Portland police admit that they corralled a throng of marchers last year, took their photos and demanded their IDs, but say they moved in only after people ignored repeated announcements by officers to leave or because they needed to investigate disorderly conduct.
The officers' actions were lawful, the city said this week in a response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in November.
The federal class-action lawsuit argues the opposite, that police violated the civil liberties of 200 to 250 demonstrators by "kettling" them -- surrounding them and detaining them – without probable cause or reasonable suspicion during a tense series of protests June 4.
Police also denied the ACLU claim that Mayor Ted Wheeler "ordered, directed or approved any actions" of police during the protest, though the city acknowledged that Wheeler was at the police command center at times that day.
The June 4 showdown began when conservative group Patriot Prayer got a permit to demonstrate in Terry Shrunk Plaza near City Hall and drew counter-protests. Police tried to separate the groups. Near the end, officers held a large gathering of people at a downtown street corner.
Police conceded in their response that officers made a mistake that day when announcing a command over their sound truck for people on Southwest Fourth Avenue, between Morrison and Alder streets, to disperse after officers tried to clear out and shut down Chapman Square, across from Terry Shrunk Plaza.
Some people in the square began throwing bricks, water bottles, bags of marbles and balloons "filled with foul-smelling substances,'' William Manlove, senior deputy city attorney, wrote in the response.
According to the ACLU's lawsuit, police ordered protesters in that area to leave, but then surrounded them, causing confusion.
But police said they followed up their mistaken command with repeated announcements, warning that people would be detained to investigate disorderly conduct, Manlove wrote.
The ACLU suit alleged that police fired pepper-spray balls at several protesters as they tried to leave the area through the parking garage on Fourth Avenue.
Manlove said Oregon State Police, who were helping out Portland police, fired pepper-spray balls toward the parking garage because people "were advancing up the garage, into a position where projectiles could be thrown, putting the public and police officers at risk.''
Police said officers have used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber ball distraction devices during some protests. They also have allowed officers to use "non-lethal force'' without warning in response to specific threats, Manlove wrote.
While the city denied a policy or practice of "kettling'' protesters, the bureau acknowledged other times they have detained demonstrators in mass:
-- In November 2014, when people were protesting a grand jury decision not to indict a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man. Police said the demonstrators remained in a public street.
-- On Jan. 20, 2017, when officers arrested about 38 people during a demonstration against the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Police said they "continued to march and protest in the street'' despite commands to disperse.
The ACLU's lawsuit argues that police acted in both of those cases without probable cause or reasonable suspicion.
While Portland frequently is the stage for public marches and protests, some have erupted in violence and illegal behavior, the city noted.
"Violent and unlawful marches and gatherings have no legal protection under the First Amendment, the Oregon Constitution or federal or state law,'' Manlove wrote.
Mat dos Santos, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon, called the city's response "absurd.'' He noted that many people witnessed officers surround and detain protesters in a "kettle'' on June 4. He said the city will be hard-pressed to show officers had individualized suspicion that 200 to 250 people detained in the street that day were breaking the law, as the city contends.
"While we are disappointed in the City's disingenuous response, we remain steadfast in our belief that our clients will be vindicated,'' dos Santos said. "We'll see them in court.''
Portland's new Police Chief Danielle Outlaw told The Oregonian/OregonLive in October when she first started that she wanted to go through the bureau's training on crowd control herself before she passed judgment on how police have handled city protests.
"I haven't had a chance to do a critical review of past incidents. That's certainly on my radar,'' she said then. "Bottom line is we're here to protect people's First Amendment right to free speech.''
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian