Organizers say 100,000 Gather Downtown for Women's March on Portland

Organizers of the Women's March on Portland Saturday said 100,000 people showed up downtown for the march. Portland Fire & Rescue said the nunber was closer to 70,000. Either way, it was one of the largest gatherings outdoors in Portland ever.

If the number is accurate it could be looked as if almost one in every six Portlanders turned out, though it's likely many marchers came from outside the city.

The march - one of many taking place around the world; 500,000 are in Washington D.C.; the streets of New York Chicago, Denver, Paris; Berlin are all filled - started with a rally at Noon at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

The march then headed south and winding 44 blocks - 1.3 miles - through downtown.

Portland Police praised organizers for keeping the march peaceful.

While labeled the Women's March, those participating cut across demographics. A separately organized labor march started at the Park Blocks and made their way to Waterfront Park to join the larger crowd.

Organizers had a bit of a rough road getting to that point of inclusiveness. During the planning process, some groups felt they were being shut out and the march was going to be mostly white women. That led the NAACP of Portland to pull their endorsement of the march.

The march's organizers were replaced.

Saturday's march follows protests Friday night that turned violent and led to arrests.

Those protests had started in the afternoon as a peaceful march but took a turn when a group split off and tried to block traffic on the bridges.

"Much of the afternoon and evening was attended by peaceful protesters at Pioneer Courthouse Square and a subsequent march in Downtown Portland," said Portland Police Spokesman Sergeant Pete Simpson.

"When some in the crowd began to take aggressive actions towards law enforcement and commit minor acts of vandalism, many of the peaceful protesters left the area.

"There were some reports of minor vandalism and incidents of protesters throwing bottles, rocks, eggs, ice balls, and road flares/incendiary devices at police and government buildings. As a result of these actions, officers deployed some riot control agents and munitions intended to disperse the crowd."

Arrested were:

21-year-old Nicholas Martin Johnson was arrested for Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree on the Burnside Bridge.

30-year-old Rosemary Vera Tustin was arrested for Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree at West Burnside Street and 2nd Avenue.

45-year-old Craig Allen Hasty was arrested for Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree at West Burnside Street and 2nd Avenue.

18-year-old Travis Allen Martin was arrested for Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree and Harassment at Southwest 5th Avenue and Yamhill Street.

41-year-old Matthew Ray McGaugh was arrested for Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree at Southwest 5th Avenue and Yamhill Street.

Johnson, Tustin, Hasty, and Martin were booked into the Multnomah County Jail and will be arraigned in approximately two weeks. McGaugh was issued a citation in lieu of custody and was not booked into jail

A sixth person was arrested before the march started,

Portland Police say that 18-year-old Billy Ellison was arrested on charges of interfering with public transportation stemming from the protests that turned into a riot after the election in November.