As Monday night rolled into Tuesday morning, an Occupy Portland encampment remained at Terry Schrunk Plaza in downtown Portland, despite warnings that campers might be arrested.

What started about 3 a.m. Monday with four tents had grown to about 15 by 10 p.m., which is when the park was supposed to close and when some thought authorities might move in.

But over the next couple of hours, there was only the usual police presence and no obvious signs that the campers and their tents would be uprooted.

Two Portland police officers did appear in a patrol car about 10:10 p.m., but they simply got out of the car, talked to a few people and did not take anyone into custody.

Still, some campers were concerned.

Among them Liz Nichols, a protester who said she has been camping at Lownsdale Square for three weeks.

"We don't know what's going to happen," said Nichols around 10:30 p.m. She said some of the protestors were worried that authorities might use tear gas or other similar means to push out protestors.

But overall, the mood remained light. As Nichols spoke, the Beatles' "Twist and Shout" poured out of a stereo in the center of the plaza.

Occupy Portland

Should there be arrests overnight, it would mark the second time in the last three days that protestors with the Occupy Portland were taken into custody. Early Sunday morning, Portland police arrested 27 demonstrators at Jamison Square in the Pearl District after they refused to leave that park at midnight Saturday.

Earlier Monday, federal authorities had indicated that they would not allow Schrunk Plaza to become another encampment of the type Occupy Portland has already set up in Chapman and Lownsdale squares, the two neighboring city parks just north of the plaza.

Occupy Portland moved into those parks Oct. 6, the day the protests started in Portland, and have remained ever since. Those two parks have become a collection of tents, tarps, signs and sleeping bags. It's been home base to the movement, which has staged forays that have included marches, demonstrations and protests around the city over the last many days.

But while the 3 1/2-week-old occupation has continued, some have grown weary of the atmosphere at the two parks.

Among them was Elmira Rodriguez, 28, of Portland. She said been part of the Occupy Portland encampment since it began, but moved her tent to the plaza about 9:45 p.m. Monday because, she said, there are too many other people in the two squares. She also said they have become rife with sanitary issues, drunkenness and drug abuse.

Others at the plaza said they had left the two squares because of noise and some of the same issues Rodriguez pointed to. Her tent raised the number in the plaza to about 15.

Asked about the fact that she might be arrested, Rodriguez said "we understand the risks but at some point, we have to stand up and say 'no.'"

She also said it was "incredibly frustrating" that the city has limited demonstrators to two city parks, yet there are so many issues – like homelessness and public intoxication – that aren't being dealt with.

"We've been bullied," she said of city officials.

Another person who said he was waiting for possible arrest on the cold night was a 23-year-old Corvallis man who gave his name only as "Kay."

As he sat on a tarp on the muddy lawn of the trampled plaza, Kay said he was willing to be arrested because "this is where my heart is at. It's here because there are so many problems with America that only our hearts can fix."

Kay, who said he works delivering bread in Corvallis, said he feels strongly that demonstrators are having their first-amendment rights "trampled." He said they should be allowed to peaceably assemble and express their concerns about the country.

Among those nearby late Monday was Mike Landers-Marlow, a 22-year-old working with the Occupy Portland safety committee.

He said his job at Schrunk Plaza was to help "herd" people who are demonstrating, but don't want to be arrested, should that time come.

"I'm here to keep people who don't want to get arrested from getting arrested," he said, keeping his eyes on the federal building diagonal from the park where he says he thinks the police will come from.

While Chapman Square and Lownsdale Square are owned by the city of Portland, which has allowed demonstrators to stay with conditions, Schrunk Plaza is owned by the federal government.

Federal authorities said they Monday afternoon that they would enforce the government's no-camping policy and likely force out the tents that had been erected in the plaza.

The Federal Protective Service "is working with the Portland Police Bureau to enforce the prohibition of overnight encampments at Schrunk Plaza, while protecting the safety and security of all involved," said Chris Ortman, an agency spokesman in Washington, D.C., about three hours earlier.

Jurisdiction of Schrunk Plaza is shared jointly by the federal government, the city and the state of Oregon. The Federal Protective Service is the police force that enforces laws on government property.

Police led a man out of the park in handcuffs Monday afternoon, causing many in the crowd to fear that protesters would be run off as filmmaker Michael Moore was set to speak to them.

Police removed the man from the park because he was carrying a gun. But they later cut him loose after learning he held a conceal-carry permit and had no outstanding warrants, according to a government official familiar with the incident.

As of 10:25 p.m., Portland Police spokesman Pete Simpson said that four officers were assigned to the Occupy camp for the night – the same number who have watched over the area since campers settled there.

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