May Day – morning and evening

 An "unpermitted" protest is wandering through downtown Portland today.  May Day marches are not uncommon here, but this one, organised by "Occupy Portland" seems to be a more intent march than in other years.

Arrests are being made for blocking traffic, "assaulting" officers, walking in the street rather than on the sidewalks.  Police on foot, on bicycles, and on horses are trying to manage the march and attempting to keep traffic moving.

Later this afternoon, a permitted march through downtown is scheduled, and 10,000 people are expected to come.  That group is organised and has a permit; they have been working with police.  The police say fewer people will come.  We’ll see. The anti-war protests in 2003 attracted thousands of people; families, old people, the kinds you usually see at these things and a lot of people you don’t usually see in the streets.  (I went to one myself then).

The Noon News is going overtime; arrests are being made but things do not look especially violent right now.

It looks like it will be a long day downtown….

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Evening

The protest without a permit saw at least a dozen arrests and some violence here and there.

That was during the day today, but a permitted rally and march is in progress now, at 5 pm, snarling traffic downtown and giving the evening news something to talk about.  Portland is not as violent as other places; Oakland, California has seen worse violence.  Violence was much more extreme in Seattle too.  A foreclosed house was "liberated" by a huge crowd here this morning; the realtor’s lockbox was broken open and the keys returned to the previous owner (not the bank that foreclosed).

Several marches and rallies have taken place today; May Day is usually about Worker’s Rights, and that is the theme of tonight’s march, but another group of Portland Public School kids marched on the
District offices, protesting the closure of schools in the District and the increasing teracher workloads (more kids per teacher adds to the workload exponentially).

The District superintendant is paid nearly $300,000 a year – and never steps into a classroom.

Occupy Portland had an unpermitted march today, which saw arrests.  Protesters filled the streets, stopping traffic; arrests were made.

I am very glad I am not doing the Airport Express bus any more; traffic is a mess, and the four stops that run has are all along the routes of the marches – which go by the expensive hotels which the Airport Express stops at.  The permitted march on currently is making traffic snarl and stop downtown again.

The day has been largely peaceful.

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