Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman asked that activists who took to the streets peacefully the last three nights in protest of Donald Trump's election take the night off Friday so the anarchist element won't "hijack'' their message again.

"Can you take a break for a day because we're concerned the anarchist groups may jump into the crowd again,'' Marshman said during an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive. "Their message is being overshadowed by criminal activity. We're asking the legitimate protesters to pause.''

The chief said later that if protesters want to continue to make their voices heard, they should demonstrate in one place.

That, at least, would give police more of a chance to prevent any potential further violence or property damage should people bent on causing problems return to the streets, the chief said.

An isolated group of 100 anarchists, for example, would be easier to stop than if they're mixed in among a crowd of 4,000 to 5,000 demonstrators, the chief said.

Activist leaders had already decided to hold a rally and "heal-in" at City Hall Friday evening, but said anti-Trump protesters didn't plan to march.

Mayor Charlie Hales called it a "terrible, difficult week,'' but asked residents to turn their anger to positive action and not let a group of vandals and anarchists keep people from enjoying the city and its events, such as Trail Blazers games or the local symphony.

"Don't hide at home because then those forces of fear and division win,'' the mayor said. "We should not hide from one another because a few people were outrageous and evil and broke the law. We will find them and prosecute them to the best of our ability.''

A volunteer who was among a dozen people who showed up in the Pearl District to help repair damaged property said Marshman shouldn't try to curtail peaceful protests.

Thomas Mosher and others with him suggested instead that police should isolate the problem. "I think the better reaction for the chief would be to say, 'Work with us to stop those people' as opposed to stopping all protests," Mosher said.



When the protests first began on Election Night, the Police Bureau, with direction from the mayor, took a "hands-off'' and "light touch'' approach to the demonstrators, Marshman said. They ended up on two nights roaming onto Interstate 5 and walking in both southbound and northbound lanes.

He told the mayor he was uncomfortable allowing protesters to reach the freeways, he said, but the mayor disagreed.

"The first night, we thought there's just a lot of emotion in the country. Just let them go out and voice their concerns and vent and keep our fingers crossed it's peaceful and kind of watch from afar,'' the chief said. "We let that happen and that was a conscious choice of mine and the mayor's office.''

Marshman said he could live with demonstrators marching onto the Burnside or Hawthorne bridges, but he didn't want anyone accessing the Morrison Bridge because then marchers "could walk right onto the freeway."

"I would always advise any mayor to not let people access the freeway,'' he said. "Getting on the freeway at one or two o' clock in the morning, someone is going to get run over. It's a recipe for disaster.''

But, he said, the mayor directed him not to intervene, arguing something like, "We're not going to go to battle over a piece of concrete real estate.''

Marshman added, "It's the hard squads that the mayor is not a fan of,'' referring to the riot control-clad officers. "I'm not the mayor.''

And so, Portland police command staff who have historically worked to keep protesters off Interstate 5 and Interstate 84 struggled to stand down as demonstrators boldly jumped jersey barriers and blocked freeway traffic on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

The chief said the city is lucky no one was killed.

Hales at a news conference said that he agreed that it's dangerous to be on the freeways, but didn't address the approach further.

The chief estimated that the vandalism during the Thursday night riot caused more than $1 million in damage, with just over $250,000 in damage alone at the Toyota dealership on the east side of the city.

"I haven't seen something like this since back when Vera Katz was mayor,'' Marshman said.

Back then, police dispersed a crowd of about 2,000 New Year's revelers who had gathered at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Some in the crowd threw bottles, beer cans and other objects at police and then went on a rampage along Southwest Morrison Street, smashing windows, looting stores and overturning garbage containers and street planters. Fifteen people were later indicted on riot charges.

During Thursday night's rampage, Marshman spoke by phone with the mayor about 9:30 when "we were in the thick of it'' -- once Hales had landed in San Diego, where he was on a personal trip.

"I think he was shocked at how much damage was occurring in the city,'' the chief said.

Marshman was in an emergency operations center on the 15th floor of police headquarters in the Justice Center downtown monitoring the demonstration.

"All right, enough is enough. Now's the time to not sit back. We've got to do something,'' the chief recalled thinking, as he watched young men with bats smashing out store and bank windows in the Pearl District, setting fire in newspaper boxes and dumpsters.

"The destruction was pretty blatant, pretty bold,'' he said.

While demonstrators from Black Lives Matter and other organizations were condemning the violence and reporting it to police, it was nearly impossible by then for uniformed officers to break up the group and target those responsible for the damage, the chief said.

With 4,000 to 5,000 marchers sweeping through the streets, "it's super hard for us to get in there and do targeted arrests,'' Marshman said.

"Once there's 5,000 people out there, we're behind the eight ball. It's just hard to do any strategic insertion of police to grab a vandal."

Members of the Police Bureau's Rapid Response Teams -- crowd control squads dressed in riot gear -- were able to break up the crowd somewhat as it reached the North Park blocks and direct nonviolent protesters back to Pioneer Courthouse Square using bullhorns.

But once people continued to block the streets downtown by the square, officers used flash-bang grenades and fired rubber pepper balls at the crowd.

It would have been dangerous for officers, as well as those in the crowd, if police had moved into the scrum to try to isolate people for arrest, he said.

The rubber balls, air bursts and flash-bangs "tend to take the energy out of the crowd'' and helps scatter them into smaller groups, Marshman said.

"The goal is to stop the crime, dissipate the crowd,'' the chief said.

Police made 25 arrests and now detectives are working to get videos from the Pearl District to try to further identify anyone who was responsible for the smashed windows and other property damage. The chief thanked Oregon State Police, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Washington County Sheriff's Office for providing officers to assist Portland police.

While some officers privately questioned whether the police response to the protests would have been different with more experienced police command staff, the chief dismissed those concerns.

When Marshman was named chief on June 28, he announced significant command changes, replacing all the assistant chiefs and several precinct commanders, including the Central Precinct commander.

The chief defended his command staff. "I'm very comfortable with our protest management teams,'' he said.

The head of the police union praised the police response.

"I think, given the marching orders they got from City Hall, I do know that the Police Bureau managers and the officers handled it with amazing resolve and patience,'' said Officer Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association.

The mayor thanked the Police Bureau for trying to mitigate the damage and keep the public safe.

"My job is to lead the city, set the tone and try to express the public's will,'' Hales said. "The chief's job is to carry out that direction in moment-to-moment decisions.''

In this case, the mayor said he supported the approach that was taken.

"This was a national political movement that people here want to speak out about. That has to stop short of doing something that's dangerous and criminal,'' Hales said.

Marshman said if demonstrators want to march, they should obtain permits so the police could help direct traffic and keep them safe along a designated route.

If others attempt "to create havoc,'' the chief said, "we'll respond accordingly.''

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian