Poll:
Can you make a distinction between Occupy Portland and anarchist groups?
PORTLAND – Members of Occupy Portland spent Tuesday trying to distance their movement from the march that turned heated along SE Belmont the night before.
Police arrested 10 protesters after cars and businesses were vandalized.
Portland State University sociology professor Randy Blazak said this could mark a turning point for the local movement.
The march began at Colonel Summers Park on SE Belmont Street at 6 p.m. Protesters called it the "Tired of Police Brutality March." Some members of the Occupy Portland movement said they wanted people to know the event was not organized by them.
I'm not saying saying that these people are not part of the movement, cause we are all the 99-percent but there are some people who do not believe that non-violence is the key and that is not something that Occupy Portland endorses," said Occupy demonstrator Cameron Whitten.
"These folks who are destroying local businesses are vandalizing people's personal property and cars and restaurants have a chance of destroying the Occupy movement and that may be their intent," Blazak said.
March turned chaotic after dark
Around 6:30 p.m. Monday, police said some of the protesters smashed car windows near SE 30th and Belmont Street. A window in the Genoa restaurant at 29th and Belmont was also smashed. Protesters said it was a splinter group that caused the vandalism, not the core group. Some members of Occupy could be seen openly feuding with people they described as anarchists with destructive tactics.
Police in riot gear swarmed in quickly and arrested ten people on various charges including disorderly conduct, interfering with a police officer and resisting arrest. The ten arrests included 2 juveniles. Others were warned by officers to stay out of the street.
The bureau wanted to create conditions that allowed people not participating in the protest to move about freely as they went through Portland streets, according to Lt. Robert King with the Portland Police Bureau.
Emmalyn Garrett said she went to the demonstration as an observer. She said she was pulled off a sidewalk by her hair and shoved to the ground by police, breaking her glasses and cutting her face.
"I was arrested for standing on a sidewalk at an anti-police brutality march," she said, "The police are out of control.”
Last fall, Occupy Portland protesters took over two downtown parks for more than a month after a march in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Police eventually cleared the parks and made several arrests. Chapman and Lownsdale squares were reopened after renovations last week.
More: Occupy Portland | Parks re-opened
There was some confusion over whether Monday night's march was an Occupy-sanctioned event. One person who described herself as a spokeswoman for Occupy Portland told KGW in an email that the demonstration was not an Occupy Portland event. She said that although Occupy Oakland had called for a national day of recognition for their efforts, it was others who planned the Monday night march in Portland.
