Main & 4th Downtown PDX
Main street completely blocked. Per www.kgw.com onsite reporters @ KGW TV channel 8 in Portland, Oregon:
Up to 1000 OWS protesters occupying Main street, between 4th and 5th Streets.
TV reporters have been onsite for about 1.5 hours, watched crowd grow from about 300 an hour or so ago, to up to or possibly more than 1000 now.
Police have been using a mega-phone to direct protesters to clear Main Street, so that it can be re-opened to vehicular traffice.
The protesters are standing firm, front line they are about 3-4 feet, face to face with (per online reporter) "full-riot gear".
Apparently, after last night's clearing of the three Parks (2 city and 1 federal) which were #Occupied, the OWS protesters came back
this morning, for a march to Pioneer Square Park (downtown site of yearly holiday presentations).
The Parks have been cleared, cleaned of tents and all other materials, and now have tall chainlink fencing around all three of them.
At least 15, perhaps as many as 20 have already been arrested.
The mood seems calm, but wrought with looming danger, from an imminent clash between the police and the protesters.
... updates when available
2:53 pm PST
Offical plice spokesman now addressing reporters. Lownsdale Park "all done, Chapman ongoing..." He says re: protesters in street "are not here to cause trouble", and they'll be let to go on their way. Which seems at odds with the full-riot-gear police keeping the crowd blocked on Main Street, with no where to go (the sidewalks are already full the whole block long as per TV screen shots and swing-cam views).
"These parks are a muddy mess... we'll maintain our presence here until these people start to walk away..."
What are the odds that that is going to happen???
3:02 PM PT |Update 1:
Police have announced that they will use chemical and "less than lethal" force if necessary to clear the protesters....
UPDATE 2
thanks to War on Error
You can see more WoE YouTube videos HERE
UPDATE 3
See the companion diary by EdMass OWS-Portland-Parks-cleared,-Fences-going-up,-Tents-coming-down-Livestream With links to various LIVESTREAMING videos of the event...
Livestream.org
Livestreaming Portland, OR #OccupyPortland Nov 13, 2011 via CBS NEWS
3:20 PM PT: A Sgt. P. Simpson (per KGW TV reporter onsite) has said that the police are only 'holding the protesters back' to allow the Park Service to clean the Park without any problems....
UPDATE 4 #OccupyPortland now reportedly calling for PDX Mayor, Sam Adams, to come and speak with them. KGW TV reporters continue to state that the crowd is continuing to grow minute by minute...
UPDATE 5
3:33pm PST
Someone in the #OccupyPortland group has opened up a popup tent on Main Street - indicating that there are some in the group who are adamant that they will not be going home today and going to Pioneer Plaza later on or tomorrow (as a woman with mega-phone was suggesting to Occupiers a few minutes ago).
Police have also moved what appears to be 8-ft tall chain link fencing with a single strand of barbed wire at top, around Terry Schrunk Plaza (the 3rd and most southerly of the 3 conjoined Parks at issue here in PDX today), in addition to Lownsdale (most northerly) and Chapman Square.
UPDATE 6:
3:54 pm PST ----
Police have moved buses in to the Parks area, perhaps intended to take away arrestees?
See other coverage at The OccupyUSA Blog (Greg Mitchell's gig over at www.TheNation.com)
UPDATE 7:
4:08 pm PST
From KGW TV|Channel 8 live broadcast ---
(very tall and large) Unnamed man in black hoodie:
"I support the 99% movement. The wealth distribution in this country is just unbelievably horrific.... every time a--any civilization has had all the money at the top, the civilization's basically crumbled, you have revolution and everything else. Let's get it stopped before we get to that point."
Female KGW TV reporter:
"How hard is it for you to stand here...garbled transmission... face-to-face with police officers in riot gear?"
Unnamed man in black hoodie:
"Ahh, you know, you come to that time of your life, where there's a good cause, and you believe to give in it, and where's the line, how much will you give? You know, I don't know, I guess we'll see if they start pushing ... and...
Female KGW TV reporter:
"I see a lot of your fellow protesters here, armed with handkerchiefs and goggles, ready to protect themselves, if in fact tear gas or some sort of any-uh-a chemical agent's used. Uh, where is your protection?"
Unnamed man in black hoodie:
"I've been hit with tear gas, I've been maced. I'm comfortable, but it comes down to, uh, how strong are you, as a person. What do you have inside, and, uh, let's get down and do it."
Female KGW TV reporter:
"If it comes to that, which I don't think anybody wants to see... but if it does come to that point, will you be still standing, here, strong at the front or will you retreat?"
Unnamed man in black hoodie:
"I'll be standing here, probably, till the point where they drop me."
Female KGW TV reporter:
"And face being arrested?"
Unnamed man in black hoodie:
"Sure!"
UPDATE 8:
Not Portland, but OWS related. Got to read it Tweet Pic
"Question: Is this a scene from Iraq, Afghanistan or a city in the United States?"