Protesting a pay raise for the police.
Via KATU:
Ten people have been arrested following “disturbances” inside and outside of Portland City Hall Wednesday.
For the past several weeks, activists with Don’t Shoot PDX and Black Lives Matter have been asking Mayor Charlie Hales to hold off on voting on a new Portland Police union contract until mayor-elect Ted Wheeler gets into office.
Hales, along with Portland Police Chief Mike Marshman, said passing the contract was “critical” to filling upcoming vacancies in the bureau. Protesters have taken issue with several aspects of the contract, namely a clause they say would allow officers to review body camera footage before writing reports.
However, Commissioner Nick Fish told KATU News nothing in the contract addresses the use of body cameras.
“It was carved out and will be discussed with the community later,” Fish explained.
Activists had planned to testify against the contract in front of city council Wednesday, but they say they weren’t given the chance to do so. Some of them moved their tents inside city hall, and continued protesting while council voted to pass the contract 3-1.
Officials then placed city hall on a lock-in and asked everyone to leave. Police say activists were given enough time to evacuate the building, before the situation took a dramatic turn as some sort of “projectiles” were thrown at officers.
Officers and the bureau’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) members then pushed all protesters out of city hall, even using pepper spray to forcibly move them out.