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Open Letter To Mayor Sam Adams
From Occupy Portland Liason Team

Introduction by Mark Vorpahl

20 November, 2011
Countercurrents.org

The following Open Letter is from the Occupy Portland Liaison Team to Portland Mayor Sam Adams. It was written in the wake of not only massive police violence against the supporters of the Occupy Movement in Portland on the weekend of November 12-13, but of actions against the Occupy Movement in more than a dozen other cities as well. This attempt to repress an emerging movement that speaks to the interests of all working people was coordinated, and its tactics were systematically developed on a national level. From local Mayors and police forces to President Obama’s Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the FBI, the 1% aligned its agents to counter the democratic rights and peaceful arguments of the Occupy Movement in the language of violent baton attacks, arrests, non-lethal ammo, and tear gas.

The role of Portland Democrat Mayor Sam Adams was particularly insidious. After the establishment of Occupy Portland with a 10,000-strong demonstration, Adams was quick to pose as a friend of the movement, as this letter explains. Occupy Portland responded to this friendly facade with a sincere attempt to build a bridge with the Mayor's office. Adams’ posture, however, was more a testament to his clever deceptive maneuvering than his sincerity. The actions he implemented this last weekend looked no different than the actions of Republican Mayors who were openly hostile to the Occupy Movement from the beginning. As the letter states:

Despite our efforts, over the weekend, you decided to cave to pressure from your friends at the Portland Business Alliance, the Police Association and other groups interested in maintaining the status quo of economic injustice and issued us an eviction notice. Instead of allowing us to address conditions within our encampment in a transparent and democratic way you chose to enlist the full apparatus of police repression to destroy our encampment.

The tactics of Mayor Adams are familiar to any trade unionist who has been involved in a struggle with his or her employer. Frequently, employers will pretend to want "what is best for their workers." It does not take too long for the workers to realize, however, that what the employer really wants is more profits that they attempt to gain by destroying the workers' ability to unite in concerted collective action. Adams acted according to a similar plan against Occupy Portland on behalf of the city’s and the nation’s big business interests.

Experience is the most effective teacher, and the mass collective action of the Occupy Movement is teaching on a mass level. It is clear from the statement below that Occupy Portland has learned a good amount about where the likes of smooth talking "liberal" Democratic Mayors line up when the interests of the 1% are challenged and whose side the state is on when conflict emerges between the 1% and the 99%. It states:

We are open to working with City Hall on many issues but our trust in you and in the Portland Police Bureau has been severely broken.

The Occupy Movement cannot be stopped by the destruction of its encampments, especially now that this movement has awakened the class consciousness of millions of working people across the country. With its evolving unifying message of "We Are the 99%," it will move forward after the events of this last weekend wiser and stronger.

November 15, 2011

An Open Letter to Mayor Sam Adams:

We, as members of the Occupy Portland Liaison Team, are officially resigning from our roles as city and police liaisons for the Occupy Portland movement. This is in direct response to the deplorable police actions of this past weekend and your refusal to communicate clearly with us during that time.

We were specifically asked by City Hall to create this Liaison Team, for the purpose of facilitating clear communication between city government, police and the Occupy Portland movement. We worked hard to assemble a capable team of activists to act as a conduit of information as agreed upon by our General Assembly.

Initial meetings were amiable and seemingly productive, as your staff was able to express concerns, some of which we shared, about conditions within the encampment. We facilitated communication and followed up by working closely with city employees and our own volunteers to address issues relevant to camp safety.

Despite our efforts, over the weekend, you decided to cave to pressure from your friends at the Portland Business Alliance, the Police Association and other groups interested in maintaining the status quo of economic injustice and issued us an eviction notice. Instead of allowing us to address conditions within our encampment in a transparent and democratic way you chose to enlist the full apparatus of police repression to destroy our encampment.

There were no efforts made by the Portland Police Bureau to communicate to Occupy Portland Police Liaisons or members of our Liaison Team during the events that transpired over the course of Saturday November 12th through Sunday November 13th. We find this highly disturbing since we were asked by your office to be the conduit of information to and from Occupy Portland.

