Police use pepper spray on protesters at demonstration against Bush in Portland, Oregon

Associated Press ^ | 8-23-02 | WILLIAM McCALL

[Oldeconomybuyer]

PORTLAND, Oregon - Riot police used pepper spray and struck some demonstrators with batons after ordering hundreds of people to leave a protest near a hotel where President George W. Bush ( news - web sites) attended a fund-raiser.

Protesters hammered on the hoods of police cars as pepper spray wafted through the air. Protesting Bush's foreign policy, they chanted "Drop Bush, Not Bombs."

Bush supporters in formal attire were jostled and taunted by protesters as they arrived for a fund-raiser for the re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith ( news, bio, voting record). After elbowing through the demonstrators, they were checked by Secret Service agents before they were allowed inside the hotel.

Brian Schmautz, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said protesters threw things at the police.

Protesters at one point pushed down a barricade and a female police officer who was standing behind it, Groepper said. The officer sprained or broke her wrist falling down, and two patrol cars were damaged, Groepper said.

Police ordered about 500 protesters to move. Riot police wearing helmets then walked into the area, pushing activists with their batons. Some activists fell. Police then fired aerosol canisters of pepper spray at the protesters.

Police also used pepper spray after about 150 demonstrators blocked vehicle access to Morrison Bridge.

Five protesters were arrested through the afternoon, police spokesman Henry Groepper said.

Many of the protesters criticized a new forest initiative announced earlier in the day by Bush that would make it easier for timber companies to cut wood from fire-prone national forests.

"The new policy is classic doublespeak," said Kenneth Kreuschu, 24, of Cascadia Forest Alliance. "It has been shown time and again that more cutting leads to more fire. The new policy is a hoax."

Some of the activists were worried about a possible war with Iraq.

"I don't think any American boys' lives are worth a barrel of oil," said Rob Moitoza, 57, who carried a sign that said: "Vets Against Bush."

Moitoza said he served two years in the Navy aboard an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War and fears a much worse conflict if U.S. troops are sent to Iraq.

"If he (Bush) starts a war against Iraq, it will be to get re-elected. All he cares about is wealth and power," Moitoza said.

Before flying to Portland from Medford, Bush was taken to a still-smoldering fire.

About a dozen protesters dotted Bush's motorcade route. Some waved signs saying, "No attack of Iraq. You can't fix Daddy's mistake" and "More forests, less Bush."

The demonstrators along the route were far outnumbered by people waiting at the ends of their driveways who held signs saying "We love you" and "We support you."

[Oldeconomybuyer]

	A protester is moved by police in riot gear as they clear the streets around an event featuring President Bush, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002, in downtown, Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Brian Hendrickson) - Aug 23 12:20 AM ET
	Protesters are hit with pepper spray and rubber bullets as police clear the streets around an event featuring President Bush, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002, in downtown, Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Steve Slocum) - Aug 23 12:13 AM ET

	Protesters are doused with pepper spray as police clear the streets around an event President Bush was attending in downtown Portland, Ore., Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002. (AP Photo/John Gress) - Aug 22 9:10 PM ET
	Protesters gather near a police line as they clear the streets around an event attended by President Bush in downtown, Portland, Ore., Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002. (AP Photo/Brian Hendrickson) - Aug 22 9:10 PM ET
	Protesters wash pepper spray off as police clear the streets around an event attended by President Bush in downtown, Portland, Ore., Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002 .(AP Photo/Brian Hendrickson) - Aug 22 9:07 PM ET

[abclily]

These protesters try to terrorize.

[Tuco-bad]

What no rubber bullets?

Little by little we are becoming a police state.

[bok]

Ever heard of Kent State?

[Sungirl]

How many of these people were paid.

This was the first thing that was shown on The Today show this morning. Anything to try to make Bush look hated...

[nevergore]

This wasn't a peaceful protest by all accounts there were assaults on guests arriving at the event, police officers and significant damage to property.

Peaceful assembly for political protest is one thing but recognize the fact that these people were anarchists and zealot activists that were spoiling for a fight.

NeverGore

[grobdriver]

This wasn't a peaceful protest by all accounts there were assaults on guests arriving at the event, police officers and significant damage to property.

I put on my memory cap and think... think... think...
Was there ever a protest by conservatives against Clinton where these sort of things happened?
Ummm... perhaps once when the trouble was instigated against a protestor by a union thug. Otherwise, no.
Why is it that the "peaceful" left is so violent?
Any of you liberals out there explain?

