On Saturday night (March 1), cops surrounded the Blue Monk on Southeast Belmont. As originally reported in the Oregonian, their target was the hiphop show in the Blue Monk's basement, whose bill included Illmaculate, Luck-One, and Mikey Vegaz. The Portland Police Bureau officially cites capacity issues as the official reason for their presence, responding to a call for further assistance from the Fire Marshal. Other sources present said the officers at the scene stated they were concerned with gang related activity due to the presence of one of the performers on the bill and would not leave until the performer had left the building.

Luck-One delivered an excellent homecoming set without incident, but due to the police presence, headliner Illmaculate opted not to perform. He made an announcement to the crowd that he refused to continue while the police were harassing the venue and its patrons. Later that night he tweeted:

I will not perform in this city as long as the blatant targeting of black culture and minorities congregating is acceptable common practice.
— illmaculate (@illmaculate) March 2, 2014

Mercury contributor Ryan Feigh was at the show on Saturday, although due to overwhelming police presence, he left after Luck-One's set. Here is his account of the night.

Showed up at 9:30, ran into some friends and made small talk. Around 10 o' clock Mikey Vegaz went on. Never seen him before, so I grabbed a drink and one of the many open seats. Around 11, Luck-One went on, and I got another drink and moved up to by the front of the stage. Amazing set. Not sure how long Luck's set was, but after it was finished I went to return my empty glass to the bar.

I then noticed there were four armed police officers surrounding the bar, the merch table, and the entrance to the bottom of the stairs, glaring at the crowd like statues with weapons. I got spooked and bounced after making a quick joke with Mac Smiff about how ridiculous it was. So I left early; apparently Illmaculate was as disturbed by their presence as well.

There were about 20 to 30 more officers in the upstairs and outside of the venue. There were four cars with lights flashing outside the venue when I left. Their intimidation always works on me, I don't deal well with 'roided-out looking tough guys with guns glaring at me.

Overall I'm frustrated, but not surprised. I've witnessed these tactics far too many times. The dissonance between the Portland Police department and a peaceful musical community is disheartening and depressing. Every time something like this goes down, it gets press, becomes a hot topic on social media for a week at best, and then gets ignored until the next time. I've become very cynical about the ingrained systematic oppression of a peaceful community. The only thing clear to me is that in a case such as this, the arriving officers are clearly not there to protect anyone. They are there to intimidate and cause fear. Which they do all too well.

I'd have to look up the legal official fire capacity for that venue, but it did not seem conceivably anywhere near it. It was like a show at The Doug Fir where the entire audience fits comfortably in front of the soundboard/stairs.

This is the latest symptom of a far larger problem between Portland's hiphop community and the Portland police bureau. We'll be examining this story and reporting further. In the meantime, here are some more photos from the night, taken by Yousef Hatlani of Faces on the Radio.