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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2011
N17 Media Point of Contact: David Osborn
phone:
email:
Police Use Violence on Peaceful N17 Demonstrators
Protesters beaten, injured and sprayed with chemical weapons by police
Portland, OR — On November 17th Occupy Portland protesters were subjected to violence by the Portland Police during their participation in a national day of non-violent direct action. Twenty-one individuals were arrested occupying Chase Bank and Wells Fargo protesting the destructive effect of corporate banking practices in our communities. These actions followed the arrest of twenty-five union members on the Steel Bridge protesting the lack of infrastructure spending and job creation, which was led by We Are Oregon and organized labor. The groups demanded that banks stop foreclosing on people’s homes, and that the City of Portland and Multnomah County immediately cease enforcing foreclosures.
During and after the occupation of Chase Bank in the late afternoon there were multiple confirmed reports of injuries from our medical and legal teams. Over twelve instances of pepper spray at point blank range targeting people on the sidewalk were documented. Two people were stepped on and pushed down by police horses. At least six people were beaten with batons by the police. Seven people were injured from impacts with police bicycles. One individual suffered an injured back after being forcefully grabbed by a mounted office. One elderly person was taken to the hospital with leg or hip injuries.
“On multiple occasions the police pointlessly endangered demonstrators and ensarled traffic, including a mounted charge of peaceful protesters on a sidewalk, forcing them onto the MAX tracks on SW Yamhill,” said David Osborn.
Occupy Portland and the organizers of N17 condemn the use of violence by the police against peaceful protesters. The demonstrations of the day were non-violent and peaceful and did nothing to warrant the violent response of the police. Furthermore, the mobilization of some 200 officers to meet a crowd which ranged from 500-1000 participants was an unwarranted and unfortunate escalation of tensions. The Portland Police Bureau continues to unnecessarily spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in excessive police mobilizations targeting peaceful, non-violent protesters while social service funding in Portland declines. The actions today by the Portland Police repeat similar, unfortunate patterns of past behavior that may prove even more costly for the city.
“Tonight’s pepper spray attack shows that the Portland Police are quick to forget lessons learned from a similar incident in 2003, which led to the City of Portland paying out over $850,000 in settlement to the victims. It is clear that Portland Police officers continue to make unsafe and illegal decisions regarding the use of chemical weapons in crowds, and it is past time for a complete overhaul of the City’s crowd management policy,” said Brenna Bell, attorney with the National Lawyers Guild.
Video of police violence (note especially minute 1:40 on):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
For more information visit www.n17pdx.org.
For previous press releases visit www.n17pdx.org/media/.