Everybody Who Is Anybody is Protesting in Downtown Portland Today

In two blocks, protesters will demand a rent freeze, an end to police violence and the immediate release of Ammon Bundy.

By Aaron Mesh

Even by the standards of Little Beirut, today looks like an unusually busy—and combustable—docket of protests in downtown Portland.

It's already been a full week: The start of Ammon Bundy's trial on conspiracy charges for seizing the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has drawn dozens of right-wing protesters racing horses and waving "Don't Tread on Me" flags.

But today promises to reach another magnitude of dissent, with three groups with three very different aims holding demonstrations within two city blocks of each other.

At 11 am, Portland Tenants United will gather at Portland City Hall to start a march demanding an immediate rent freeze across the city. It's the latest salvo in increasingly combative protests to shame landlords and city officials into rent control.

At noon, supporters of Ammon Bundy will march around the four sides of the federal courthouse in what they are calling a "March Around Jericho." That's a reference to the Biblical story of Joshua, who marched the Israelites around the city of Jericho before God allegedly destroyed the city's walls.

At 8 pm, one block south at the Multnomah County Justice Center, protesters of police violence are planning a "Night of Rage" to mark the 10th anniversary of the killing of James Chasse, a mentally ill man who was beaten to death by Portland Police officers in the Pearl District.

Those causes have the potential to clash—especially since the Bundy supporters have been carrying "Rancher Lives Matter" signs around for the past week.

Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Peter Simpson says he's not aware of additional patrols scheduled for downtown today. "The Bundy group seems not to get involved with the others," Simpson says.

Some Portlanders have gotten into disputes with the Bundy sympathizers. WW correspondent Mike Bivins filmed a confrontation today between an unidentified man and right-wing "Liberty Speaker" Gavin Seim.

For reference: Seim's the skinny chap in a black suit and glasses.

Video by Mike Bivins.

Be careful out there.

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