Updated Feb. 27, 2019

Portland’s police chief called a “listening session” to hear from the public in the wake of the controversy surrounding hundreds of friendly texts between a police lieutenant and the leader of the right-wing Patriot Prayer group.

It turned into hours of venting Thursday night.

Speakers either called out the Police Bureau, complaining that Lt. Jeff Niiya’s exchanges with activist Joey Gibson confirmed their long-standing fears that police favor conservative demonstrators while cracking down on leftist counter-protesters.

Or they criticized Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city officials for questioning Niiya’s communications without understanding the lieutenant’s role as a police liaison to groups planning rallies and marches in the city. Some also said the mayor should have reserved comment until after an internal investigation is completed into the communications.

The pews at the Maranatha Church in Northeast Portland were mostly packed. Metal detectors and plainclothes officers greeted visitors as they arrived. A crowd organized by the Portland Democratic Socialists of America and other groups protested outside beforehand, calling for Wheeler, who also serves as police commissioner, to step down from that post.

Some in the crowd held up printed yellow signs that read “LIES’’ and some hissed when they disagreed with a speaker or yelled “sit down.” At other times, people raised signs that read “LISTEN” when they agreed with a comment.

Several speakers called on the mayor to resign, drawing applause.

At times, attendees got into tense disputes among themselves or started screaming at the panel of city officials or speakers. A facilitator, the police chief and often most effectively the church’s senior pastor, Dr. T. Allen Bethel, tried to calm the audience and remind people of the purpose of the gathering.

“Hey people, this is a church,” the mayor blurted into his microphone as several people in the first few rows got into a heated argument.

“We’re here for solutions, people. It’s 2019,” Outlaw said. “We have to come up with solutions so we don’t continue to come here time and time again. I’ve been here for a year, and it is the same thing.’’

The chief, the mayor, Portland’s deputy police chief and three assistant chiefs sat at a table at the front of the sanctuary. Speakers signed up to address them for two minutes each during the 2 ½-hour event.

Outlaw said she called the gathering because she “quickly recognized there was harm, impact and concern in the community.” She acknowledged mistrust of police in Portland that she noted has built up over years.

About 50 minutes into the session, facilitator Kory Murphy threatened to shut it down if the crowd didn’t respect the ground rules, repeating, “This is not productive” amid jeers. At one point, Patriot Prayer supporter Haley Adams strode up to the front of the church and started screaming while some members of the crowd began chanting “Nazi scum.” Adams later stood on a pew and continued yelling and was escorted out. It appeared the meeting might end but the police chief said she was staying.

Among the speakers, Shawn Shagerty urged the city to broaden its investigation to determine if any white supremacist groups have infiltrated the Police Bureau or other local or state law enforcement agencies. Others recommended the police better differentiate between protesters and not lump peaceful demonstrators with masked protesters or others who may be causing a disruption.

Several urged police to hold demonstrators who are violent accountable for their actions, called for meaningful independent police oversight and a public airing of police contract negotiations.

Left-wing activist Luis Enrique Marquez, who was named as an instigator of problems by Niiya in his texts with Gibson, yelled at the mayor, shouting, “You collaborate with our enemies!”

Bob Winthrop, a former finance manager at the Police Bureau who described himself as a son of a Holocaust survivor who abhors white supremacists, praised Niiya as a “flexible thinker” and a “really good cop.” Attendees hissed as Winthrop spoke.

“Please don’t criticize a cop before you know all the facts,’’ Winthrop told the police and mayor.

Tim Ledwith said he was punched in the face by Patriot Prayer follower Tusitala “Tiny” Toese on June 8, 2018, and he was reluctant to report the attack because of his “healthy mistrust of police.” He said his mistrust was born out because it seemed as if police “didn’t want anything to do with it’’ until this past week when he received a subpoena to testify before a Multnomah County grand jury.

Ben Lavine, who said he attended some of the protests, told the chief she shouldn’t be surprised by the community’s reaction. He criticized Outlaw for speaking “derisively’’ against antifascist protesters on conservative radio host Lars Larson’s show in August.

Deb Winthrop told police she was among the peaceful counter-protesters at a demonstration last Aug. 4.

“I do not want to be associated with the tactics of antifa,” she said, urging the bureau to better distinguish between protest groups. For future demonstrations to be effective, she suggested people leave their body armor and face masks at home and not be ashamed to show who they are. Many in the crowd hissed.

James Buchal, who described himself as a member of the Republican Party, accused the city of “excusing leftist violence” and demonizing demonstrators who cooperated with police. People in the crowd booed.

Ken Cannatelli said the practice of police reaching out to protest groups ahead of demonstrations is "not a tenable position,'' because "certain groups are not going to want to talk to police, '' and others that do will be seen as an incurring favoritism.

Mary Hollingsworth said she came to express her support for the police. “Keep up knowing who these specific groups are so they do not clash,’’ she said, drawing taunts to sit down. "This is how you people are,'' she continued, addressing the crowd. "Don’t tell me to sit down.''

The meeting followed last week’s release of months of text messages between Gibson and Niiya, who as supervisor of the bureau’s Rapid Response Team crowd control unit has been the bureau liaison to protest organizers.

The texts drew rebukes from the mayor and two city commissioners. The chief initiated an internal investigation into Niiya’s communications, and the mayor called for an independent inquiry into alleged police bias in their handling of city demonstrations.

Niiya’s texts and emails with Gibson from 2017 and 2018 show him sometimes telling Gibson about the movements of counter-protesters, telling Gibson if officers would be on foot or bike at protests and alerting Gibson to have follower Toese, also a member of the far-right Proud Boys, take care of his outstanding arrest warrant before he showed up downtown. Niiya told Gibson that officers could arrest Toese if he acted out but it wasn’t likely to occur, though Toese ended up being arrested on a warrant and additional charges.

Niiya was doing his job, establishing a line of communication with protest leaders to help the bureau prepare and plan on how to staff demonstrations, and Niiya often shared his intelligence gleaned from Gibson with the mayor’s senior policy adviser, said Lt. Craig Morgan, president of the police union representing commanding officers.

Clarification: A summary of Ken Cannatelli’s statement was changed to reflect his broader point about police communication with protest organizers.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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