URGENT - Call for video of Columbia Park police attack

Add City of Vancouver to the list of possible defendants. I think those are the cops with the "T (lightning bolt) S" on the backs of their helmets.

So far, what we saw:

Portland RRT Charlie squad;
Vancouver RRT squad;
Salem RRT squad (ones with wooden batons)

Again, if anyone has video of the police attack, please contact Alan Graf at (503) 452-2375.

Please also contact the pdx video collective (the folks who put on the free public VIDEOS FROM THE RESISTANCE shows around town) if you have video from Columbia Park or anywhere else today. pdx video folks are trained not to show anything that would harm a legal case, and will be contacting Alan about sharing footage.

write to:  videoresistance@ziplip.com

thanks!

Please, if anyone has any evidence, even another written eyewitness report - a picture would be great.. can we post it?

as of now, nobody is confirming this story except here on the site. KBOO reported that there was no violence.. and if there were chemical weapons, we really need to know.

Thanks!

the black-clad robocops behind the fence at Chiles center had "sheriff" on their uni's, but what county?

The guys with "SHERIFF" on their uniforms were multnomah county. I mostly saw them standing behind the PPB guys, I would be interested in knowing about any incidents involving them.

There were a few chemical attacks near the end of the protest, after we held the bus but before they cleared the park. While clearing the park they only used hand holds (twisting arms or pushing people) as far as I saw.

As for total violence, there really was not much. The PPB used their bikes to break up the line holding the donor bus (resulting in a few bleeding shins on protestors from the pedal spikes). One protestor I saw spit on a riot cops boots, there was the spray incidents, at the end of the columbia park thing they twisted the arms of the last guy standing and carried/pushed him out of the park for about 70 yards (but released him rather than arrest him) and there was a small fight with a TV crew and some protestors. I imagine there was more, but that was all I saw.

The news is reporting the pepper spray in a few outlets, and the TV crew fight was recorded by their cameraman, the rest of the stuff was too minor to be "newsworthy."

Overall, the main members of both sides of the line seemed to act well, but the leadership of the PPB made a real mistake in closing the park and breaking up a peaceful group. There was no excuse for that because the thing had really fizzled out on its own. The few remaining people were just hanging around, and the police denied their right to assemble for reasons that are still unclear. They can tell us to keep the sidewalks clear, they can tell us to stand 3 feet away from them, but I think it is completely wrong for them to think they can make us leave a peaceful assembly in a public place because they just want to.

But I could be wrong, they may have had really credible evidence of the exiustence of WMDs in the crowd.

i have footage of the one guy arrested from blocking the bus...everything from...."your under arrest"...i will review the footage tonight and contact...hopefully i got sometyhing but i was pushed to the ground and pepper sprayed while it was all happening so it may be kinda crazy
peace