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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2018
Portland chief orders review after protest
Probe to look at
use of force
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
SALEM — Portland police
were accused Sunday of being
heavy-handed against people
protesting a rally by extreme-
right demonstrators, report-
edly injuring some count-
er-protesters and prompting
the city’s new police chief to
order a review of officers’ use
of force.
Police in riot gear tried to
keep the two groups apart,
many of whom had come
on Saturday dressed for bat-
tle in helmets and protec-
tive clothing. Dozens of the
extreme-right protesters were
bussed to Portland, one of
America’s most liberal cit-
ies, from nearby Vancouver,
Washington.
Saturday’s clashes were
the most recent of several this
year in the city as right-wing
militants converged, met by
counter-protesters, including
members of anti-fascist, or
“antifa,” groups. City officials
have struggled with striking a
balance between free speech
and keeping events from spi-
raling out of control.
But on Saturday, some said
police seemed to act mostly
against those protesting the
presence of the extreme-right
demonstrators, using stun gre-
nades and what appeared to be
rubber bullets against them.
Police “targeted Portland
residents peacefully count-
er-protesting against rac-
ist far-right groups, includ-
ing white supremacists, white
nationalists, and neo-Nazi
gangs,” the Oregon chap-
ter of the Council on Ameri-
can-Islamic Relations and the
Portland chapter of the Dem-
ocratic Socialists of America
said in a statement. It called
on officials to investigate.
The head of the Oregon
branch of the American Civil
Liberties Union also criti-
cized the way the Portland
AP Photos/John Rudoff
Police deploy flash bang grenades during a rally in Portland on Saturday.
Patriot Prayer founder and rally or-
ganizer Joey Gibson speaks to his
followers at a rally in Portland on
Saturday.
Police Bureau handled the
demonstrations.
“The Portland Police
Bureau’s response to protest
is completely unacceptable in
a free society,” David Rogers
said in a statement issued Sun-
day night. “The repeated use of
excessive force, and the target-
Counter-protesters prepare to clash with Patriot Prayer protesters during a
rally in Portland on Saturday.
ing of demonstrators based on
political beliefs are a danger to
the First Amendment rights of
all people. We call on the Port-
land Police Bureau, Mayor
Wheeler, and Chief Outlaw
to immediately end the use
of weapons, munitions, and
explosives against protesters.”
Police ordered the count-
er-protesters to disperse,
then moved in behind a vol-
ley of stun grenades. One of
the rounds reportedly hit a
counter-protester in the head,
becoming embedded in his
helmet and injuring him. One
woman was taken to a hospi-
tal after being hit in the arm
and chest with a “flash-bang”
grenade, local media reported.
The blasts echoed through
downtown Portland.
Four people were arrested.
Police Chief Danielle Out-
law, who assumed command
less than a year ago as Port-
land’s first African-American
female police chief, said in a
statement Sunday she takes all
use-of-force cases seriously.
Outlaw directed the pro-
fessional standards division
to begin gathering evidence
to determine if the force used
was within policy and training
guidelines. The Office of Inde-
pendent Police Review will be
provided with the information
for review and investigation.
Saturday’s incidents started
with demonstrators aligned
with Patriot Prayer and an
affiliated group, the Proud
Boys, gathering in a riverfront
park. The Proud Boys has
been characterized as a hate
group by the Southern Poverty
Law Center, which is “dedi-
cated to fighting hate and big-
otry and to seeking justice for
the most vulnerable members
of society.”
Hundreds of counter-dem-
onstrators faced them from
across the street, holding ban-
ners and signs with messages
such as “Alt right scum not
welcome in Portland.” Some
chanted “Nazis go home.”
Officers stood in the mid-
dle of a four-lane boulevard,
essentially forming a wall to
keep the two sides separated.
The
counter-protesters
were made up of a coalition of
labor unions, immigrant rights
advocates, democratic social-
ists and other groups.
Patriot Prayer also has held
rallies in many other cities
around the U.S. West, includ-
ing Berkeley, California, that
have drawn violent reactions.
Saturday’s rally, orga-
nized by Patriot Prayer leader
Joey Gibson, was the third
to roil Portland this summer.
Two previous events ended in
bloody fistfights and riots.
Gibson disputed the group’s
classification as a hate group.
“We’re here to promote
freedom and God. That’s it,”
Gibson told Portland TV sta-
tion KGW. “Our country is
getting soft.”
