10 a.m. update:
The Port of Portland is closed after a couple hundred protesters gathered at two terminals there.
Port officials tell Kristian Foden-Vencil protesters have blocked Terminals 5 and 6.
One terminal handles grain and potash and the other containers, he said.
Hundreds of trucks and workers have been turned away.
There has been minimal police presence at the protest.
Foden-Vencil says police were needed when protesters were attempting to touch or rock a truck.
It has been very peaceful and protesters have been happy, he reported.
Updated 9:10 a.m.
Reporting live on Think Out Loud, Kristian Foden-Vencil reports that a dozen of trucks are backed up trying to turn around.
He said the backup may go back about a mile or two.
Foden-Vencil said that the protest was unlike a traditional union protest with picketers at the gates, but protesters seemed pleased with the event and were filling roads, eating, and drumming.
He said they were choosing which cars and trucks to go through.
A spokesperson for the group said they had let one car pass.
Updated 8:35 a.m.
Trains and trucks are being turned away at the Portland Port as part of the Occupy the Ports protest that's taking place up and down the West Coast.
According to Kristian Foden-Vencil, the police presence was heavier as the protest began at about 6 a.m. but by 7:30, police pulled back but remained on the scene nearby.
Foden-Vencil told OPB's Geoff Norcross he'd seen a car near the Port this morning, but wasn't sure if it was the scene of the three arrests police earlier reported.
| Photos by Kristian Foden-Vencil/OPB News |
Foden-Vencil said the protests would continue at least until shift change at 4 p.m. today.
Updated 7:45 a.m.
Protesters are lying down on railroad tracks at one terminal of the Port of Portland. There have been riot police in the area, but he could not see them at the time of his last report. A train was nearby but had stopped.
Protests are happening up and down the coast, including Oakland, Calif. where Occupy protests have been volatile in the past.
Update 7:35 a.m.
Reporting live from the scene, Kristian Foden-Vencil said protests had closed Terminal 5 and 6.
He said he had not seen any trucks arriving at the port, but wasn't sure if truckers were able to enter in through another gate.
He said the police presence was not heavy.
Protesters targeted various parts of the ports and held a bridge for a short time, he said.
The protest was one of several up and down the West Coast.
A couple of hundred protesters are gathering at the Port of Portland in an "Occupy the Ports" protest.
Ports up and down the coast have been targeted for today's actions including the Longview, Washington port.
Protesters block railroad tracks at the Port of Portland.
Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB
In Portland, port protesters planned on splitting into two groups -- one headed to the port gates and another to "hold the bridge."
Reporting live from the scene, OPB's Kristian Foden-Vencil said the front gates were locked and a large group gathered in the road outside.
Foden-Vencil said there were a lot of police dressed in black behind the gates.
He said he'd seen police head to a bridge where one group of protesters was meeting.
Trucks have not been entering through the front gates he said, but may be entering through another gate.
Meanwhile, police have made three arrests and seized a gun and sword from people who said they were on the way to Monday's Occupy Portland action to shut down the port.
Lt. Robert King says officers making a traffic stop found the gun with extra ammunition clips and the sword plus radios in a car with two men who said they were an advance team for the demonstration. King says a 26-year-old man was driving with a suspended license and the 27-year-old passenger was wanted for a parole violation.
King says another car involved in a rear-end collision near the port about 6 a.m. had been stolen. The driver was arrested.
A spokeswoman for Occupy Portland, Kari Koch, says the armed men are not associated with the group.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
