4 arrested

Joseph Walsh (from left), Robert Lee West, Mary Rose Eng and David Kif Davis were arrested Wednesday, June 29, 2016, after Portland police say they disrupted a City Council meeting and refused to leave.

(Multnomah County Sheriff's Office)

Four people were arrested Wednesday morning after Portland police say they disrupted a City Council meeting and refused to leave.

Joseph Walsh, 74, Robert Lee West, 51, Mary Rose Eng, 38, and David Kif Davis, 46, started yelling during the meeting, Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Pete Simpson said via email Wednesday afternoon. It's not clear what prompted the ruckus, he said, but noted that Walsh also made a scene a day earlier, during Mayor Charlie Hales' news conference announcing the hiring of Police Chief Mike Marshman.

Last December, a federal judge ruled that Hales violated Walsh's First Amendment rights by barring him from City Council meetings for months for inappropriate behavior.

In one meeting, city attorneys had said, Walsh tossed a pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution toward the mayor. In another incident, a woman asked to be escorted from a meeting because she felt fearful after a verbal dispute with Walsh.

The other three people arrested Wednesday are also regular attendees at city meetings, Simpson said. They were taken into custody at 11:30 a.m. and booked into Multnomah County Jail on criminal trespass and disorderly conduct charges.

Before being taken to the jail, Walsh was treated at OHSU Hospital for breathing difficulties.

-- Francesca Fontana

503-294-4009