Updated 9:07 p.m.

Organizers plan to forgo an annual May Day demonstration in downtown Portland after last year's rally erupted into a riot punctuated by fires, clashes and vandalism.

Other activists who participated in marches past said the prospect of sweeping arrests, costly legal fees and political infighting helped derail plans for a protest Tuesday.

An event billed instead as a family-friendly picnic will take place at Lents Park in the city's southeast quadrant, much to the chagrin of those who embrace the rebellious spirit of the anti-capitalist holiday.

"To not have a march on May Day is, in my opinion, a victory for police," said Paul Messersmith-Glavin, a Southeast Portland resident and member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies, a nonprofit collective.

Messersmith-Glavin said he recognized the hours of hard work organizers poured into the upcoming event, which he hopes is a success.

Still: "Having a picnic in a park is, at its best, a strategic retreat."

Organizers with the Portland May Day Coalition said the decision came after group participants voted to hold this year's rally in a neighborhood more closely aligned with its working class and non-white members.

Since 2000, a mishmash of anarchists, socialists and others opposed to capitalism's excesses have flooded downtown each May 1 to observe a day dedicated to workers' rights, a cause celebrated worldwide.

The gatherings have also served as an annual rallying point for the city's diverse community of left-leaning activists.

Speakers condemn police brutality. Canvassers promote plans to fight climate change. Others organize for immigrant rights.

A march has traditionally flowed from the assembled crowds — though not always. In 2016 several hundred people kept to downtown's Shemanski Park after the previous year's march ended with police blasting demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets on the Burnside Bridge.

Fueled by anti-Trump fervor, the city's May Day protests returned in full force last year. Police quickly declared the event a riot.

Demonstrators set bonfires in the streets, hurled rocks and full cans of soda at law enforcement officers and vandalized a cop car. Others smashed the windows of the Target on Southwest Morrison Street.

Sara Rudolph, a spokeswoman with the Portland May Day Coalition, said the use of force by police — who arrived dressed in military gear and fired flash-bang grenades at crowds — had instigated the violence at an otherwise peaceful protest.

"All the chaos was generated by their actions," she said.

In the end, 25 people were arrested in the fracas, which generated national headlines.

This year, some of Portland's more militant anarchists and antifascist activists plan to travel to Seattle for the city's own May Day rally or participate in small-scale demonstrations throughout the region, said those who spoke with The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Several hundred people are expected to attend the picnic in Lents Park, which is seven miles from downtown. There will be speeches, art and music centered around workers and immigrants, according to organizers.

"As authoritarianism, corruption, and late stage capitalism continue to direct every branch of US government, we will educate, organize, and empower our local communities to build a future by and for the people," the coalition said in a news release.

Still, the possibility of more disruptive actions lingers.

Nearly two-dozen anarchists gathered beneath a bridge Sunday night in North Portland to discuss their plans for Tuesday. The participants wore masks and passed around a stick denoting the speaker, according to one person in attendance.

That person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said an ad-hoc march or targeting of a major corporation was not out of the question. Yet the person said the disappointment in no large-scale organized action was palpable.

"I find it pretty significant, especially with how left-wing Portland is trying to be under Trump," said the person. "It's pretty disappointing that downtown won't have much happening."

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh