More than 100 people gather at Portland City Hall to protest racism, police brutality - Press Herald

kuangkunang.blogspot.com

More than 100 people gathered at Portland City Hall late Saturday afternoon to protest racism, police brutality and state-sanctioned violence.

Many in attendance were dressed in black. A handful of protest medics wore bright red crosses on their clothes. And one person brought a wooden shield.

The signs on display included calls to defund and demilitarize the police, “abolish ICE and open the border,” and “I stand with Black Lives Matter.”

Organizer Adam Rice said he felt compelled to show up as a way to fight against the hatred and threats of violence that prompted Black Lives Matter Maine to cancel its event Saturday morning morning.

“We need to stand up to that,” Rice said into a megaphone. “We need to show we’re not scared and we’re not going to back down.”

Rachel Bernstein, 34, of South Portland, said in an interview that she is a member of Black Lives Matter Portland, but still attended the protest to draw attention to discrimination in housing.

Her sign said: “I need to be able to tell my children I did something.”

Bernstein said she was not worried about violence.

“We’re not going to be blocking streets and there’s not going to be civil disobedience,” Bernstein said. “This is a nonviolent protest.”

Evan Cuddy, 33, of Portland, said it was important to show support for the Black Lives Matter Movement.

“I’m tired of racism,” he said.

ZyAnthony Moss, a 20-year-old Black man, urged demonstrators to march to the police station. He said the shooting of unarmed Black men by police, as has occurred elsewhere, can happen in Maine.

“It could be me. It could be her. It could be anyone,” Moss said. “We need to end this (expletive.)”

A handful of counterprotesters demonstrated by the post office across from City Hall.

Protesters tried to drown out one supporter of President Trump with chants. The two sides shouted at each other from opposite sides of Congress Street using megaphones.

Jay Robinson, 33, of Massachusetts stands with a Trump flag Saturday near the post office across from City Hall. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Jay Robinson, a 33-year-old Black man from Massachusetts, stood with a Trump flag near the post office across from City Hall.

When protesters chanted “I can’t breathe,” Robinson shouted into a megaphone, “Take off your mask.”

“I’m not brainwashed by white liberals,” he said. “President Trump supports blacks. … Not all cops are racist.”

Robinson, wearing a red Keep America Great hat, claimed to be in Maine on vacation and stumbled upon the protest.

When asked about the megaphone he was using, he said he bought it online a while ago and keeps it in his car.

The protest, scheduled to run from 4 to 7 p.m., was originally organized by Black Lives Matter Maine, a loose coalition of young Black anti-racism and anti-police brutality activists that was also raising bail money for anyone arrested for engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience, such as blocking a street. But comments made on social media suggested that armed counterprotesters also planned to attend, stoking fears that violent protests in other parts of the country could happen here.

Jay Robinson of MA, who says he is on vacation here, confronts protesters at City Hall. #portlandmaine #blm pic.twitter.com/jPUHy7AoEQ

— Derek Davis (@derek_ddavis) September 5, 2020

City officials held a press conference on Friday to urged protesters and counterprotesters to assemble peacefully and “leave your guns and bad intentions at home.”

On Saturday morning, BLM Maine postponed its demonstration about six hours before it was set to begin, because of the threats. The group criticized city officials for conflating their nonviolent protests with the threats being made by counterprotesters.

Shortly after the event was postponed, another group of local activists, the Maine People’s Housing Coalition, which organized a two-week-long homeless encampment at City Hall, quickly stepped into the role of organizers and urged protesters to show up.

“We stand in support of Black lives,” organizers said on social media. “We stand against racism, police brutality, and state sanctioned violence in all forms. Black lives matter. There is immense common ground between the unhoused community and the Black community when it comes to advocating for social justice, especially when it comes to over-policing.”

Saturday’s event was organized in response to the Aug. 23 shooting of Jacob Blake, a Wisconsin Black man that was shot seven times in the back by police as he was walking back to his vehicle. Kenosha police Officer Rusten Shesky shot the 29-year-old Blake, as his three children watched from the vehicle.

The shooting drew widespread outrage. Professional sports teams refused to play. Protesters took to the streets in Kenosha for demonstrations that turned violent and included looting. In response to the demonstration, armed counterprotesters converged on the city, ostensibly to protect area businesses.

#BLM chanting in response to Trump supporters who have showed up at City Hall. #portlandmaine pic.twitter.com/FqkIlFDRE7

— Derek Davis (@derek_ddavis) September 5, 2020

On Aug. 26, police said, one of those counterprotesters, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, of Illinois, shot and killed two people with an AR-15 and injured a third.

Clashes between Black Lives Matter protesters and armed counterprotesters are becoming more common throughout the country, especially in Portland, Oregon. That city has seen sustained protests since the killing in late May of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police office knelt on his neck for several minutes, sparking protests across the country.

Floyd’s killing sparked nationwide protests, including here in Portland. Two of the protests in June resulted in arrests and property damage, with the windows of several downtown businesses being broken. Protesters fired fireworks and threw objects at police officers, who in turn used pepper spray to disperse the crowds.

Portland police said they intercepted armed protesters en route to at least one of the protests. District Attorney Jonathan Sahrbeck announced last week that he would not pursue charges against the 32 people arrested. Sahrbeck said in a statement that officers were justified in arresting protesters for failing to disperse, but there was no evidence that they committed any additional crimes.

On Friday, Sahrbeck said not prosecuting protesters was not a policy and that his office would seek to press charges against anyone caught breaking the law on Saturday.

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Palmyra crash kills man, injures 6 passengers

filed under: