page_title: Occupy Portland
section_title: Eviction
hierarchical_section_title: Occupy Portland / Occupation of Lownsdale and Chapman squares / Relationship with city officials / Eviction
caption_attribution_description: English: Street map of downtown Portland, Oregon, including Pioneer Courthouse Square and the Plaza Blocks, where the Occupy Portland rally took place in October 2011
context_page_description: Occupy Portland was a collaboration that began on October 6, 2011 in downtown Portland, Oregon as a protest and demonstration against economic inequality worldwide. It is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City on September 17, 2011.
  The movement's initial October 6 March drew an estimated 10,000 to Pioneer Courthouse Square. The protesters later set up an encampment in the Plaza Blocks Park near Portland City Hall. The Plaza Blocks include Lownsdale Square on the north side and Chapman Square to the south, which were the focus of the encampment.
  On November 10, Portland mayor Sam Adams gave the protesters a deadline to clear out of the park by 12:01 AM on November 13. The order was given in response to rising crime rates and police overtime costs. It was reported in February 2012 that police overtime pay for policing Occupy Portland activities has amounted to approximately US$2 million. The tent city that was the physical base of Occupy Portland was dismantled by the Portland Police on November 13. However, the eponymous organization behind Occupy Portland has continued to plan acts of civil disobedience.
context_section_description: At 12:01 AM on November 13, Adams gave the order for the Portland Police Bureau to clear out and dismantle the park. Roughly 70% of the campers left promptly, though the remaining 30% stayed. In the following hours, thousands of Portlanders arrived to see events unfold. some Portlanders came in support of the protesters and others came to see how the police would end the occupation. During the night, the police both advanced and pulled back twice with reports of scattered violence. A mounted police officer's horse stepped on a person's foot, a policeman was hit by a firework, and another policeman was hit with a water bottle.
  Riot police eventually shut down the protest, arresting dozens. Some protesters claimed excessive force on the part of the police. One protester complained: "[Protesters] were talking about what we were going to do and then [the police] just started hitting people". The police threatened to use chemical agents and impact weapons if the protesters did not disperse.  Ultimately, though, the eviction was less violent than in other cities. The police action was streamed live online and received global press coverage.
  Soon after dawn, the police were able to sweep away and dismantle most of the tents in the encampment. A group retook the northwest corner of Chapman Square until riot police physically took over the area around noon.
  Though the camp was destroyed, the showdown was claimed as a victory by Occupy Portland because the police were pushed back twice and their deadline for dismantling the camp was not met. The group also pointed to the largely nonviolent nature of the downtown protest camp throughout its existence and its ultimate removal.
  The city subsequently built a chain-link fence around the two squares to prevent protesters from returning to the camp site. In the evening of November 13, protesters re-formed on Main Street, one block west of the original encampment. The police broke up the assembly.
caption: Map of downtown Portland, showing where the protesters camped
exif: {}