"This is a profoundly disturbing turn of events. Mr. Bush is protested wherever he goes these days, and the crowds which attend them are growing. These are not black-clad anarchists kicking in windows, however. The woman who was attacked by the police looked as ordinary as any small-town librarian, and anarchists are smart enough to leave their children at home if there is a riot in the offing." > "We Are Not The Enemy!" - The Battle of Portland > by William Rivers Pitt > t r u t h o u t | Report > > Saturday, 24 August, 2002 > > The image is chilling. A middle-aged woman, plainly dressed, with a > puff of auburn hair, is clutched in a hammer-lock by a Portland > police officer dressed in full riot gear. His riot baton is jammed > high under her chin. Around her, three more armor-clad police > officers swarm in, face-masks down. The woman's face is contorted in > terror. In her hand is a sign protesting George W. Bush. > > This was the scene on the streets of Portland, OR, on the evening of > August 22nd as captured by a photographer for the Associated Press. > Thousands of peaceful protesters had descended upon the Hilton Hotel > where Mr. Bush was attending a political fundraiser for Senator > Gordon Smith. They held signs reading, "Drop Bush, not Bombs," and > other similar slogans. Among the protesters were pregnant women, > parents with infants and small children, elderly citizens, and > citizens in wheelchairs > > According to a report by CBS News, the protest became unruly when > some of the fundraiser attendees were "jostled" as they moved through > the crowd towards the entrance to the hotel. At that point, the riot > police swarmed in, swinging clubs and dousing the crowd with pepper > spray. Rubber bullets were also fired into the crowd, and snipers > were seen on the roofs surrounding the scene. The protesters > responded by hammering on the hoods of police cars and screaming, "We > are not the enemy!" > > A man named Randy, who attended the protest, reports the sequence of > events as follows: > > "I was between 5th and 6th on the sidewalk. Maybe the ones in front > were warned to move, but I didn't hear any warning. It had been a > peaceful protest. Suddenly the police came forward spraying pepper > spray. A man nearby with an infant in a backpack got hit real good. > The baby's face was so red I thought it had quit breathing. From the > other direction came cop cars through the crowd and rubber bullets > were fired at those closest to the cars. I kept retreating but the > cops kept spraying. Lots of people were sprayed, including the > cameraman from Channel 2 KATU." > > Other eyewitness accounts from the streets of Portland similarly > describe what appears to have been a terrifyingly violent response > from the police to a peaceful protest by assembled American citizens. > > This is a profoundly disturbing turn of events. Mr. Bush is protested > wherever he goes these days, and the crowds which attend them are > growing. These are not black-clad anarchists kicking in windows, > however. The woman who was attacked by the police looked as ordinary > as any small-town librarian, and anarchists are smart enough to leave > their children at home if there is a riot in the offing. The streets > of Portland were filled on August 22nd by average American citizens > seeking to inform the President of their disfavor regarding the > manner in which he is governing their country. They were rewarded > with the business end of a billy club, a face-full of pepper spray, > and the jarring impact of a rubber bullet. > > If America needed one more example of the cancer that has been > chewing through the guts of our most basic freedoms since Mr. Bush > assumed office, they can look to Portland. The right to freely > assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances has > been rescinded at the point of a gun. > > The imperative is clear. Such violence by the authorities cannot go > unchallenged. The next time Mr. Bush appears in public, there must be > even more concerned Americans to greet him. They must face the baton > and the pepper spray, they must stare into the shielded faces of the > police, and they must stand in non-violent disobedience of the idea > that they are not allowed to be there. The men and women who faced > the brunt of police fury in Portland are to be lauded as American > patriots, and their actions must be duplicated by us all. The groups > which organized this protest, and the ones to come, deserve our > praise. > > The media, which spent much of the evening reporting that only a few > hundred protesters were in attendance, must be browbeaten into > reporting the facts from both sides - from the police, who reportedly > detained people like the woman in the picture "for their own safety," > and from the protesters who took a savage beating for daring to stand > against Mr. Bush. If the battle of Portland is allowed to cast even > more fear into the hearts and minds of Americans, we have lost yet > another swath of freedoms. Stand and be counted if you can. > > The whole world is watching.