"Before the evening meeting, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members set up canopies and handed out pizza outside City Hall, gathering to support a final vote on Morillo's ordinance to ban algorithmic price fixing technology landlords use to inflate rents. At the same time, demonstrators calling on the City Council to rescind a city permit from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in South Portland rallied in the entrance to City Hall."
"As multiple altercations between the two groups began to cool, a third, smaller group showed up, further raising tensions. Right-wing live streamer Tommy Allen-who was arrested near the ICE facility on October 6 for assault and disorderly conduct-paced along the sidewalk shouting pro-Trump bombast and transphobic slurs before entering City Hall's overflow section alongside two allies, still streaming."
"The fee sets a framework for the city to address the costs associated with facilities like Portland's ICE building, which often draws protests that require local police response and lately, has become a contamination zone of sorts due to federal police using chemical irritants as crowd control."
Portland City Hall experienced a volatile November 20 Council meeting with multiple disruptions and expulsions as three demonstrations converged. Councilors passed an ordinance banning algorithmic price-fixing used to inflate rents and conducted a first reading of a proposed fee on detention facilities co-sponsored by Angelita Morillo and Mitch Green. DSA members rallied in support of the price-fixing ban while protesters demanded rescinding an ICE building permit. A smaller, antagonistic group including a right-wing live streamer heightened tensions. The proposed fee would be levied on property owners who lease buildings as detention centers to address policing and crowd-control costs.
Read at Portland Mercury
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