Saturday’s rally and protest in downtown Portland calls for a little perspective. While the heated rhetoric that surrounded the event warrants attention, it is important to not overstate their importance.
Certainly, these are tense times, with rallies, marches, protests and counterprotests taking place throughout the country. But in contrast to the couple thousand people who gathered, more than 21,000 people attended Saturday night’s Portland Timbers game about 1 mile from the site of the rally. We would bet, in fact, that more people attended the Vancouver Farmers Market on Saturday than took part in political engagement in Portland.
That helps to lend some context to the rally, even as Portland moves to the top of the national news reports. Most citizens, even those who are politically involved, eschew the demonstrations of political force that are becoming increasingly common.
Fortunately, despite weeks of tough talk and concerns of violence leading up to Saturday’s demonstrations, things remained under control. The Oregonian reported: “Police formed barriers along Southwest Naito Parkway early in the day and effectively kept the groups separated, close enough to hurl insults, but too far to throw punches.” Police eventually used stun grenades to disperse the protesters and at least four people were arrested, but serious violence was avoided.
