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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Occupy / Bikes Police Confiscate Disco Tricycle, Make Arrests at Tahrir Square Rally

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 10:56 AM

"The Disco Trike is a prisoner of war," says Bike Swarm organizer and internet TV host Dan Kaufman, whose highly distinctive tricycle—equipped with a sound system—was impounded last night during a downtown protest in solidarity with Tahrir Square. The golden trike and accompanying crowd of bikes and dance party tunes has been a regular part of Occupy Portland protests.

Dan Kaufman and Disco Trike in action at the November 17th Occupy protest
  • Dan Kaufman and Disco Trike in action at the November 17th Occupy protest

Last night's protest started out mildly: According to protesters, about 75 people gathered in Pioneer Square to share speeches and food on the anniversary of Egypt's uprising. At about 6pm, the group then decided to stage an unpermitted march through downtown, heading up SW Broadway flanked by police. Because the march had no permit, protesters legally had to stick to the sidewalk, but as some took to the street, police officers edged them back. As the march continued to Portland State University and city hall, police began enforcing jaywalking laws, handing out several citations, say marchers. As red lights and citations split up the crowd, the mood got tense and antsy.

"At city hall I turned up Bob Marley music, it totally chilled everyone out," says Kaufman. "I felt some of the cops even gave me a nod of, 'Oh, that's cool.'"

But things quickly got un-chill as the crowd marched around the fenced-in Lownsdale Park and Chapman Square and set up on the Elk statute in the middle of Main Street, shouting, "Whose parks?! Our parks!" Several mounted police in riot gear as well as an estimated two dozen officers on bikes rolled up to the protest and began issuing citations and making arrests.

Kaufman had stopped playing music at that point, but he was swiftly surrounded by officers who handcuffed him, cited him for "unlawful operation of sound producing equipment" and impounded his sparkly tricycle and video camera. Later, officers returned the camera and Kaufman posted a video of the incident to his online bike TV show, Crank My Chain (the protest starts at minute 18 of that video and is interspersed throughout the rest of the video, between international news and occasional rants).

"What if the police had just let these people do their march? It would have just been 75 people marching through the street, nothing bad would have happened," says Kaufman.

The crowd continued marching between city hall and the Justice Center for several hours, setting up a drum circle before slowly dispersing. An account of the protest is up at PortlandOccupier.org as well as the Oregonian.

I have not yet confirmed the number of arrests and citations, but the Oregonian had the tally at four arrests last night for disorderly conduct and interfering with police. Meanwhile, Disco Trike is on lockdown until Kaufman's court date in mid-February.

UPDATE 1:45PM— Police confirm that there were six arrests last night.

 

Comments (9) RSS

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1
Can the police also confiscate the corporate "paper shredder" vehicles (iron mountain/recall/etc) downtown that are *well* above noise ordinances?
Posted by ► on January 26, 2012 at 10:59 AM · Report
2
I can just hear Robert Stack reading, "But things quickly got un-chill."
Posted by Will Radik on January 26, 2012 at 11:06 AM · Report
3
As the operator of the other mobile system seen occasionally at opdx actions (the big one), this is the sort of news that frightens and angers me most. It's been repeatedly established that music is a form of free speech, and noise ordinance or not, a warning is the usual practice if there's any violation happening that's not being overtly disrespectful or illegal. That said, entering into a fenced off park was an obvious risk. Doesn't make the arrest and confiscation right, but he had to know that was a possible outcome of that specific action / statement. Hopefully the judge agrees that regardless of the violation, there was no danger to public safety.
Posted by jesiah on January 26, 2012 at 12:32 PM · Report
4
Can they really just seize your property for a fortnight? Seems a bit excessive. What if he was using that as transportation to his job?
Posted by Allison's Cunt on January 26, 2012 at 2:09 PM · Report
5
Those 'occupy' idiots. Not again.
Posted by frankieb on January 26, 2012 at 2:42 PM · Report
6
Not YOU again, Frankie. Get a job, already.




"As the march continued to Portland State University and city hall, police began enforcing jaywalking laws, handing out several citations..."


Hundreds of people "jaywalk" in this city at any given point every day. Infact, depending on where you live (other East for example), one can't help but "jaywalk".

So the fact that the Portland Police Gestapo (PPG) chose to arbitrarily hand out a whole cluster of jaywalking citations for NO reason other than deriding a PEACEFUL, NON-VIOLENT march proves that these pigs enforce this ordinance selectively!

If anyone who was targeted for a "jaywalking" ordinanace during this is actually reading this, I URGE YOU TO FIGHT IT IN COURT! If you still end up paying your "jaywalking/extortion" fee to the city, just pay it in PENNIES! That's EXACTLY what i did 4 years ago - $76 "jay walking/extortion" fee... all in pennies.
Posted by DamosA on January 26, 2012 at 3:28 PM · Report
7
Jeshiah, I think I have seen your rig. Yes, this is very concerning. You may have misread. We marched around the fence, not inside. I have posted just he video of them confiscating the camera and trike here. There has been an outpouring of support (FrankieB excluded). Thank you. Though this pales in comparison to what has and IS happening in Tahrir, it is very concerning and I believe intended to have a chillin effect on free speech. Have no fear! We WILL Do It Better!

http://www.crankmychain.com/pdxktv/j25-dis…
Posted by Dan Kaufman on January 26, 2012 at 3:43 PM · Report
8
If 'occupy' wasn't scattered enough already with an elusive ajenda within the States - now they want to take on Global Issues.
Why don't they just fess up and say they just like annoying people with drum circles and crap every so often, blocking traffic, and be through with it already.
Posted by frankieb on January 26, 2012 at 6:33 PM · Report
9
so he was on the sidewalk, video taping and NOT using his sound system. sounds premeditated. thanks for bringing what is happening in Tahrir square back into our consciousness!
Posted by revphil on January 26, 2012 at 11:17 PM · Report

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