Press Conference

The "eviction" did not remain as peaceful as it had been Saturday night. The men at center of this picture are the mayor and chief of police. They gave a press conference on the events of the weekend, and I was allowed to be present, speaking as a volunteer from Occupy Portland. I had spent the morning at the hospital with Justin Bridges, who was hurt yesterday.  My job at the press conference was to ask the Chief, on behalf of Justin, how he feels about protesters who were hurt in the conflict on Sunday. The Chief deferred to another officer who said the events were being investigated. Many of us remain very concerned about Justin, and while it is remarkable that relatively few people were harmed, it is clear that Justin was badly hurt and is in pain and may have long-term effects.

Justin is the protester mentioned here at 6:41 a.m.--for telling all the police that he loves them and leaving each of them a small gift.

Meanwhile, tonight Occupy Wall Street  is being raided by riot cops, according to an announcement made at the General Assembly.

On the ground in Portland, a General Assembly is still in process. The first question we are all dealing with is where to go next, how to proceed. When the people of this movement come to a decision on that, we will know. Presently many options are being discussed and considered.