Pro-Palestinian protestors stormed the building that houses the Portland office of Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Nov 9, destroying the front doors and scrawling graffiti on the windows, walls, and brickwork.
Portland police made six arrests, with four suspects now facing felony charges.
The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said it was aware of a planned protest near the World Trade Center building on Thursday afternoon.
The events began with a “rally and teach-in” outside of Sen. Merkley’s office.
“We call on movements, organized labor, youth, students, and all members of society to join us in demanding an immediate ceasefire, cutting all aid to Israel, and lifting the siege on Gaza,” the group declared.
Escalation
A security guard at the building notified police that protesters had gone up the exterior escalator to the second floor and were trying to force their way into the building through locked doors.
All available officers in the precinct, as well as Central Bike Squad and Neighborhood Response Team were dispatched. Additional officers from North and East Precincts were called in to cover life safety and emergency calls.
When police arrived, participants were seen vandalizing the building. Officers said that a set of double glass doors had been dislodged from their frame.
Graffiti on the building included the phrase, “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea!”
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), that phrase has “long been used by the anti-Israel terrorist organizations such as Hamas and others who seek Israel’s destruction through violent means.”
Police said officers issued multiple warnings over a public address system, notifying protesters that they were trespassing on private property and instructing them to leave.
Many chose to leave before enforcement action, according to PPB.
The recently formed Reed College Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which co-organized the protest, claimed on its website that “building security locked the doors to the lobby, thus locking citizens out. Demands to see the Senator become a direct action.”
It further stated that “police told the Free Palestine Demonstrators to disperse and the few who didn’t move fast enough were arrested.”
Portland Police said its officers made targeted arrests and initially took five people into custody.
As police were clearing the scene, they saw a man spray painting the outside of the building. He fled on foot but was arrested after a short chase, said PPB.
All six were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center.
The suspects range in age from 19 to 33. They face various charges, including felony criminal mischief, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct, according to PPB.
Sponsor Ideology
Organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), the Reed College SJP, and Free People PDX, the “Shut it Down for Palestine” protest declared its goal of: “No business as usual until Palestine is free.”PSL describes its primary goal as the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the institution of socialism. Its slogan is “For the planet to live, capitalism must end.”
The ADL claims it also endorses violence against Israel.
“In the days following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, the national leadership of Students for Justice in Palestine and many of the organization’s campus chapters explicitly endorsed the actions of Hamas and their armed attacks on Israeli civilians and voiced an increasingly radical call for confronting and ‘dismantling’ Zionism on U.S. college campuses.” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“One of SJP’s most prominent actions was calling for a ‘Day of Resistance’ on October 12, during which chapters on campuses across the country would convene rallies and other actions to applaud Palestinian ‘resistance’ to Israel. The tone of the call was taken from a previous SJP statement that encouraged ‘not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with oppressors’ in Israel,” ADL added.
Reed College SJP hosted its first event on Oct. 25 when more than 100 students turned out to protest Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip and demonstrate support for Palestine.
They asked that the Reed administration publish a statement condemning the “ethnic cleansing” occurring in Gaza, that they disclose any financial relationships with the Israeli government, and that they cancel study abroad programs at Ben-Gurion University and Hebrew University.
The organization also criticized the administration for not providing adequate support to Palestinian students.
At that event, two speakers reportedly advocated for violence.
One said that “liberation [of Palestine] will be violent,” and another said Palestinians had “the right to resist occupation by any means necessary.”
Following the event, Chris Toutain and Jessika Chi, respectively the Dean of Students and the Associate Dean for Institutional Diversity, sent an email to the student body, asking students to “please let us know ways that we can support you,” and to treat others with “kindness, empathy, and care.”
