This piece is part of an issue with a content warning regarding police violence. For a full acknowledgement of the content warning and source anonymity, please visit our article: About this special issue.
Thursday, April 25
- Around 6 p.m. — Students set up an encampment on the South Park Blocks.
- Park rangers set a public property curfew for 9 p.m.
Friday, April 26
- Around 1:30 a.m. — Police swept the encampment around the South Park Blocks.
- 11:55 a.m. — President Ann Cudd emailed an update to pause receiving donations from Boeing.
- Around 1 p.m. — Protesters set up the first tent again on South Park Blocks.
- PSU Facilities remove bike racks and trash bins from South Park Blocks and surrounding areas.
- Around 7 p.m. — Portland Police Bureau (PPB) showed up in light tactical gear to remove small encampments and tear down the encampment.
- Protesters moved from South Park Blocks to the outside of the Branford Price Millar Library entrance.
Saturday, April 27
- Cudd communicated with protesters, agreeing that they could stay at the north entrance if they didn’t block the south entrance to the library so that the library could remain open.
Sunday, April 28
- Protesters placed a list of needed supplies outside the encampment. The protest remained largely quiet and peaceful. There were teach-ins and community events held.
Monday, April 29
- 12 p.m. — Library proactively closed. Campus Public Safety Office (CPSO) showed up, alerting the protestors that they should get ready to leave the portico.
- 4 p.m. — Rally in the South Park Blocks for PSU to cut ties with Boeing and claim solidarity with Palestine. Around 200 people and the encampment were attending.
- Around 7 p.m. — Protesters gained entry to the library.
- 7:30 p.m. — PSU Alert: “POLICE ACTIVITY at Millar Library. Avoid the area.” No police were seen. Protesters released a statement to Vanguard explaining their occupation, inviting students to continue accessing the library, and iterated that no books would be harmed.
Tuesday, April 30
- 6:04 a.m. — PSU Alert: Campus closed today, April 30, “due to ongoing incident at the library.”
- Secret Board of Trustees emergency meeting.
- Negotiations begin between Cudd and protestors, facilitated with the assistance of faculty.
- 3:17 p.m. — Cudd email: overview of protest timeline, negotiations
- 6:04 p.m. — PSU Alert: Campus to be closed May 1 “due to ongoing incident at library.”
- 9 p.m. — Other protesters showed up. Protesters hold open mic night.
Wednesday, May 1
- Around 12 a.m. — Negotiations broke down Told to leave if they did not want to face legal consequences. Some left at this time, most did not.
- 10:20 a.m. — Cudd emailed on breakdown of negotiations.
- 2:56 p.m. — PSU Alert: “PSU’s Millar Library is closed. NO ONE is authorized to be in the library. This includes all PSU faculty, staff, and students.”
- 4:40 p.m. — Four PPB officers delivered a typed note to protesters that they needed to leave the library.
- 5:52 p.m. — Cudd emailed that campus would be open on May 2
- 7:26 p.m. — PSU Alert: “POLICE ACTIVITY at SOUTH PARK BLOCKS.” No police were seen in the South Park blocks at this time.
- 9:30 p.m. — Block party with May Day protesters came to the front of the library and they had a barbecue. A few counter-protesters were in the crowd, caused some minor community tensions. Protesters from the library gave speeches to the crowd. The community initiated a die-in.
Thursday, May 2
- 4:01 a.m. — PSU Alert: “Millar Library is closed.”
- 4:17 a.m. — Protesters fortified barricades with wood, pallets, soccer goalposts.
- 5:58 a.m. — Police arrived on site and taped off the South Park blocks. PPB sent messages to protesters inside the library via bullhorn to leave the library, and if they did not they would be subjected to arrest for second-degree trespassing (ORS 164,245).
- 6:05 a.m. — PSU Alert: “Police activity at Millar Library.”
- 6:45 a.m. — Vans pulled up behind the library. PPB unloaded chainsaws and entered the library through the side door and emergency exit. They made their way to the roof and descended, clearing the building from the top down.
- 7 a.m. — Arrests were made behind the library.
- 7:02 a.m. — PSU Alert: “Campus closed due to ongoing incident at the library.”
- 8:40 a.m. — Police widened the perimeter with tape.
- 8:57 a.m. — Around 28 people run out front with shields. One arrested.
- 9:05 a.m. — PSU Alert: “SHELTER IN PLACE
- 9:25 a.m. — A group of outside protesters moved behind the library where arrests were being made. There were small physical interactions between officers and protesters on the line.
- 9:26 a.m. — A Blackstone resident was arrested for standing outside the dorm.
- 9:45 a.m. — Police vans holding arrested protesters began to drive off campus. Protesters moved into the street, preventing vans from moving. They go on for three blocks down SW Broadway from Harrison Street, where police vans exited campus, to the Interstate 405 exit just past Jackson Street.
- 10:35 a.m. — PSU Alert “Campus is closed.”
- 12 p.m. — Press conference with Mayor Ted Wheeler, Day, Cudd and Schmidt.
- 12:12 p.m. — PSU Alert: “The SHELTER IN PLACE for Montgomery and Blackstone Halls has ENDED”
- Around 2:45 p.m. — Police move protesters onto Hall Street.
- Around 3 p.m. — A white sedan drove into a crowd of protesters on Hall Street after posting “OMW @PSUVANGUARD [middle finger emoji]”
- The driver was arrested by police and placed on a mental health hold.
- 4:14 p.m. — Cudd emailed, thanking the community and urging a return to campus.
- Protests continued outside of South Park Blocks.
- Around 6 p.m. — The library was temporarily reoccupied.
- By 10 p.m. — Police announced the library was cleared for the second time. Eight more were arrested in this encounter.
Friday, May 3
- Cleaners were at the boarded-up library. Minimal police surveillance was on site. PSU announced that the library would be closed until the fall.
Thursday, May 9
- Around 8 p.m. — About 100 demonstrators set up three tents in front of Hoffman Hall. 20 PPB officers responded within 30 minutes. Protestors responded by linking arms and moving forward on the police. Having successfully removed the tents, PPB retreated.
Friday, May 10
- 8 p.m. — Rally held at the Walk of Heroines. Bike cops and PPB were present.
- 9:40 p.m. — PSU Alert to shelter in place. On Saturday afternoon, CPSO released a statement confirming that a small group of individuals elsewhere on campus gained access to Parkmill with the apparent intent to occupy the building. Protestors had left before the officers arrived.