Skyler Kowis, center, and her husband Lucas Fain, right, both of Vancouver, Wash., join hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, for “The People’s Inauguration Day,” Jan. 21, 2025, protesting President Donald Trump’s policies targeting immigrants and the LGBTQ community. The couple relocated to the Northwest from Texas in June.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Portland Tuesday night to oppose President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his policies, accusing him of targeting immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community.
The demonstration at Tom McCall Waterfront Park was a peaceful, if forceful, denunciation of Trump and the flurry of executive orders he signed after his inauguration, which included pardons for Jan. 6 defendants and a move to curb birthright citizenship.
“He’s signed more executive orders than we can count,” said Cody Urban, an organizer with the International League of Peoples’ Struggles, which helped put together the event. Urban called Trump’s executive orders a “huge violation and abuse of presidential power.”
The rally was a joint effort by organizations including International League of Peoples’ Struggles, Jewish Voice for Peace, Bayan Oregon, International Migrants Alliance and International Women’s Alliance.
“We have to find strategic ways to organize and fight for our rights, whether it’s asserting our rights in the workplace or asserting our rights in our schools,” said Carolyn Pavlovic, of Bayan Oregon. “I hope the takeaway today is that there’s hope in action.”
The demonstration led to a separate march through downtown made up of roughly 50 demonstrators. Some spray-painted anti-Trump messages before police burst onto the scene to make arrests.
“We will begin making announcements to the crowd that we are not interfering with the march but will not allow criminal behavior,” the Portland Police Bureau wrote on social media.
Police clash with protesters as law enforcement arrest a person for spray painting on the windows of a downtown business, Jan. 21, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
One arrest happened after a protester began spray painting pro-Anarchist ‘A’ on the window of Nordstrom Rack. Police on the scene clashed with some protesters as they made the arrest. More than two dozen police responded to the scene, including police with Oregon State Patrol.
It’s unclear how many people were arrested and what exact charges they could face. Police spokesperson Sgt. Kevin Allen said Tuesday that he couldn’t confirm details.
“We can confirm we have seen some spray painting and we are actively interdicting,” Allen told OPB. Allen said there were “more than three” arrests.