THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE gathered in downtown Portland last night after protesters in the Occupy Portland movement defied an eviction order issued by city officials.
The crowd built up around the camp set up across two adjacent parks in the city after officials had issued a midnight deadline for the camp’s dispersal.
After early confrontations, riot police and much of the crowds dispersed before dawn. The group had called for people to gather and prevent the police from being able to carry out their eviction last night:
Video uploaded by OccupyPDX
Although some of the protesters continue to camp in the parks the overall numbers have fallen significantly from the hundreds who occupied the area before the eviction notice deadline, according to the Associated Press.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams ordered the camp to be shut down over health and security concerns, and today he remarked that the enforcement of the eviction may take some time.
Officials in the Californian city of Oakland issued an eviction order to the Occupy Oakland camp on Friday.
Meanwhile, police clashed with protesters in San Francisco today and dozens of people were arrested at other Occupy camps in the US this weekend.
Nineteen people were arrested after police moved to clear protesters from a Salt Lake City park yesterday and 24 Occupy Albany protesters were arrested after defying a city park curfew.
- Additional reporting by the AP
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