After being split up at the motorcade, the protest as a body lost focus for a little bit, as we all pushed towards the Hilton from various directions, only to find it blocked from every direction. The street I was on was blocked by metal barricades manned with riot police, and I understand other streets were at that time similarly blockaded.
The mood at this time was still good-humored, and I spent some time at this barricade talking to other activists and shooting the breeze. I conveyed to several fellow protestors that we really ought to feel sympathy for these guys, many of them probably Gore voters themselves, who were stuck in that heavy black Kevlar armor on a sunny August day. One comment shouted at the cops was "Okay, all of you who'd rather take off the armor and have a cold beer, raise your hand!" Sadly, the riot cops are trained not to respond to even friendly overtures from the crowd, so it was a bit like playing with the Buckingham palace guards.
Eventually, I made my way down to Fifth, where I joined up with the main body of protestors. Here the barricade had been set up halfway up Taylor St. towards Sixth. It was as I made my way towards the barricade that I saw the first deployment of pepper spray. This poor fellow got it right in the face, along with two or three others, supposedly for shaking the barricade.
The officer who did the spraying is seen below. Note that he has a large canister of spray in each hand. He seemed entirely too trigger-happy with the spray, and used it liberally as the day wore on. He is one of the police officers who I believe displayed a lack of professionalism and a disregard for minimum use of force. If he has not already, as of this site going up, been disciplined by the Portland PD, he ought to be.
Shortly after the spraying incident with the Two-Gun Kid there, the riot police moved in and replaced the regular cops on the line.
Note the officer third from the left above, second from the left in this picture:
He and that impressive-looking gun he's holding will be heard from again later.
I had moved up next to the barricade by this time, trying to keep both the protestors and the cops calm and in good humor, but the tension was mounting. Several people had begun shouting abuse at the police, which of course helped matters no end. The other problem was that the Republican donors who were supposed to be coughing up the money to see Bush were having a hell of a time getting through, as no corridor had been provided for them. This was probably the first major tactical error on the part of the Portland PD, and their second was to come moments later.