The Clackamas print., November 23, 2016, Page 3, Image 3

Protesters tear through Rip City
STORY AND PHOTO BY COLLIN BEREND
P r e s id e n t - e le c t D o n a ld
J . Trum p stu n n ed th e
a
world when he won the
■ p resid en tial ele ctio n ,
u
v
r
H illa r y C lin to n w as
p r e d ic t e d
to
w in
according to m an y p o lls.
This, however, was not the case.
National reaction to the w in has not
settled well with many o f the supporters
who voted for Clinton, voted for a third
party or didn’t vote at all.
Grievances derive from who was elected
and the political system. From Nov. 8 to
Nov. 12, protesters in Portland, held signs
up w ith m essages ranging from “ Back
o ff m y uterus Pence” to “ F * * * Trum p.”
Portland was-on national news for the
riots. Crim inal activity.associated w ith
th e p ro test in cluded sm ash in g cars,
spray painting walls (about w hich I was
confronted by a few protestors for daring
to record) and shattering store windows.
O n the second n igh t o f the protest,
N ov. 9 , 1 was follow ing the Leviathan
group from East Portland to West Portland
and back. The majority of anim osity was
directed, not toward the other issues, but
toward Trump. While they bellowed their
view s, am ong other th in gs, they said,
“ No Trump! No KKK! No fascist U .S .A .!”
This type o f chanting lasted from as
early as 5 p .m . to i a m ' D uring this
second m arch, people daw ning m asks
to cover their face spray painted the sides
of buildings and the sidewalk, ¡all right
next to people w ho w ould take in the
toxic fum es. Children were included in
the marches, even infants, strapped on
their m others’ backs.
Gregory McKelvey, the spokesman for
“ Don’t Shoot Portland” went on Twitter to
respond about the violence and vandalism
that took place on Nov. io .
“ The protest that became violent was
not our protests. Get your facts straight
m edia,” said McKelvey.
The fo u rth n igh t o f protest located
betw een City H all and the W ells Fargo
Center was intensified by the presence of
the police, who simply asked protesters
to move north o f City H all, w ishing to
help them . But the protesters faced o ff
in more chanting at the police.
. Portland Police had arrived because
the people had no perm it, as required
by law .-Ironically enough, M cKelvey, a
law student, never addressed this. A law
student leads a protest that has no permit.
W hat does that say?
A m ber H utch so n s, a protester, w as
dressed in full blue unicorn pajamas.
. .“ It feels like people who are {LGBT], and
people who have mental disabilities, and
people who are w om en.... Because I’m all
those th in g s,” said H utchsons. “ Every
time I go out I feel like I have a target on
my head and this is the only way I can get
my own power b ack .” .
“ We need to wake u p ,” said Kathleen
Hollingsworth, director of vocal music at
Clackam as. “ I’m not even going to buy
Christm as presents.”
H o llin gsw o rth said she w ould put
her m oney tow ards w om en shelters
and to people who need the help , that
this election has been a wakeup call. A
problem for the people to solve.
She later added another Comment.
“ W elcom e to the great aw akening!’1
H ollingsw orth said in an em ail. “ I t’ s
time to walk the talk o f love, justice and
integrity at a m uch higher level. A nd it’ s
time to fight harder for the health of the
planet. Lord knows the ecosystem is on
the choppirig block.”
This has been a vocal movement even
among protesters, and on social media.
People have argued that the electoral
college should be abolished. But at the
sam e tim e , m ohey sh o u ld n ’ t be the
driving force behind the election process.
I cou ld n’ t agree m ore w ith the latter
statement,, .
“ If som ething doesn’t change now, in
the next year, then the people are going
to rise against the government to reform
it ,” said Adam Joslin at the protest, after
putting out a fire in the trash can. “ That’ s
our righ t,”
“ If we don’t kill them first, w e’re all
dead,” said Joslin. “ It’ s not a matter of
peace, it’ s,a matter of peace—I ’m sorry
the utopia of peace. There can be no peace
without war, cause and effect. Many times
in nature it balances it out. They [screw]
things up because they got greedy.”
This last one was particularly disturbing,
on the A lex Jones level. Regardless of
your political views, Trump has won in
the Electoral C o llege. For people like
Hollingsw orth, I can „understand where
she m ight come from , but I don’t fully
agree. H ow ever, in th e w ake o f the
election, she’s now planning to spend
tier money to support those in need. And
I think that is som ething we can all take
from this: not protesting in a city that
already agrees with you, a vast ocean of an
echo chamber, but being active to make
the change. Stopping traffic isn’t going
? to do that.
On Wed. Nov. 9, Portland protesters
blocked the freeway in response to
the presidential election. Protests
took place for five nights In the city of
Portland.
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