(Photos © J. Maus)
Tomorrow’s ‘N17 – Occupy the Banks‘ actions of civil disobedience throughout downtown Portland can count on an assist from a cadre of people on bikes. A ride dubbed ‘Swarm the Banks‘ will look to play a similar role to the ‘bike swarm’ that made its presence felt at the big standoff at Chapman and Lownsdale Squares this past Sunday.
Here’s a snip from the ride description:
“As busy bees, we can fly through downtown and check up on the various actions of nonviolent civil disobedience, protect the march with our buzzing mobility, serve as a pesky distraction for cops seeking to break up the actions, and possibly even participate in actions if we need to rest our wings for a bit.”
Occupy Portland standoff early
Sunday morning.
This ride was conceived by Katherine Ball, the same woman who spearheaded the very successful ‘bike swarm’. Ball was recently featured in a column by Steve Duin in The Oregonian. As someone who rode with Ball at Sunday’s standoff, I can attest to her positive approach and infectious enthusiasm for this movement.
To join Thursday’s bike swarm, meet at Salmon Street Fountain at 10:45 am. There will be an open discussion prior to the ride “to determine our exact tactics”. More info on the Shift calendar or on the Facebook event page.
