving vandalism and arson. Demonstrations in many other cities also descended into riots and widespread looting. There was police brutality against protesters and journalists. Property damage estimates resulting from arson, vandalism and looting ranged from $1 to $2 billion, eclipsing the highest inflation adjusted totals for the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
In June 2020, the Trump administration began deploying federal law enforcement forces to select cities in the United States in response to rioting and monument removals amid the George Floyd protests. Federal law enforcement elements were deployed under Operation Legend, Operation Diligent Valor, and the Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cited an executive order regarding "monuments, memorials and statues" as allowing federal officers to be deployed without the permission of individual U.S. states, as the federal government "has the right to enforce federal laws, investigate crimes and make arrests" within states.
In the aftermath of the August 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake, protests, riots, and civil unrest occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and around the United States as part of the larger United States racial unrest and Black Lives Matter movements. In addition to street protests, marches, and demonstrations, the shooting also led to the 2020 American athlete boycotts.
Protests began in multiple cities in the United States following the 2020 United States presidential election between then-President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Vice President Joe Biden, held on November 3, 2020. Biden won the election, receiving 81.3 million votes (51.3%) to Trump's 74.2 million (46.9%) and winning the Electoral College by 306 to 232. Biden's victory became clear on November 7, after the ballots had been tabulated. The Electoral College voted on December 14, in accordance with law, formalizing Biden's victory.
Eugene has a long history of community activism, civil unrest, and protest activity. Eugene's cultural status as a place for alternative thought grew along with the University of Oregon in the turbulent 1960s, and its reputation as an outsider's locale grew with the numerous anarchist protests in the late 1990s. According to the Chicago Tribune, the city was called a "cradle to [the] latest generation of anarchist protesters." Occupy Eugene was home to one of the nation's longest-lasting Occupy protests in 2011, with the last protestor leaving the initial Occupy camp on December 27, 2011. The city received national attention during the summer of 2020, after Black Lives Matter protests in response to the murder of George Floyd grew violent.
Media related to Demonstrations and protests in Portland, Oregon at Wikimedia Commons
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