Portland Inauguration Protests: Flag Burnings Mark Start of Protests

Protests in downtown Portland got off to a fiery start Friday with some people burning American flags. There were about 100 people gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square. Most did not participate in the flag burning.

The protest was the latest installment of Portland reacting to the election - and now swearing in - of Donald Trump.

"No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!" people chanted.

Fliers telling people what to do if they are arrested were handed out.

In anticipation of the protests, several businesses downtown took precautions. The Starbucks at Pioneer Court Square is closing early as is Fox Tower Regal Cinema. Meanwhile, Nordstrom's boarded up their windows.

Portland Public Schools, meanwhile, closed two schools early. Lincoln High School and the Metropolitan Learning Center will both close at 2 p.m., officials announced.

Bus schedules were adjusted. All athletics and after-school activities were canceled.

TriMet officials, mindful of service disruptions caused by previous protests said they are prepared to suspend or alter service downtown if necessary. After Trump's election in November, days of protests interfered with bus and train service.

Watch Live Stream: Trump Presidential Inauguration 2017

For complete coverage of politics and the Trump presidency, subscribe to the Washington, D.C., Patch newsletter.

Those protests - while mostly peaceful - had an element that turned violent with more than 100 people being arrested during the protests and tens of thousands of dollars in damage being done by vandalism.

TriMet urges people to check trimet.org/alerts for updates on Friday.

With memories of the November protests still fresh, Portland's new mayor - Ted Wheeler - is hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened.

"Vandalism hurts our community," he said at a press conference Wednesday. "Most businesses in Portland are local businesses."

Wheeler said that while "peaceful protests are the bedrock of our democracy," he has tasked the police bureau to make sure that those protesting peacefully are not disrupted - as happened in November - by a smaller group intent on causing problems.

"I want to make it clear that will not be something we will tolerate," Wheeler said. "We are not going to allow people to go on freeways, that's for the safety of everyone. We'll do our level-best to stop people from blocking public transit."

Wheeler was joined by Chief of Police Michael Marshman.

"We don't want random acts of violence, potential of personal injury," Marshman said. "We'll do our very best to make sure people can move around and lawfully protest."

Events are planned for Portland on Friday, and Saturday.

While most of the events are scheduled for downtown, there are some events over the weekend that appear to be set for Northeast Portland's Holladay Park, Southeast Portland's Mt. Tabor Park, North Portland's Columbia Park, and the East 162nd Avenue MAX Station.

More than 34,000 people have signed up to participate in a Women's March on Saturday afternoon.