Man Arrested at 'This Can't Be Justice' March

One man - who later said he felt threaened by oncoming marchers - flashed a handgun in front of the crowd and found himself under arrest at a march against police brutality.

It happened Thursday evening in downtown Portland.

There were more than 1,000 pwople on hand for the march organized by Don't Shoot PDX.

Other than the incident with the gun - and, apparently, most people didn't even see the gun - it was a peaceful march.

There was the usual Portland activist march excitement - there was an attempt to shut down the Morrison Bridge - but by and large it was a peaceful protest, one of several around the country held in the wake of police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana.

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The protest started at 7:00 p.m. at Pioneer Courthouse Square and moved to the Justice Center.

it was there that the man with a gun - who also had a video camera - he identified himself as running a conservative website - appeared.

He was taken into custody.

Police identified him as 36-year-old Michael Strickland. He's charged with menacing and disorderly conduct.

Earlier in the day, newly appointed Police Chief Michael Marshman sent a note to officers reminding them that these marches can emotional and volatile.

"While these shootings occurred thousands of miles from Portland, we live in an age of constant media and social media dialogue that raises emotions in our own community," he wrote.

"Those emotions are a reality that we need to acknowledge and then continue to talk to people about what we are doing here in our community."

The relationship between the Portland Police and the community they protect has been tenuous at times.

The Bureau is currently under a setttlement agreement with United States Department of Justice which found the bureau had used excessive force in dealing with people with mental issues.

Marshman told officers that earlier in the day he had made calls to "leaders in our African-American community to let them know we understand the fear and anger these recent shootings and past shootings have raised.

"I want them to know we share those concerns and asked them to continue to join us in building trust within our community."

In his note to officers, Marshman acknowledged the problems the bureau has had and stressed the progress that they have made.

He wrote:

• Out of 380,738 calls for service last year, less than1% resulted in any kind of force. Even when we made arrests, only 2.8% resulted in force.
• Last year we had six officer-involved shootings (3 of them non-fatal) and in 2014, we had three. The public’s perception is that these incidents happen much more often and these numbers are important to share. We are also committed to transparency; details of all these shootings and their investigations are on our website.
• Our Behavioral Health Unit and our ECIT and CIT officers deescalate situations daily that in the past could have ended differently.
• We are working with the DOJ on policies and training revisions that have already deeply impacted our organization for the better.

"Each and every one of you has the opportunity to make a difference in our community every day—whether you are in operations, investigations or services," he wrote.

"You are doing it. Don’t stop. This is a critical time for law enforcement and you are making an impact."