Mayors of Oregon.jpg

The Oregon mayors who marched in Saturday's Grand Floral Parade. Greg Maas, mayor of Waterloo, can be seen in the middle of the second row with the crew cut and green shirt.

(Courtesy City of Portland)

Two new videos have surfaced that shine new light on the post-Grand Floral Parade altercation between Oregon mayors and homeless advocates.

Greg Maas, mayor of tiny Waterloo (population 300) became an instant folk hero to some Oregon conservatives when the video came to light showing him bumping and grabbing homeless activist Kif Davis, who had been relentlessly following and questioning Portland Mayor Charlie Hales during and after the parade.

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Maas told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he felt Davis posed a threat to him and his five kids at the scene. Davis claimed Maas broke his camera.

No one was hurt in the incident and Portland Police Bureau made it official Wednesday, it has no plans to cite anyone involved. Yet the case raises important questions about democracy and dissent in the era of Go-Pro cameras and YouTube videos.

The first new video was taken by Davis and offers a first-person view of the altercation. The video shows Davis hemmed in by a human blockade of Hales staffers, leading to an obscenity-laden rant. The last 30 seconds of the video shows Maas fast approaching Davis, followed by the screen going dark as the camera breaks.

Editor's note: Videos contain profanity.

Maas was one of several mayors across the state in town to march in the parade with Hales and his wife. As Maas and Davis collided, Loel Trulove, mayor of Tangent, yells: "We're from the country, we don't have to put up with this crap."

Backers of Davis say his first-amendment rights to protest and question public officials were violated. He and other activists have been highly critical of Hales and the city for recent attempts to clear homeless camps.

Critics say the issue is public decency. They claim Davis went far over the line from public dissent to personal attack.

"As City Hall staff, we expect to be yelled at," said Hales staffer Sara Hottman. "But we had little kids at the parade; both staff members' kids and kids of the visiting mayors. We had a mom with a stroller walking with us. A staffer's daughter was scared to tears. The families shouldn't have had to put up with that long tirade of obscenities and insults, the pushing and shoving."

The second video is a long compilation of the video already released and Davis' footage, which activists feel offers a more complete look at the confrontation. They claim Maas went out of his way to get in Davis' face.

"If he felt threatened and feared for his family, why didn't he stay with them rather than run into the danger zone from half a block away," asked Mike Bluehair, another Portland activist who filmed the video.

-- Jeff Manning

503-294-7606, jmanning@oregonian.com