There were no fires and no smoke. Just a moment of beauty and peace before the helicopter started up again.

Last night, I took a walk and caught the fading light of a glorious Portland day. You can see the downtown skyline about four miles to the north, and you can see the neighborhood wildlife refuge about two miles from the ICE building.

I agree with those who think it’s about an authoritarian-minded president looking to normalize using the military against citizens, or looking for an excuse to crack down. It’s an abuse of power.

Why is this happening? Not because Portland needs quelling or because ICE agents with guns and a fortress need protecting. Not because people are exercising their First Amendment rights to assemble and shout.

It sweeps in wide arcs across the river and over quiet neighborhoods, including mine, miles away. I can hear it inside our house. Sometimes it’s joined by the drone of a patrolling plane or two.

Meanwhile, something is disturbing the peace far from the ICE building: The federal helicopter that’s been thumping through the sky for hours every night, sometimes as late as midnight.

Even so, ICE agents and police have guns. They’ve been using pepper balls and tear gas to disperse people. Protesters, some in head-to-toe animal costumes, are no threat. The police chief has said his department doesn’t need help.

Nighttime protests had died down but grew again once the president decided to try to send National Guard troops. A local TV station said a demonstration the other night had at least 150 people — most of them protesting ICE but some who came to show support.

Today, police blocked a section of street in front of the building with yellow rope.

The ICE building looks like a fortress. No one is getting in there uninvited. You can see for yourself on Google Street View, though you won’t see the sheets of plywood that sheath the front now.

Until today, my husband and I could drive by the building with no problem. Sometimes we would see a handful of masked ICE agents and unmasked police officers standing outside the building, and up to a dozen people across and down the street sitting in lawn chairs or standing around.

I attend meetings for work a few blocks from the building most Wednesdays, including today and last week. My husband and I had lunch in a busy neighborhood café last Wednesday. Last month, I and a few hundred colleagues attended an employee-appreciation picnic in the park.

Within a block or so of the building, people are working, living in their apartments, having a bite to eat, walking their dogs, riding their bikes and sitting in the park. Businesses and clinics are operating normally, at least during the day.

Shops, restaurants, a park, health care facilities and more apartment buildings are down the street. The neighborhood is only about 4½ blocks wide, flanked by busy Macadam Avenue and Interstate 5 to the west and the Willamette River to the east.

Portland never "burned down."

The ICE building at the center of protests occupies one side of one block in the South Waterfront neighborhood, a couple of miles from the center of downtown. The building is next to a bike trail, Tesla dealership and apartment buildings.

If you’re not in #Portland, it’s important to know there are no fires and certainly no hellscape here. If you’ve seen footage of downtown riots on a news network, it probably came from the 2020 demonstrations after George Floyd was killed. Nothing is happening downtown now. (Thread)

Curious to see what
#Portland is like now? This video captures it, starting at the ICE building. I drive this same route to offices a few blocks from the building once a week, and this is just what it’s like. www.youtube.com/live/TFs7Ii8...

Views of downtown #Portland from a few miles south. Nothing is burning.

Horrifying

“…how democracies fall: not through a single cataclysm but through a slow erosion, aided by polite excuses and reluctant nods.”

If you’re not already following
@therickwilson.bsky.social please do. Sharp as a knife, as always:

open.substack.com/pub/therickw...

Our son is home from Japan. Now I’m ready to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah 🕎!

AP calls for “do’s and don’ts” when consistency would give you “dos and don’ts” or “do’s and don’t’s.” Sometimes you just go with what looks better.

Does this happen where you live? In Portland, it’s common to call out “Thank you!” when stepping off a bus or leaving a neighborhood shop. Proprietors often call out “Thanks for coming in!” It’s nice. Portlanders, by and large, are otherwise reserved.

Strolled through Portland’s Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden today for a bracing dose of beauty.