PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Protesters with different causes disrupted a meeting at Portland’s City Hall and blocked traffic Wednesday, resulting in some arrests.
Protesters gathered at city hall over the plight of a mentally ill homeless woman who was found standing on the street with her stillborn baby in her arms earlier this month. The group entered the building and took over City Council chambers during a commissioner meeting, discussing how the city could better help people without homes.
Most of the protesters left after Mayor Ted Wheeler said he would meet with them later and the meeting resumed, reported The Oregonian/OregonianLive.
Police said 11 people were arrested in separate protests Wednesday afternoon around Portland against police tactics used Friday during an anti-President Donald Trump demonstration.
Jacob Bureros, an activist with Direct Action Alliance and one of the organizers of Friday’s protest, told the newspaper the Wednesday demonstration was a response to police shooting tear gas, flash-bang and sting-ball grenades at protesters.
Portland police said on Twitter that officers arrested six people downtown earlier in the afternoon after protesters were blocking traffic. Police tweeted later that five more people were arrested on the city’s lower east side.
Protesters in small groups were spotted in different areas of the city and at one point were on the Steel Bridge chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets,” the newspaper said.
One protester carried a sign reading “Fire Marshman, Coward Wheeler,” referring to the city’s Police Chief Mike Marshman and Mayor Ted Wheeler.
A Portland Police Bureau spokesman said previously that police were aware of potential Wednesday events and were “preparing accordingly for a variety of scenarios.”
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