Associated Press journalist
Manuel Valdes contributed to
this report from Portland.
Federal biologists consider options to save emaciated orca
By PHUONG LE
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Federal biol-
ogists are weighing a range of
emergency options to save an
emaciated endangered orca,
including possibly feeding it
live salmon at sea dosed with
medication.
Whale researchers are wor-
ried about the survival of the
4-year-old female orca known
as J50, a member of the dwin-
dling population of south-
ern resident killer whales that
spends summer months in the
inland waters of Washington
state and British Columbia.
Another female orca from
the group of just 75 animals,
known as J35, has attracted
global attention over the past
week as she has tried to keep
her dead calf’s body afloat
while swimming miles.
Federal biologists are
weighing whether and how
to intervene for the young
female. The options range
from doing nothing to using
a boat to give the orca sup-
plemental fish to increase her
hydration and nutrition.
“Everything is on the table.
We’re working on every pos-
sibility to help,” said Michael
Milstein, a spokesman with
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration Fisher-
ies, the agency responsible for
protecting marine mammals.
“The feeling is it’s quite urgent
given the whale’s condition.”
NOAA Fisheries would
still need federal approval
from another division of the
agency before it moves ahead
with an intervention plan.
Whale experts are focused
now on collecting breath and
fecal samples and taking aerial
drone photographs of the
whale to assess her health and
figure out what’s wrong.
Veterinarians hope to get
out on a boat and visually do a
check-up and take a sample of
the white patch on the back of
her head that could be a sign of
an infection.
“If we come up with more
evidence that she’s suffer-
ing from pneumonia or a fun-
An aerial view
of adult female
southern resi-
dent killer whale
(J16) swims
with her calf
(J50) in 2015.
NOAA Fisheries/Van-
couver Aquarium
gal infection or other disease,
that might be an opportunity to
provide her with medication,”
said Michael Ford, director of
the conservation biology divi-
sion at the Northwest Fisher-
ies Science Center in Seattle.
He said no decision has been
made.
A team of top veterinarians
and whale experts are explor-
ing ways to deliver live fish —
and oral medication — to the
orca and doing so in such way
that won’t prompt the orca to
become accustomed to peo-
ple or boats, said Joe Gay-
dos, a wildlife veterinarian
and science director of SeaDoc
Society.
“We don’t want a situation
where we’re trying to help the
animal but end up hurting it,”
he added.
Gaydos said helping J50 is
important because she will be
the future of the population,
but at the same time no one is
losing sight of broader efforts
Going to the Dogs!
T HE
D AILY
A STORIAN ’ S
Welcome to
Bubbles
National Dog Day
Photo Contest!
Grab your collars and your cameras, National Dog Day is Aug. 26 and we are
on the prowl for the bestest, cutest, snuggliest pups on the coast.
In 2016, we fetched 103 photos; last year we romped home with 207 shots of
more than 230 critters.
According to www.nationaldogday.com, the day celebrates all dogs, mixed
breed and purebred, and works to promote the many dogs that need to be
rescued.
Submit your photo(s) before midnight Sunday, Aug. 12. Then, come back
and visit the pooches all that next week and vote on your favorite before mid-
night Saturday, Aug. 18. Vote once a day.
The top vote-getters will be featured on the front page of the annual Going to
the Dogs section on Friday, Aug. 24.
Share with your friends and family: #Going2TheDogsNW
Now, who’s a good boy? Who’s a good girl?
For more information, call The Daily Astorian at (800) 781-3211
or send a message through Facebook.
to help the entire population
recover.
The orcas face nutritional
stress because of a lack of Chi-
nook salmon, their main diet.
They also face threats from
toxic contamination and ves-
sel noise and disturbances that
disrupt their ability to commu-
nicate and forage.
The whales are listed as
endangered in the U.S. and
Canada. Individual whales
are identified by unique mark-
ings or variations in their fin
shapes, and each whale is
given a number and name.
Ford said the orcas are intel-
ligent animals and can quickly
understand where their food
source is coming from and that
could create a danger for the
animals. “It’s not a good long-
term solution,” he added.
Feeding the animal fish also
won’t be easy logistically and it
would be a long shot. “I’m not
aware of previous efforts to feed
killer whales traveling with its
family in the wild,” Ford said.
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