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Ahead of the general election, Portland and Multnomah County officials say they’re confident they can deal with potential civil unrest.
In recent election years, Portland has become something of a byword for street protests that have at times descended into riots. Nightly marchers blocked highways and shattered windows in the nights following former President Donald Trump’s election in 2016. Soon after, costumed nationalists began arriving regularly in Portland to brawl with masked anarchists. Four years later, in 2020, thousands of people turned out to protest George Floyd’s murder for more than 100 consecutive nights during pandemic shutdowns. Trump sent in federal agents, and Portland police officers deployed tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets in often brutal clashes with demonstrators. Masked vandals continued to deface downtown property well into 2021.
But this time, officials with Portland’s Unified Command, a body that includes the Portland Police Bureau, Portland Emergency Management, and Portland Fire & Rescue, say they’ve been working together and with partners in Multnomah County and neighboring cities to ensure public safety during the upcoming week.
PPB Chief Bob Day said his bureau has support “across the board,” which is “significantly different” from 2020 and will make staffing and protest management easier. He said to expect an increase in police presence around the city. Officers will be working 12-hour shifts, an increase from the usual 10, to maximize their resources.
The bureau plans to create numerous incident management teams and keep staff fresh and rotating throughout the day. Day said he feels comfortable that police can handle a sustained event.
“I’m not lying awake at night thinking about next week,” Day said at an afternoon press conference. “Everybody’s talking about Portland….Everybody wants to know how we’re going to show up, how we’re going to be. I think this is our time.”
Day said officials are establishing a Joint Information Center where city and county public information officers will provide real-time safety updates to the public.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said the county is committed to investigating and prosecuting criminal behavior. Blocking streets, burning materials and damaging property are all crimes officials say they’ll prosecute.
FBI Special Agent Doug Olson, who is in charge of the Portland field office, said he’s not interested in repeating history. “The FBI respects and supports the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights,” Olson said. “[But] we have zero tolerance for instigators who exploit legitimate peaceful protests to violate federal law through violence or other criminal activity.”
Portland State University has long been a locus of activism, most recently this spring, when supporters of Gaza demanding divestment from Israel seized and damaged the university library.
Katy Swordfisk, a PSU spokeswoman, said the university monitors protest activity on campus with the help of a team called the Protest and Expression Advisory Team. PSU’s campus police will also work with PPB to monitor citywide activity.
Swordfisk said PSU will generally not intervene in student activism unless protests cause significant campuswide disruption or property damage or pose threats to the PSU community’s physical health.
“PSU will continue to monitor protest activity on campus to ensure that we retain a safe and welcoming environment for all learners,” Swordfisk said in an email to WW. “We support free speech and free expression while requiring all members of our community to adhere to campus policies.”
More than 100 Oregon leaders, including Gov. Tina Kotek, have signed a letter calling for peaceful civic engagement in Portland during and after the election. The letter, released Tuesday afternoon, is pointed in its emphasis: Downtown Portland is making a fragile recovery, and political violence threatens that progress.
Andrew Hoan, president and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance, echoed that sentiment at today’s press conference.
“Damage and past episodes of violence don’t just affect individual businesses, it impacts our entire city’s reputation and our recovery,” Hoan said. “When windows are broken, properties are vandalized, it’s not just buildings that are damaged, it’s the dreams, savings, time and effort of every local entrepreneur who’s investing in our city.”