Portland police, businesses 'cautiously optimistic' for weekend's anti-Trump protest

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Demonstrators are preparing for another showout in Portland as cities across the nation coordinate protests against the Trump Administration.

Portland Police Bureau said they expect to see thousands of protesters in the downtown area as groups are expected to show up Saturday for peaceful demonstrations.

Portland’s “50501 Movement” — 50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement — and Rose City Indivisible are just a couple of the groups expected to join forces for a two mile march.

Portland Police Bureau Chief Bob Day said their incident command center is prepared, but based on risk assessments and talks with organizers, he believes the demonstrations will be a peaceful example of people exercising their First Amendment rights.

"We are continuing to use our dialog officers to reach out to planners, and we anticipate having resources available if there is a situation that arises,” Day said. “But I'm cautiously optimistic."

PPB also brought in international crowd behavior expert Professor Clifford Stott, who teaches social psychology at Keele University. The partnership brings on dialog-led policing as part of a deescalation grant funded by the Department of Justice.

"We must bare in mind that high risk does not mean violence is going to occur,” he said.

However, he warned that Saturday’s events may be the first of many.

"I think we are going to see lots of protests, and we need to make sure that some of the mistakes that were made in 2020 are not made again,” Stott said.

Meanwhile, there aren’t many businesses boarding up ahead of the protests, even near the meetup point at the Battleship Oregon Memorial. Police and businesses told KOIN 6 News they are ready for anything, but remain cautiously optimistic.

“Whether it involves us having to board up our windows or not, I'm sure that Portland will do what they need to do,” said Gabriel Scannell, a bartender with Xing Ding Dumpling House.

But given Portland's checked history with protests, it can be an uncertain time for local businesses.

"With protests, it's always kind of a scary thing, especially for local businesses, depending on the scale and the severity of everything that's happening — especially given the severity of everything that's going on right now,” Scannell said. “I think that we'll be able to handle it. We might be able to bring some more people to help bolster security."

Stay with KOIN 6 News as we continue to follow this story.