POLICE SHOOT "NON-LETHAL" ROUNDS INTO CROWD OF PROTESTERS

This incident was at least the second time in three months that the "beanbag" guns were deployed at a protest, and the first time they have been used.

The first protest, on June 1, was a primarily white group of anarchists calling for an end to corporate dominance (see PPR #15). The fact that the August 17 crowd was primarily African-American may have a lot to do with why the guns were actually used. One witness to the August action told Copwatch the police "looked like they were scared of black people."

The second demonstration was called to protest police activity on August 16, when they closed Sellwood Park, preventing a party from taking place. While the party's planners had allegedly been denied a permit, the police action circumvented their right to assemble, and prevented any activity from taking place.

The party moved impromptu to Irving Park in Northeast, where police on horseback broke up the gathering, and other cops shut down businesses and streets in the MLK area. The next night, the party organizers and others from the community--sympathetic to African-American victims of police repression--rallied for their rights.

Police moved in with a "riot squad." Cops in helmets lined the streets and numerous "banana" guns (shotguns painted bright yellow on the handle and the pump action to indicate their "non- lethal" status) were deployed. According to a reporter who was on the scene, every-thing was really mellow, even when the police called a dispersal order. Suddenly, police who saw a crowd trying to disperse coming their way apparently felt threatened and fired the shotguns. At this point, the reporter said, the situation became truly scary.

In addition to the gunfire, police manhandled at least one young person--the TV news showed police yanking an infant from its mother, Kendra Rosser. Both Rosser and her child were screaming in protest.

On Tuesday, August 18, the police met with the party organizers, State Rep. Margaret Carter and other "leaders" from the African-American community. According to news reports, both sides admitted wrongdoing and a compromise was reached in which the party planners would "work with the police" for future events.

Rep. Carter stated firmly that she did not want to see this kind of police action happen again in her district; she also made it clear that every black person in NE Portland is not a gang member. Unfortunately, many side issues--mandatory park fees and insurance, the police stopping the original party before it could happen, and the fact that police violated their General Orders by deploying and using the shotguns--seem to have been left by the wayside for now.

According to General Order 635.10, Crowd Control, in the section on Crowd Dispersal, subsection C (2) b--"The use of chemical agents is the most drastic measure used to disperse a crowd. It should definitely be determined, before its use, that it is the necessary and only means remaining to disperse the crowd." In other words, the police are not to use anything more serious than pepper spray or tear gas to disperse a crowd. Police batons are higher up on the "continuum of force" than the chemicals; the non-lethal shotguns are next before deadly force. (Even at that, the "beanbags," nylon sacks full of lead pellets, could kill a person if fired at less than 25 feet.)

In addition to the special meeting on Aug. 18, the African-American Advisory Council to the Police Bureau demanded a complete investigation from the Bureau. Louis Fontenot, chair of the Council, sent a letter to the City recommending an external investigation into the incident. The City's reply, according to the September 16th Skanner, was that there was no specific request for them to do anything. The Police, for their part, said they didn't think the situation warranted outside investigation. Chief Moose's response to the letter was, "My gut tells me that without serious injury or death, there's no need for the outside look."

What complicates the Bureau's position, no doubt, is that the Aug. 17 protest at one point came to the front of Chief Moose's house. In a piece for the September issue of the Police Association newsletter, the Rap Sheet, Moose wrote a thank you to the officers. "Although we were not able to keep the situation from becoming a media event, the performance of everyone involved was exceptional," Moose wrote of the police who shot unarmed protesters. "Although we have not heard the last from the key individuals who caused the weekend activities, I want to say thank you to everyone involved from the Bureau. On a more personal note, it sure felt good when the squads started to arrive at my home. There are no additional words needed."

So, it seems, the police are not going to be investigated for misconduct because the Chief felt personally threatened. This incident leaves a lot of unanswered questions, and leads us to wonder, now that we must ask permission from police to have parties or to demonstrate against government policies, if we will have to get permission to blow our noses in public.