[J Schweinbagel]

"Rubber Bullets" by 10cc

I went to a party at the local county jail
All the cons were dancing and the band began to wail
But the guys were indiscreet
They were brawling in the street
At the local dance at the local county jail

Well the band were playing
And the booze began to flow
But the sound came over on the police car radio
Down at Precinct 49
Having a tear-gas of a time
Sergeant Baker got a call from the governor of the county jail

Load up, load up, load up with rubber bullets
Load up, load up, load up with rubber bullets

I love to hear those convicts squeal
It's a shame these slugs ain't real
But we can't have dancin' at the local county jail

Sergeant Baker and his men made a bee-line for the jail
And for miles around
You could hear the sirens wail
There's a rumor goin' round death row
That a fuse is gonna blow
At the local hop at the local county jail

Whatcha gonna do about it, whatcha gonna do
Whatcha gonna do about it, whatcha gonna do

Sergeant Baker started talkin'
With a bullhorn in his hand
He was cool, he was clear
He was always in command
He said "Blood will flow;
Here Padre
Padre you talk to your boys..."
"Trust in me -
God will come to set you free"

Well we don't understand
Why you called in the National Guard
When Uncle Sam is the one
Who belongs in the exercise yard
We all got balls and brains
But some's got balls and chains
At the local dance at the local county jail

Load up, load up, load up with rubber bullets
Load up, load up, load up with rubber bullets

Is it really such a crime
For a guy to spend his time
At the local dance at the local county jail
At the local dance at the local county jail

Whatcha gonna do about it, whatcha gonna do
Whatcha gonna do about it, whatcha gonna do

[nevergore]

Good Point, I am a staunch defender of free speech and the right of assembly and free association. But when the crowds become violent and destructive (in most cases this is planned by the organizers), the "protest" is no longer protected by the constitution......
NeverGore

[reformedliberal]

FORMER community activist here:

The protestors are shock troops mixed with professionals. They are inculcated from early on via public education and media to fear conservative policies and conservatives. When conservatives succeed in spite of this, the fear escalates to anger. Since these people have also never heard the word no as children or been taught personal responsibility or intellectual integrity, they have no trouble justifying the acting out of their anger. They have internalized a fierce self image, convinced that their anger is potent, since it always succeeded in getting them their way with their parents and teachers and others in authority in their brief lives. The cadres use this acting out of internalized and self justified anger to push the cops and the conservatives to some sort of retaliation or calls for retaliation. Then the retaliation itself enters the mythology as "oppression" and "brutality". The thwarted magnify their injuries in the retelling that takes place in the aftermath, whipping themselves and their compadres into a grim state where they take on the personas of "freedom fighters" and then escalate the violence the next time. Anyone calling for rationality is accused of "selling out" and use of "conservative rhetoric". When public protest after public protest alienates the rest of society, the shock troops go underground. Once divorced from society, they become mythic, on the one hand, and are used as examples of heroism and integrity within the Left. They have no other remaining frame of reference and begin to believe the PR. At this point, you get the Weather Underground, Bader-Meinhoff, Red Brigades, Alf, Elf, etc. The media glorifies them and their exploits are the subject of books, articles and films. Call it the "Che effect". They believe their cause is just, they have admirers and an effective alternative society into which they can disappear & by which they can be assisted. It has worked for the Progressives for over 30 years in America and for much longer in Europe. It will continue until the Left loses control of academe and the media.

I have been out of any loop for over 25 years, so it may have changed, but I doubt it. They hate us. They believe that their lives, futures and the existence of the entire planet, if not the universe, are at stake. This belief is an inculcated faith. They can spend their lives isolated from critical thought. It is precisely the "cycle of violence" they go on about and is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[hgro]

Little by little we are getting more wackos, pinheads,eviro-freaks and assorted other crazies that cost normal people to control them.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Good post

[Hacksaw]

Give them wooden shampoos.

[corkoman]

Where is that radar thingy that beams radiation at the crowd making their skin burn?? I want to see smoking protestors.

[fight_truth_decay]

"The demonstrators along the route were far outnumbered by people waiting at the ends of their driveways who held signs saying "We love you" and "We support you."...says it all! (people owning homes paying taxes vs. mostly academian nuts)

[robertpaulsen]

"Drop Bush, Not Bombs."

What is that? Man, if people don't have a cause they anticipate one!

[DreamWeaver]

This is America ????????????

[dinasour]

FORMER community activist here

Nice commentary.

It appears that at least some of them grow up, as well.

[1Old Pro]

The demonstrators along the route were far outnumbered by people waiting at the ends of their driveways who held signs saying "We love you" and "We support you."

Funny, this is the LAST line of the story. It's left out of a radio reports.

[piasa]

No, this is not a police state. This is what is called mob rule- the mobs demand money, they get it, even if it means robbing the minority of successful people through taxation to pay for their little leftist eco-disasters and illogical whims. The mobbers demand safety for themselves, but use violence and intimidation to try to frighten other people who only want to hear what a person has to say. The mob claims to want peace but is willing to resort to terrorism, vandalism, and thuggish behavior to get it. Anarchists want anarchy, but they want to have their speech and rights protected by law and order. Their ideology is so repugnant that no one will listen to them; in order to be heard, they have to get in people's faces because no one will come to them.

Too bad the female cop isn't allowed to defend herself, rather than have to be pushed around by little wanna-be Mugabes and Stalins.