Portland rapper and activist Glenn Waco helped lead the group in chants. "I am!" he yelled, while the crowd responded, "Michael Brown!"
Christina Belasco / OPB
The group Don't Shoot Portland rallied Tuesday morning following a court appearance for the group's leader, Teressa Raiford.
Raiford was arrested Sunday during a demonstration to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Raiford said she was arrested at the end of a peaceful protest, and has retained an attorney as part of her plan to "stand up and fight back" after the arrest.
"I was arrested in front of children and families while we were doing a community art project," Raiford said. "We had just finished a demonstration."
Portland police, however, said Raiford and another protester, 43-year-old Diane Chavez, refused to leave Sunday's event when asked and continued to disrupt traffic.
Tuesday's rally started at the Justice Center in downtown Portland. Demonstrators lay down in the street, and then moved their protest near City Hall and blocked traffic at times.
Dana Haynes, spokesman for Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, was there.
"The message of Black Lives Matter is an important message," Haynes said, as demonstrators chanted. "The mayor is not here today, but I’m out here to listen to the message and hear what they have to say."
Haynes said the city's response to the demonstration would be guided by three priorities: public safety, First Amendment rights, and the rule of law — in that order.
"At some point, we have to reopen the streets, but not immediately," Haynes said. "For now we’re listening and we’re observing the Black Lives Matter message."
Protesters held a 4.5-minute moment of silence in memory of Michael Brown near the end of the rally.