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About 60 students walked out of Benson Polytechnic High School on Friday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump’s second term, chanting slogans including “whose future, our future” and “system change not climate change.”
The students’ modestly scaled and peaceful demonstration was duplicated by another led by a smattering of advocacy groups in front of City Hall that evening and a rally hosted Saturday at Revolution Hall by the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
The small protests were noteworthy in part because of how they contrasted to Portland’s reaction to the last Trump election victory, in 2016. That November, protesters numbering in the thousands vowed resistance as they marched through downtown streets. Some blocked interstate highways; a few masked vandals smashed bus stops and car windshields.
Local animosity to Trump only deepened after he sent federal agents to downtown Portland to quell unrest after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
But the Portland Police Bureau, which prepared for reaction on a larger scale, says it hasn’t made a single arrest or received reports of any acts of political vandalism since the Tuesday election.
“As of now, no arrests have been made related to demonstrations, which is great news and exactly what we had hoped for,” said Sgt. Kevin Allen, a bureau spokesman. “We’re unaware of any vandalism either.”
Connor Jacobsen, a student who organized the Benson protest, says he wanted to show the government that young people care, and are willing to “go out of our ways and break the rules to spread awareness.” But Jacobsen, among several other students, emphasized the need to keep protest peaceful; violent protest can lead to divisions in movements, he says.
“We want to be peaceful because Trump has threatened violence, and we want to draw that distinction between us and Trump [and] others who are threatening violence,” Jacobsen said. “Love is stronger than hate. The oppressors will go low and play dirty, but we cannot allow them to bring us down to that level.”
Rosa Guerra says that as a woman and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, they felt the need to show up for their rights loud and proud. The organizing effort was scrappy, Guerra says, and put together shortly after Tuesday’s election results. Given the last-minute effort, they were glad to see so many students show up.
Harrison Reaves, a freshman, held a “Protest Trans Youth” sign. Trump’s victory is worrying to him because he has friends and family who are transgender, and he says he’s worried Trump is trying to make them illegal.
“We should not give a person who is trying to become a fascist dictator a platform that the president has,” he says.
Luna Scofield says they showed up because they’re angry with the way things are. They say Trump wants to take away the rights and privileges of everyone they love. “I will not stand by and let that happen,” Scofield says.
“You can walk out, you can protest, you can make signs, you can post on social media,” Scofield says on their impact as a 15-year-old. “You don’t have to be able to vote to make an impact on this country.”
Organizers say another walkout is planned for Nov. 15 and will involve more students from more schools.
“This is the first Benson walkout since the election of Donald Trump, but it won’t be the last,” Jacobsen says. “We will be back to show the government officials that we care. That the youth care. We are willing to go out of our ways and break the rules to spread awareness.”
The stated aims of Friday evening’s rally at City Hall, organized by groups including the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, offered a hint to why leftist protest was so muted.
“The Biden-Harris administration has spent billions on war and genocide abroad while people here suffer from a lack of basic social services,” said Isabelle Bernardi of Resist US-Led War, “yet things will only get worse under Trump.”
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