It seems that when City Hall wants something from us you make every effort to reach out, but when you plan to do something to us, communication is halted and you let the police do the talking with their batons. Our trust in City Hall was apparently misplaced.

Thousands of Portland residents of all ages came out over the weekend to support us and help defend our constitutional right to peaceful assembly. They were greeted by hundreds of militarized riot police armed with tasers, stun batons, beanbag weapons, tear gas, pepper spray and live ammunition. This was shocking to many of us who did not expect you to respond to unarmed, peaceful and joyful protest with potentially deadly force. The next day we observed police officers clubbing our fellow citizens and friends with batons, throwing people to the ground and making many unnecessary arrests in the process of destroying our encampment.

An example of this blatant police brutality is the violent attack on Justin James Bridges, the sign language interpreter for Occupy Portland. After repeatedly communicating to Portland Police officers that he had a broken back, police officers responded by beating him and putting a knee into his back. He was hospitalized and lost feeling and control of movement in one arm and one leg due to the unreasonable and excessive physical aggression inflicted by these police officers. Justin was released from the hospital yesterday after spending the night in the hospital. Justin is now in a wheelchair.

You told us on the first day of our protest that you were sympathetic to the goals of our movement and wanted to help find a solution that works for everybody. The behavior over the weekend of police officers under your command has clearly indicated otherwise. Yours is the latest in a string of aggressive, dangerous crackdowns by city and state governments across the nation attempting to silence the Occupy movement.

You claim to support us and yet you tell your police force to destroy us. Peaceful citizens are being injured in the process.

This is not democratic; it is autocratic. Portland expects more from its City Government.

Signing on to ending corporate personhood and changing campaign finance laws amounts to a conveniently timed attempt to restore your declining reputation among members of the progressive left. While we agree with these goals, offering piecemeal crumbs of liberal reform is not acceptable as an olive branch to our movement.
We have said from day one that our fight is not with you, but rather with banks, irresponsible corporations and a corrupt federal government. By camping outside of City Hall we gave you a choice to decide to stand with us and with working class Americans. Instead you made the choice to protect unjust social and economic policies that are leading our nation into a state of financial ruin and institutionalized oppression. The actions of the Portland Police have made it clear where you stand and no amount of political grandstanding will justify your creation of a police state in downtown Portland.

We at Occupy Portland will continue to make our message heard and to stand firmly in opposition to policies and decisions that perpetuate oppression and injustice.
We are open to working with City Hall on many issues but our trust in you and in the Portland Police Bureau has been severely broken. This trust can be somewhat repaired if you choose to apologize for the actions of those under your command this weekend and hold all officers fully accountable for their use of excessive physical violence against unarmed peaceful protesters. Please address your apology to those injured, to Occupy Portland, the Liaison Team and to the Occupy Movement.

In response to your "offer" of support yesterday, we ask that you make public all raw unedited police footage related to Occupy Portland. We await your apology and delivery of this footage with an open mind because we believe there is potential for collaboration with city government in the future.

Despite acting in the interests of corporate elites, you, Sam Adams, are also part of the 99 percent. There will always be a place for you in our movement, should you honestly choose to join us.

Sincerely,

Adriane Ackerman, City Liaison
Alaina Melville, Police Liaison POC
Jim Oliver, City Liaison POC
Kip Silverman, Media Liaison
Micaiah Dutt, Police Liaison
Trip Jennings, Police Liaison
Endorsed by:
Katherine Sherman POC Kids’ Village
Jay Dragon, POC Kid Village
Kid Village
Illona Trogub, Media & Communications
William Daniel Showalter
Engineer Sam
Mike Blue hair, POC Occupy Portland Video Collective
Vargus Pike, Citizen of the state
Ivy Seaburg, RN Medic
Rochelle
Chase Wilson
Tony Zilka, Union Liaison

Mark Vorpahl is an union steward, social justice activist, and writer for Workers' Action - www.workerscompass.org. He can be reached at [email protected].

 

 



 


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