I remember when 10:30 was bedtime. Now it's time to walk down to the Justice Center so I can live-tweet whatever fresh hell tonight has in store#DefendPDX #blacklivesmatter #portland #oregon #blm #acab #PortlandProtest #PDXprotest #Feds #MomsAreHere #police #FedsGoHome
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Bizarro Riot Ribs is feeding people, offering haircuts, supplying medical necessities. I wish I could feel wholesome about it like I used to
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
"Guillotine" by the Coup is playing–probably my favorite protest jam
I step away to walk a friend to his car and miss the first gassing of the night. Fuck. Teach me to turn my back on the fence. Goggle time
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Everyone at the front has respirators. Even a couple weeks ago that wasn't true. More umbrellas than shields up here
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Drummers pay a syncopated beat while people chant "fuck the feds!"
An activist demands that they cease. She is furious about the dancing
She is angry about white people taking attention from the movement. The press clusters around her
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
"I'm tired of feeling like I'm worthless! I'm tired of feeling like I'm less than! Because my life matters!"
The drum line now as raucus as it was before the speech. People chanting "black lives matter" and "abolish the police state" A horn plays along. It's as close to a concert as it gets in this age of Covid
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
I ponder risking wiping the inside of my goggles
The instant I take off my goggles I see a protester inside the fence and hear a barrage of pepper balls. I get lucky: no hit, no residue
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
The drumline doesn't even stop. This is its function: Music to tell our hearts it's ok; chanting to tell our souls that we are not alone
They're out and they're gassing. Rather than give protesters a chance to throw canisters back at them, they now gas themselves and use leaf blowers to propel it towards us pic.twitter.com/Ba4sHTEaXr
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
They're back under cover now, firing pepper balls and warning us in tones too soft to hear; a lullaby that promises nightmares
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
I finally make out the announcement: unlawful assembly declared
Peaceful protesters asked to leave East on Salmon and Main
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Peaceful protesters largely elect to remain and exercise their inalienable human right to free assembly instead
They're out and gassing hard. So hard. Firing high. I see two people get hit and go down hard. Protesters drag them to the sidewalk
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
They retreat again. Protesters back to the front, banging on the fence
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
The LRAD warns of unlawful assembly and I swear he sounds cheerful. This is going to be an ugly night and if I said I wasn't a bit sccared I'd be lying. My body remembers what happened to it last Saturday
Feds back out, gassing 3rd and Main
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Very few people at the fence now: moms, shield bearers, and one guy who gives zero fucks#DefendPDX #blacklivesmatter #portland #oregon #blm #acab #PortlandProtest #PDXprotest #Feds #MomsAreHere #police #FedsGoHome pic.twitter.com/2Ai669iEiL
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Looks like it. Cops in the park also. There's nowhere to go
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
This might be it pic.twitter.com/SSFtUUOVlh
The trumpeter plays the Sad Trombone sound and it's the funniest shit I've ever heard
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
2nd and main gassed. They just stand there watching
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
They are communicating without words. They could hurt us if they wanted to. Arrest us if they wanted to. Aren't we lucky they don't seem to want to? Yet? pic.twitter.com/bxv3Yja5jy
There are so many of them and I don't understand what they're doing other than I guess showing force pic.twitter.com/n90iPuTxYQ
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
One of the moms, who is black, is giving these fuckers the lecture of a lifetime
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
They answer with silence punctuated by occasional pepper balls
A commotion at 2nd and Salmon . Gas deployed. By the time I get there the protesters are elated. "Yeah, get back in your hole!!" I guess they must have done their " pop smoke" trick
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
They're off to 2nd and Main, where DHS boys await. I like the spirit of this group
War#DefendPDX #blacklivesmatter #portland #oregon #blm #acab #PortlandProtest #PDXprotest #Feds #MomsAreHere #police #FedsGoHome pic.twitter.com/atTbRZmuSj
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Currently a standoff at 3rd and Salmon, with the feds between the protesters and the courthouse
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
"What are you? Blackwater?!"
"Dear mom, I'm so proud. Today I went to Portland and fucked up a bunch of hippies"
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
It's ready difficult to follow the thread of what's happenings. Someone threw a firecracker at the feds in 3rd and they gassed us with that green shit and retreated to 2nd and Salmon
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
All I can think is: is Bye Bye Bye by N'Sync or Backstreet Boys?
Crowd waiting at the garage. Playing Guillotine again. God I love this song pic.twitter.com/dJpv9wMImw
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Anyway protesters are pushing in that garage door periodically. As this yields no results people start to wander back up to 3rd St
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Maybe 150 people here, scattered. People grooving to The Coup and looking around nervously. What a fascinating combination, dancing and fear. Music and movement reminding our brains that we're alive, we're ok
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Well, more or less. Protesters sit on the curb and compare injuries
A couple protesters take it upon themselves to clean up the park by dumping the trash over the fence. "Feed, feed the piggies! It's feeding time!"
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
The feds do not approve: a loud and voluminous retort of pepper balls
At least I know what they're shooting at this time
And they come out and gas everything obviously. This is a very small part of it. The park also fills with clouds of chemics
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
Bella Ciao plays loud pic.twitter.com/PoaaV4jKhg
Not quite usual I guess. Usually with this few protesters it would be kinda quiet right now. They'd be resting and waiting for most of us to wander off. Which, for the record, I would love to do
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
But the pepper barrages keep coming and I feel certain more gas is in our future
More gas pic.twitter.com/hPAIKR0vFy
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
A protester tries to push a gas canister away from the group and gets hit pic.twitter.com/Sy0VVkSY3F
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
While I've been uploading: periodic pepper balls volleys. Anyone who dares take off their respirator regrets it immediately
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
A protester begins to shout obscenities:
"I hope your toast always falls butter side down!"
"I hope your flip flops break when you go to the beach!"
I'm home! What a night. The feds left with a bang. To them I say only: bella ciao
— Laura Jedeed is Kind of Back I Guess (@LauraJedeed) July 30, 2020
(We'll see if they're really gone tomorrow)
Solidarity to everyone still out there