PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police have detained protesters who sat down on a Portland bridge at the beginning of a morning of demonstrations called by the Occupy Portland movement.
More than a dozen protesters were led away Thursday morning in flexible cuffs, one by one and without resistance, by police blocking the east approach to the Steel Bridge, an important mass transit link in the region.
Dozens more people chanted behind them. Unions and organizers of the Occupy movement organized the rally to call for more jobs rebuilding infrastructure.
On parallel lanes of the bridge, light rail trains continued carrying commuters to work. In preparation for the morning’s protests, police had closed the bridge to pedestrians, bicycles and commuter vehicles.
Demonstrations were scheduled to continue later Thursday on the west side of the river.
