KPTV - FOX 12Police: 27 Occupy Portland protesters arrested in Pearl District

Portland police made 27 arrests while breaking up Occupy Portland's demonstration in the affluent Pearl District early Sunday morning.

The arrests came after protestors marched to Jamison Square in the Pearl District on Saturday afternoon. The protestors had been warned multiple times leading up to the march that they would not be allowed to stay or camp in the park after midnight when the park closes.

At about 12:30 a.m., officers from the Portland Police Bureau's Rapid Response Team positioned themselves on Jamison Square's outer boundary.

Police Chief Mike Reese says officers moved in around 1 a.m. and started to individually remove protesters as they sat in the center of the park. One by one, the protesters were loaded into a white police van.

On the sidewalks around the park, a large and vociferous crowd chanted their support to the protesters as they were arrested and loaded into the police van.

SLIDESHOWS: 27 arrested in Pearl District | Mug shots

"The bottom line is people are expressing themselves, and that hasn't been done in America in a long time, it seems," says protester William McBride.

The arrests were carefully choreographed with both sides keeping a close watch.

"It's chess, for sure, and they know that everybody and their mother has a camera and is watching," says Amanda Davis, who watched the demonstration unfold Sunday.

There was no violence during the arrests, and there was little resistance from the protesters, Reese says, but some of them had to be dragged away. Carson Harrison-Bowler, an Occupy supporter, says he's proud of both sides.

"I'm proud of the Portland police department for not being violent," he says.

The last sit-in protester was arrested just before 3 a.m. Afterward, the crowd surged to the center of the park and chanted that they had reclaimed the park, but the protest died down soon after.

Mayor Sam Adams says officers told protesters that staying in the park would be a violation of city ordinances, and that they would be subject to arrest.  Reese says officers were allowing protesters to leave the park "up until we put handcuffs on them."

Jamison Square is flanked by pricey high-rise condos and trendy shops and eateries. Adams says the reason the protesters were not allowed to camp or stay in Jamison Square is because it is a neighborhood park used by families.

He says some of the neighbors who live in the nearby apartments and condominiums around Jamison Square called the non-emergency line to report noise complaints Saturday night.

While Occupy Portland protesters were booted from Jamison, they continue to camp at Chapman and Lownsdale squares in downtown, where they have been since Oct. 6. Adams and police have allowed the protesters to stay there despite city policies that outlaw overnight camping.

Adams described the Jamison Square arrests as "an unnecessary confrontation."

"We gave protesters numerous opportunities to simply walk away or choose to be arrested," he says.

Those arrested have been identified as: 46-year-old Angela Irene Hammit, 51-year-old Alberta Ellen Lozon, 22-year-old Jessica Freeman, 22-year-old David Jensen Thomas, 31-year-old Joseph Montique Gordon, 21-year-old Axcelle Deone Bell, 22-year-old Grant Curtis Booth, 51-year-old Daniel Keller, 25-year-old Sarah Coble, 18-year-old Hannah Grundner, 23-year-old Nadia Greene, 24-year-old Caitlin Triall Wilson, 57-year-old Cathy Diane Alexander, 36-year-old James Michael Lopes, 27-year-old Mitchell David Scott, 28-year-old Mathew Walsh, 28-year-old Bradley Clair Beach, 24-year-old Matthew Denny and 20-year-old Cameron Whitten.

Three women refused to give their names and were booked into jail as Jane Doe. There were also two teenagers (a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old) who were arrested.

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