About 100 people gathered tonight in Southeast Portland for an event announced

on a flier as the "Anarchist General Assembly," described by leaders of the meeting as a planning session for tonight's eviction of Occupy Portland from downtown parks.

Participants affirmed goals of standing witness to police actions during closure of the parks and using "diversionary" tactics to pull police from the downtown area.

Most people at the assembly said they would be leaving weapons at home in the face of high numbers of police downtown tonight, though they discussed using "a diversity of tactics" that might include using physical violence.

They met for three hours in the dining hall of St. Francis Catholic Church near Southeast Pine Street and 12th Avenue.

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"There should be space for peaceful protesters and space for more militant protesters," said Adrian Guerrero, a 21-year-old living in Southwest Portland.

"To be clear, anarchists have been with Occupy since the beginning," Guerrero said. "Some of the most involved people, some of the leaders of Occupy, are anarchists. It completely destroys the stereotype of anarchists as unorganized."

The group talked how anarchists should respond when police sweep the parks -- and how to weave anarchy into the movement in the aftermath of Mayor Sam Adams' deadline to clear Lownsdale and Chapman squares at 12:01 Sunday.

"This is an opportunity anarchists haven't had in a long time," said Matt DelPorto, 23, of Southeast Portland. "We want to take what happens and make something out of the ashes. People are together, and people are disenfranchised -- this is the time to move in."

The flier announcing the meeting said:

"This is a call to the anarchist and broader anti-authoritarian community to reconvene in assembly and continue to develop ourselves as members of a larger network here in Portland. In doing this we hope to establish new ties of solidarity and affinity as well as to cement those that already exist. Consider those relevant topics and ideas that you might want to discuss with a wide spectrum of anti-authoritarians."

-- Alison Barnwell