By Samantha Matsumoto and Allan Brettman

Some organizations participating in downtown Portland's May Day march-turned-riot criticized police behavior while a handful of labor unions distanced themselves from the violence and destruction that police say prompted the response.

Participants on Tuesday described an event that began as planned: fiery speeches in Shemanski Park in the South Park Blocks followed by a march that wended along a city-approved prescribed route. No more than 30 minutes into the march, however, police say some in the crowd started throwing rocks at officers.

By about 5 p.m., violence had escalated to the point that police declared a riot. Nine minutes later, officers swarmed a group of protesters near City Hall, effectively ending the riot.

On Tuesday, people who were there pieced together what transpired. No participants endorsed anarchists' actions – setting a fire in a downtown street, vandalizing two police vehicles and breaking windows of downtown buildings – but none directly blamed anarchists for the eruption of violence.

The police response was unnecessary, said Romeo Sosa, executive director for Voz Workers' Rights Education Project, which obtained permits for the Shemanski Park speeches and march through downtown.

Though only a small group of protesters were violent, police unfairly intimidated the entire crowd, Sosa said. "Why did they intimidate all of us? It was not all of us."

Organizers were frustrated that the violence overshadowed what Sosa said was months of planning for a peaceful event.

"Overall, our message is to be in solidarity with International Workers' Day," Sosa said. "I feel frustration that the message is mixed up with the violence. That is not the message we wanted to tell the community."

Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman on Tuesday praised his officers for quickly containing unruly agitators who disrupted the peaceful march.

"(Officers) were vigilant. They were aware of what was going on around them and kept people safe. They protected property as best as they could,'' the chief said. "They took control of a pretty contentious situation. They did their jobs, and they did it well.''

A member of Black Rose, a local anarchist group and one of the march's organizers, said on the organization's Facebook page that police use of force instigated violence that hadn't been happening. But the group was not surprised by police tactics, the anonymous member said.

"It seems like the Mayor's office and PPD have wanted to send a message that community organizing will be responded to with violent force, and the violence of May Day was almost entirely on the side of the police," the member said.

The May Day protest was yet another that has taken place in Portland since the election of President Donald J. Trump that has featured officers in riot gear who resorted to using less-than-lethal tactics to break up a demonstration.

Karen Hixson, an organizer with Mental Health Providers Unite!, saw a peaceful group when she got to the rally at noon. Families, people with disabilities and the elderly were among the crowd.

The only negative experience she had before the march was with police officers who confiscated her signs because they were on large poles, she said. The officers told her the poles could be used as weapons.

That immediately raised red flags for Hixson, she said. It suggested that police were preparing for violence even when there was no sign of it, she said.

Hixson was near the front of the crowd when she heard police giving commands from the back of the group. She could not hear what they were saying, but protesters passed the message through the crowd: The march's permit had been revoked.

Hixson was shocked. She had not seen any violence among the crowd.

Shawn Fleek, the community engagement coordinator for OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, also saw no hint of violence when the group – estimated by police to be 600 to 700 people -- began to march.

But things changed suddenly when police arrived in riot gear and told demonstrators the march's permit had been revoked, he said.

"I've never seen the energy of a march change so quickly," he said.

Other organizers criticized what they called poor communication by police during the march. The organizers had appointed a police liaison before the march, but police did not contact the liaison when they revoked the permit, organizers said.

Several organizers told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Tuesday they did not observe violence from protesters from their positions near the front of the march. Reporters with The Oregonian/OregonLive saw some protesters near the back of the crowd throw glass bottles, road flares and other objects at officers but observed no violence at the front.

Regardless, the Portland chapter of Industrial Workers of the World also was highly critical of the police response.

"The Portland Police Bureau's use of violence against workers and their families -- as well as the children who were in the crowd celebrating the holiday with their parents," said the written statement sent by Ryan Scott, "is a travesty and a violation of both human rights, as well as the right to peaceful assembly."

Organized labor officials contacted by The Oregonian/OregonLive, however, were less critical of police in their post-event analysis.

"The rally at the park and for about half the march went fantastic," said Ben Basom, director of organizing and communications for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, who marched with about 25 others from the union. "What happened after that, I can't comment."

Basom said he saw nothing that would have characterized the event as a riot, but he and about 25 others from the union left immediately after hearing police had made that declaration.

The two locals representing about 65,000 members of Service Employees International Union in Oregon can't endorse anarchists' general condemnation of government, said Felisa Hagins, political director for SEIU Local 49, the smaller of the two locals along with Local 503.

"We are a union who have a lot of public-sector workers," she said. "Fundamentally we believe in government ... free speech and the right to assemble."

While the Oregon AFL-CIO was not among the 50 organization listed on a Facebook page as sponsors of the May Day event, several people affiliated with the organization likely were at the event, a spokesman said.

Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain issued a statement saying, "It was inspiring to see thousands of Oregonians gather peacefully yesterday but it is unacceptable to have a small group of individuals disrupt what would have been a peaceful march in Portland. My hope is for future demonstrations to be peaceful, respectful, and a way for all workers to speak up without fear of events devolving into senseless violence and vandalism."

— Samantha Matsumoto



smatsumoto@oregonian.com



503-294-4001; @SMatsumoto55

--Allan Brettman

503-294-5900

@allanbrettman