How progressive.

OREGON — Marion County authorities arrested three men, who claimed to be Occupy Portland protesters, during a traffic stop after officers found fireworks and marijuana inside.

A Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy at 8:40 a.m. Sunday stopped a gray Subaru Outback that was traveling southbound on Interstate 5, near milepost 245, after he recorded it traveling at 81 mph.

When the deputy made contact with the driver, William Maxwell Patterson, 21, he reportedly smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the car. When he searched the car, the deputy found a bag of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Inside the car was also Emery Nicholas Luff, 21, and Zachary Salzwedel-Kemp, 20, and all three are from Klamath Falls.

Inside the car, the deputy also found a number of firecrackers and two commercially made mortars inside glass canning jars, designed to be fired into the area during professional pyrotechnic displays. One was found in the floorboard of the vehicle, and the other was allegedly in Luff’s jacket.

The deputy also found two gas masks, protective eye goggles and a safety helmet. All three men told the deputy that they had spent the night at the Occupy Portland demonstration, and they brought the mortars and safety equipment to the demonstration in preparation of the expected confrontation between police and protesters Sunday morning.

When asked about the explosives, the three men told authorities that they knew the canning jar would explode, causing glass shrapnel to fly and possibly cause injury.

HT: Watcher