Portland park closed after protesters confront workers

PORTLAND – City officials shut down a downtown Portland park Saturday night after protesters confronted park workers.

The order came after Occupy Portland demonstrators set up tents and vowed to stay through the winter.

Demonstrators gathered in a portion of the park that runs through Southwest Portland. At least 10 tents had been set up, and there were about a dozen police officers around the park but none in the camp, the Oregonian reported.

Protesters prevented park employees and rangers from enforcing park codes, so the park shut down 30 minutes ahead of its normal 9 p.m. closing time.

Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson told the Associated Press that authorities will decide whether to evict demonstrators based on what’s going on at the park.

Police had earlier warned that erecting structures violates park rules and could lead to police action to remove protesters.

On Saturday evening, the Occupy Portland website declared, “We have a park!” It said, “The kitchen is open,” and invited the public to bring love, tents, sleeping bags and snacks.

The park is five blocks west of Lownsdale Square, one of the two parks that demonstrators occupied for more than a month until police evicted them on Nov. 13. Lownsdale and two adjacent parks that had been the site of demonstrations remained fenced Saturday.

On Friday, Mayor Sam Adams told KATU-TV that he won’t allow the protesters to camp at any city park “based on the experience that these encampments become inherently dangerous.”