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A fight in Lownsdale Square. Depressingly common. I walk to Chapman, where a large crowd has gathered to witness an indigenous ceremony
As the chanters sing, light fades from the sky. Terrence Malick calls it Magic Hour: best time to shoot footage. It's a different kind of magic here. By day, Portland is the city I've lived in for ten years. Soon, it will turn once again into a war zone The crowd begins to grow
One of the indigenous people says that this is their land and their community. That they are proud of the people here. That they are caretakers of this land, and that beyond acknowledgement, we need to begin talking about giving that land back
A stencil station produces signs at the back of Chapman Square. Beautifulpic.twitter.com/J8kRE9owNx
A volunteer for CTGS Outreach approaches me and explains that they're out here raising money to bring hot food to homeless shelters around Portland. Their merch looks cool and it's for a good cause! I've seen their tent here every nightpic.twitter.com/6HDY3IsB84
Love everything about this, giant shout-out for referencing a dystopian novel by George Orwell NOT 1984pic.twitter.com/ZvPqx9raBV
The street in front of the District Courthouse is starting to fill up. Protesters standing on the external concrete barriers to yell at the feds hidden inside the building. Among these: press with a huge camera that just screams "mainstream media" I hope they know the risks
A huge march rounds the corner at 3rd and Salmon, led by @WallOfMoms, arm in arm, chanting "no justice, no peace! Take it to the streets and fuck the police!!"
I love this city sometimes
#MomsAreHere #MomsOfPortland
Others in the march are chanting "this is what democracy looks like" and I've said this before but this is NOT what democracy looks like, this is what it looks like when democracy is hanging by a fucking thread Yes this is a rhetorical hill I've decided to die on for some reason
Anyway, the crowd is much bigger now: at least 500 and probably more
The march stops in front of the Justice Center, not the District Courthouse. Interesting! Those standing outside the DC wander over as well
Speakers on the Justice Center steps. It's hard to hear: the sound system isn't great. We are hearing from a veteran who was present at Standing Rock Meanwhile, the Moms have assembled at 3rd and Main, facing towards the District Courthouse. Four rows deep, donning gas masks
#WallofVets arrives and stands in front of the @WallOfMomspic.twitter.com/si5XUkn9VW
A speaker discusses the racial history of Portland. It's the whitest city in the country. Part of this is because black people weren't allowed to move here until 1922 People think of Portland as a progressive city, but the truth is more complicated than that. History haunts us
The speaker talks about how voting isn't enough. How voting hasn't solved these problems. How deep these problems go
Abruptly, the fed LRAD blares. Threatens arrest, crowd control, etc. This is the crowd they feel so threatened by. Everyone is by the JC. They could shut the fuck up and have a peaceful evening But that's not what they wantpic.twitter.com/uyO1w3Xbcx
Feds emerge with a barrage of pepper balls Notice how there's no one fucking here? Notice how no one's assaulting their precious fence? Make no mistake. They want a fightpic.twitter.com/nGlHVBsPT9
Lots of shields tonight, which according to the PPB means they intend to fight. In this case, they may be right They advance to the fence, firing. Then they retreat. There is no provocation whatsoever
A terrifying mob of violent anarchists assembles. This is what these feds are afraid of tonightpic.twitter.com/V07ZGo6qNQ
Back inside for now. No one knows why they came out, no one knows why they went inside It's only 10:00 and already this shit
A fight breaks out around this sign. Immediate physical conflict. Huge screaming fight about whether this is for black lives, whether this is appropriate, while pepper balls echopic.twitter.com/tyACHVnIwi
People giving this sign a wide birth. Lot of unease about this sign, who these people are, what they're doing here "Go home, tankie!" someone shouts They are not going home I don't know enough to have an opinion but this is a bad place for this kind of fight
The indigenous drummers are standing before the fence, singingpic.twitter.com/yGiDUgG6Jx
The majority of the crowd remains by the Justice Center, chanting the names Many remain in front of the District Courthouse. I'm staying there as well, since it seems like the feds are hungry tonight
It's 2020 so obviously these balloons aren't here because they're pretty and fun. They're here to show everyone which way the wind is blowing for when the feds gas uspic.twitter.com/6B36V8l9X7
Activists trying to get people to go to the Justice Center and away from the District Courthouse. "Black lives matter protest is this way!" It doesn't matter what my opinion is, I guess. How I think it's all intertwined. Black Lives Matter, anti-fed, anti-cop
It's a system of white supremacy. It's a system of oppression. It's all connected. It all has to be resisted. If we don't stand up against all of it, it'll crush all of us But that's just, like, my opinion man
Right on schedule, the LRAD warns of violence from within the Courthouse A spotlight from above illuminates me. Me? Maybe I'm being paranoid Either way, the feds want us here and want to fight. I don't know if that means we should be moving towards the JC or not
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