As the midnight deadline for Occupy Portland to vacate two downtown
parks approaches, it appears that some demonstrators have begun to
disperse, while others plan on forcing the police’s hand.
“We’re going to sit-in and force them to arrest us,” Jordan LeDoux,
an Occupy Portland spokesman, told The Times on Saturday evening.
On Thursday, Mayor Sam Adams ordered that the demonstrators vacate
the parks by midnight Saturday, arguing that the encampment had become
dangerous, a health hazard and a haven for criminals. If protesters
don't leave, he warned, they'll be arrested.
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According to the Oregonian newspaper, some have begun dismantling tents and leaving ahead of the eviction deadline.
But LeDoux said that at a meeting some demonstrators voted to stay at the parks.
“We’re going to have a significant number of people arrested if they come through and start arresting people,” he said.
At his news conference, the mayor said the turning points in his
decision to force demonstrators to dismantle the encampment were the
arrest of an Occupy Portland demonstrator accused of tossing a Molotov cocktail outside an office building and two nonfatal drug overdoses in the camp.
source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com
