Police rushed to control the throng as it surged during a march across the Morrison and Hawthorne bridges during a Presidents Day protest that brought hundreds of people to downtown Portland.
When over 300,000 people gathered downtown at noon and marched onto the Morrison Bridge at 2:00 pm, police officers on bicycles were busy trying to keep the mob out of multiple lanes of traffic.
Others in the crowd seemed to be using the pedestrian walkways on the Hawthorne Bridge to make their way back into downtown. By that time, there were an estimated 1,500 people in the masses.
Signs denouncing President Donald Trump’s and his specially appointed liaison, entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has been rapidly firing government personnel, were carried by protesters.
One sign read: “No one elected Elon,” while another made reference to an online currency that Musk was pushing, saying, “Democracy doesn’t accept Dogecoin.”
So far, no one has been arrested.
According to Fifty-FiftyOne organizers, the demonstration is a decentralized, quick response to the unlawful and anti-democratic activities of the Trump administration, and it is anticipated to continue until 4 p.m.
The Pacific Northwest is just starting to feel the effects of Trump and Musk’s mass firings, where hundreds of people have been let go from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington and the Bonneville Power Administration utility.
For The Oregonian, Julia Silverman writes about K–12 education. You can email her at [email protected].
For The Oregonian/OregonLive, Zane Sparling reports on court proceedings and breaking news. You may contact him at [email protected], 503-319-7083, or pdxzane.
Beth Nakamura, a photojournalist from Oregon, contributed.
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