noted. 11/18/2011

• The Moment When the Police Lost the Occupy Portland Narrative | Blogtown, PDX

  • Significantly, some of the spraying came after protesters had clearly retreated to the opposite sidewalk. (In another odd shift, there also was no federal-court-required verbal PA warning that chemical munitions would be deployed—a hallmark of every other mass police action to date.)
  • The goal was really to keep the roads clear, as the mayor tweeted? That doesn't explain why were protesters doing just fine on the sidewalks before cops showed up. Or why protesters were still on the sidewalks when the riot squad abruptly pulled back—conveniently after the Chase arrest operation was finished.
  • A protesters who gave his name as Josh said he was pinned against a utility box on Yamhill and couldn't go anywhere, but that an officer hit him with his baton three times until he could wriggle free. He said there wasn't any direction from the cops—the cops were forcing protesters off sidewalks, but the PA van was telling people to get off the street. Once he got free, an officer pointed a red shotgun at him.
    
    "It was aimed against my face," Josh said. "I thought he was going to fucking shoot me. I've never had a problem with police until right now."

• N17 action against Portland banks may start a new chapter for Occupy Portland | OregonLive.com

  • Don Pearson, regional president of Wells Fargo in Portland, rejects the notion that his industry is culpable for any of the nation's economic misfortunes. His bank is only lending money in part to help the community, he said.

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