“Portland police have reported 6,283 uses of force during protests between May and the end of September, according to its quarterly reports.” [1] So it should be no surprise that when it comes to law enforcement that all cops are bastards! On September 23rd, there was no exception to this when, “Violence erupted Wednesday night at protests in downtown Portland as hundreds of people gathered to condemn a lack of direct charges against Kentucky police officers for the March killing of Breonna Taylor.” [2] I was there, I witnessed first-hand how frantic and out of control these public servants really are and what I experienced was nothing short of terrifying & traumatizing. While I was downtown peacefully protesting I saw a person without a helmet trip backwards off a curb hitting their head hard on the asphalt. I went to assist the person get up when suddenly chaos broke out as the officers began to charge at the crowd. It wasn't less than a second after I asked the person if they were okay did I feel a firm hand grip my shoulder and throw me backwards down towards the ground.
Footage of the officers charging at the protestors. You'll see me at 0:09sec making my way to the injured protestor, you can see the person having trouble getting up at 0:10sec in the bottom left corner behind the journalist. New York Post. 24 September 2020. [3]
Two protestors get thrown down by the police, I was the victim on the left seen at 0:26sec. Streamworks. September 2020. [4]
Once I hit the asphalt, about 4 or 5 officers swarmed me and spread me out like a starfish; one grabbed my head and repeatedly began slamming it into the ground, another focused on trying to rip off my gas mask whenever my head would come up from being thrashed down, the others each took a limb to twist and hold down. Frantically as they began to rip off all my safety gear; helmet, gas mask, and back pack, I saw another officer step aside with my ‘Say Their Names/ANTIFA’ sign/shield to try to break it apart. Fortunately, I made a quality item and it took him some time to destroy it.
I think that's what saved me from panicking, honestly, when he was going at it he reminded of the scene from the Zoolander movie with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson where their characters, Zoolander and Hansel get frustrated & fail at their attempts to figure out a computer. Funny right?!
Now, while this was all happening and I was being jumped by the police, they still felt compelled to escalate their brutality and began yelling out for a knife to cut the straps to my bag instead of just sliding it off my arms. Eventually, I was able to get them to realize that if they just let go of one arm they could slide the strap off. They instead decided to rip the strap apart by the use of force, then without my permission they illegally began searching it and after they found nothing they tossed it 20ft away then telling me to get out of there. As a result of this assault I’ve had to seek medical help for the prolonged pain and discomfort that was caused to my left shoulder.
A streamer caught the tail end of my assault at 0:22sec; as he passed by he was thinking I was getting arrested. You'll later see me walk out from behind the line handling my helmet & gas mask at 4min 33sec. Anonymous/Unknown. September 2020.
After seeing a number of physicians and physical therapy sessions, it’s been discussed that it’s possible the damage they’ve done could be permanent and the pain everlasting. This as you can imagine has caused a lot of personal and marital stress, so much so, that the fear of my growing medical expenses and disabilities nearly cost me my marriage. Last week, after 10 years of marriage and 2 wonderful children my wife had decided that enough was enough and took the kids & left. She said she didn’t want a future where she’s broke all the time.
Thankfully, after some time my wife and I were able to talk and we're going to try to work things out. With a few marital resolutions that we made together to improve our relationship and selves; one being to make my health a priority and another was to seek legal council for help to hold the Portland Police Bureau accountable for their assault & violation to my rights. We figured since this injury wasn't my fault why should our family have to pay the medical bills, let my attackers take responsibility for their actions and have the city cover the expenses.
#DefundThePolice #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor #BlackLivesMatter #GetOutOfYourHomes #IntoTheStreets #UseYourPrivilege #FuckThePolice #ACAB #StopPoliceBrutality #ChronicPain #MedicareForAll #PeopleOverProfit #PeopleOverProperty #Fuck12
Works Cited
[1] Bernstein, Maxine. “Portland police report 6,283 uses of force during protests in 2020, but data has significant gaps.” The Oregonian. 16 November 2020. https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/11/portland-police-report-6283-uses-of-force-during-protests-in-2020-yet-consultant-found-significant-gaps-in-force-reports.html. Accessed 01 December 2020.
[2] Haas, Ryan. “Police, protesters clash in downtown Portland during Breonna Taylor demonstration.” OPB. 24 September 2020. https://www.opb.org/article/2020/09/24/police-protesters-clash-in-downtown-portland-during-breonna-taylor-demonstration/. Accessed 01 December 2020.
[3] Barone, Vincent. "Video shows Portland protesters hurl Molotov cocktail at police." New York Times. 24 September 2020. https://nypost.com/2020/09/24/video-portland-protesters-hurl-molotov-cocktail-at-police/. Accessed 01 December 2020.
[4] Streamworks. "Portland Protest: September 23rd." Facebook, September 2020. https://www.facebook.com/streamworkspdx. Accessed 01 December 2020.
[5] “Zoolander (9/10) Movie CLIP - Computer Experts (2001) HD.” YouTube: Move-clips, 10 October 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2uHBhKTSe0. Accessed 01 December 2020.