A small group of protesters for police reform amassed in the pouring rain late Thursday in North Portland, marched to Commissioner Dan Ryan’s house and damaged the property in the minutes before police chased the group away.
The demonstration followed a City Council vote against a proposal that would have cut millions of dollars from the Portland police budget. For months, demonstrators have demanded steep cuts to end disproportionate policing of Black Portlanders.
Ryan, who joined the council in September, was viewed as a crucial third vote for the $18 million in cuts. He voted no.
The commissioner’s house was dark when protesters arrived around 9 p.m. Some people lit flares near his house and shattered some glass on the property. Other people threw objects at the house and smashed a large flower pot.
Dozens of state troopers and sheriff’s deputies soon arrived, declared the gathering unlawful and ordered people to leave. Officers pressed people north of Ryan’s house, and the crowd scattered into smaller groups.
Ryan could not be reached late Thursday.
Law enforcement was already on edge ahead of the protest, after declaring a riot Wednesday after some protesters shattered the windows of several downtown businesses and a church. Gov. Kate Brown deployed the Oregon National Guard, whose members stood on the front lines.
Brown’s joint command had published a statement on Twitter warning demonstrators not to commit crimes, and also advised business and homeowners in the area “to secure items that could be taken and used as barricades or material for burning.”
The march started at 8:45 p.m. from Arbor Lodge Park. Most people carried umbrellas and chanted “Black Lives Matter!”
State police cars patrolled the area surrounding the park and stopped at least one dozen drivers as part of a “high visibility patrol.”
When the march arrived to Rosa Parks Way and Campbell Avenue, police used a loudspeaker to order people to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk. The crowd arrived at Ryan’s house minutes later.
Protesters also gathered last week outside Ryan’s house. He talked with some demonstrators for more than an hour, but ultimately would not say how he would vote on the police budget cuts.
Ryan, along with Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Amanda Fritz, all voted no to the proposed police cuts earlier Thursday. They agreed significant changes need to be made to the Portland Police Bureau and the county’s criminal justice system. But they said taking more money away from the bureau without a more thoroughly developed plan is not in the city’s best interest.
“We must remember that cuts happen quickly, but building new resources that achieve proven results takes time and intention,” Ryan said, urging the government body to move forward “methodically.”
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty and Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, who proposed the cuts to the police budget and voted yes, noted the money would have been reallocated to community needs such as food assistance and legal defense for Portlanders facing evictions.
