Portland police fired sting-ball grenades during an Inauguration Day protest Friday night, which has led to a complaint from a man who said he was downtown celebrating his anniversary with his fiancee when they were struck with rubber pellets while walking to their motel.

By Monday afternoon, Portland's police oversight division received 10 complaints and 12 commendations about officers' handling of the protests Friday night and Saturday, ranging from allegations that police were too heavy-handed Friday to one complaint that officers were "too friendly '' to Women's March demonstrators Saturday.

"We take all complaints,'' said Constantin Severe, director of the Independent Police Review Division.

The red welts Matthew McGaugh sustained after getting pelted with rubber balls or pellets from police sting-ball grenades as he was walking back to his motel with his fiancee in downtown Portland Friday night. (Courtesy of Matthew McGaugh)

He and two members of his staff shadowed the marches each day. They viewed several confrontations between police and members of the march Friday night, as lines of officers in riot-control gear sought to keep protesters off the city's bridges, and then later in the evening surrounded Pioneer Courthouse Square and attempted to disperse the crowd.

Matthew McGaugh and his fiancee Amanda Cameron, of Oregon City, were in Portland to celebrate their second anniversary Friday night. After dinner and drinks at Paddy's Bar & Grill, they started to walk back to their motel. As they neared Pioneer Courthouse Square, they saw protesters in the streets and lines of police officers surrounding the square.

McGaugh said he saw a "wall of police'' on Southwest Sixth Avenue and asked the officers if they could walk south to their motel. He said the officers let them and others through. They walked one block to Southwest Sixth and Yamhill Street and saw another line of officers to their left. As they continued across Yamhill street, the couple put their hands up in a peace sign towards the protesters in Pioneer Courthouse Square, he said.

"At that point, with our backs to the officers, we were hit with rubber bullets or whatever they shot at us,'' he said.

A photo of one of the bruises that Matthew McGaugh and his fiancee Amanda Cameron sustained after they were struck by rubber pellets while walking back to their motel during Friday night's Inauguration protest. (Courtesy of Matthew McGaugh)

McGaugh said he got behind his fiancee to shield her from the shots, grabbed her and pulled her over to the sidewalk.

"I then turned and gave the peace sign to the protesters one more time. I was hit with another barrage of rubber pellets,'' McGaugh said. He said police then tackled him from behind and handcuffed him. While on the ground, he said something exploded just a foot or two away from his face.

"We were not part of the protests and were not participating,'' he wrote. "Unfortunately, we were not the only innocents accosted.''

He posted to his Facebook page photos of large red welts on his leg and his girlfriend's thigh.

Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said he believes what caused the injuries to McGaugh and his girlfriend came from sting-ball grenades, which upon explosion eject rubber balls filled with rubber pellets. They're primarily used for crowd control, and also were used during the Election protests in November.

Simpson said he didn't have specific information on McGaugh or his arrest, because he didn't have access to the police reports yet for review. He said officers used impact munitions to disperse what he called an "aggressive crowd.''

McGaugh said he never heard any police commands.

McGaugh, 41, was one of six people arrested Friday night, accused of disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer. He was taken to the downtown jail but then released. One of the six was arrested on allegations stemming from the November election protests.

On Monday afternoon, McGaugh said he was at a hospital emergency room.

"I hate that this happened,'' his fiancee Cameron wrote on Facebook. "I hate that my city is even more tainted in my world ... and I hate that two fingers in the air lead to this.''

Organizers of Friday's event, unlike Saturday's Women's March, never obtained a permit, and attempts by police to reach out to them before the event were unsuccessful, Chief Mike Marshman said last week.

"Police had a lot of resources out, and I witnessed several confrontations with protesters,'' Severe said. "Friday was a very different event and feel.''

Police Friday night deployed pepper spray after ice balls and eggs were thrown at officers attempting to keep marchers from heading onto the Burnside Bridge. Some people rushed the front of the police line in an aggressive manner, Simpson said.

Later in the night, police used flash-bang devices, which cause a loud explosion and send up smoke, the sting-ball grenades and tear gas in attempts to disperse the crowd around Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Initially, lines of officers ordered protesters off the MAX rail tracks at Southwest Broadway and Yamhill Street, and outside The Nines hotel off of Morrison Street, sending marchers into Pioneer Courthouse Square. A short time later, a police speaker blared, declaring the square closed to the public and ordering people to disperse to the south. Tear gas was fired at Southwest Sixth and Yamhill Street, not only affecting people who were marching by but bystanders on the sidewalks a block away.

Simpson said "riot control agents and munitions'' were used to disperse the crowd, as a result of some protesters throwing bottles, rocks, eggs, snow balls and road flares at officers. The police did not specify what "munitions'' were used, but Simpson confirmed Monday that sting-ball grenades were deployed.

Portland's Resistance, one of the organizers of the Friday night march, Direct Action Alliance, also involved in the Friday night "Rise Up and Resist Fascism: Inauguration Day protest,'' and the ACLU of Oregon complained that police overreacted and abused their power.

"When police hurt innocent people, the police are to blame, not the victims for 'being there,''' Portland Resistance wrote on its Facebook page Saturday night. "When police throw grenades into our streets, they need to answer to the public as to why.''

Jacob Bureros of Direct Action Alliance issued a press release Monday, calling it an "Open Letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler,'' in which he criticized the police use of force and demanded the mayor fire the police chief or they'd block streets later this week.

"Ted Wheeler, fire Chief Marshman by Tuesday or nothing moves on Wednesday,'' it read.

Bureros wrote Friday night that police ''attacked us because we did not obey them when they told us where to stand, where to sit, and how to protest.''

ACLU legal director Mathew dos Santos said he's not surprised that innocent bystanders got caught up in police use of less-than-lethal munitions. He complained that police reacted with excessive force "to what appeared to be an entirely peaceful protest,'' he said. The fact that no permit was obtained shouldn't have made a difference, he argued.

"I think the Constitution is their permit,'' he said.

The city's Independent Police Review Division will investigate the complaints, not the police bureau, Severe said. It will investigate specific complaints from protesters, as well as look into policy questions raised about the types of weapons used by officers and the circumstances.

Wheeler, who serves as police commissioner, stood with Chief Mike Marshman late last week, pledging that police would not allow protesters to access area freeways. Lines of officers stood steady on the bridges to prevent marchers from getting to Interstate 5 or heading to the east side of the city. Several businesses downtown also took precautionary measures, boarding up their windows ahead of Friday night's protest.

On Saturday, when about 100,000 people took to the streets in a permitted protest, no arrests were made, and officers were spotted taking selfie photos with protesters, or donning pink hats provided by marchers.

On Monday morning, the mayor said he was pleased with the outcome.

"My top priority is always to protect the safety of everyone involved. Additionally, I want to try to limit acts of vandalism and disruptions to transit. By these measures the weekend was highly successful,'' Wheeler said in a prepared statement. "In the end, no one entered the freeways, and acts of vandalism and transit disruption were minimized. There were five arrests and no serious injuries were reported.''

He said greater coordination between protesters and police results in fewer problems.

"The Police chief and I clearly communicated our expectations prior to demonstrations. When possible the city contacted and coordinated with event organizers to prevent what's happened in the past: acts of violence, vandalism, and disruption that lasted into the early morning hours,'' he said. "Generally speaking, the higher the degree of coordination between the city and event organizers, the smoother the event.''

The mayor said he believes the police use of crowd control weapons Friday was appropriate, based on his early review, yet he encouraged anyone who has a complaint to file it with the independent police oversight division.

"The vast majority of participants in demonstrations were there for one reason - to peacefully demonstrate. Unfortunately, in any gathering of this size there is always the potential that some will have different goals - to incite conflict and confrontation. No one likes to see the use of crowd control devices. I certainly don't,'' his statement said. "When these devices are used, I want to be sure that they are used under the proper circumstances. Early indications are that their use on Friday night was appropriate. I will of course review post-action reports to make sure that was the case."

The mayor asked that anyone who was present at the protests and wishes to file a complaint or commendation stemming from their encounters with Portland police contact the city's Independent Police Review Division.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian