Soul Strut

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<blockquote class="Quote"><div>LaserWolf said:</div><div><blockquote>An 81-year-old year art appraiser who ventured downtown Sunday to take his wife shopping was swept up in the arrests by police clearing Lownsdale Square. 
	 
	Jack Mongeon, visibly bruised by the experience and recovering from pneumonia, said Monday in his Laurelhurst home that he was the fifth of 51 people arrested. 
	 
	Not much of a shopper, he left his wife about 1 p.m. and strolled toward the square, clad in black slacks, a blue-and-white-stripped shirt, black jacket and his "go-to-church-on-Sunday shoes," he said. 
	 
	"I just wanted to see what was going on," he said. 
	 
	His wife Sabine headed towards Pioneer Place. "I don't want anything to do with those people," she said, referring to Occupy Portland. 
	 
	Spotting a number of police motorcyclists at the northwest corner of Lownsdale Square, Mongeon was careful to cross with the light. 
	 
	"I wasn't going to risk being arrested," he said. 
	 
	In the park, he blended into a group of occupy Portland supporters in a face-off with police in riot gear. 
	 
	A longtime registered Republican, he said he wanted to show his support with the movement and also be a silent observer in the event of police brutality. 
	 
	Instead, he ended up sandwiched in the crowd as police starting pushing them out of the square. People behind him shouted, "Resist, resist." 
	 
	"All of a sudden everyone's pushing, and I'm in-between," he said. 
	 
	81-year-old Jack Mongeon speaks about his arrest at Occupy Portland's eviction 81-year-old Jack Mongeon speaks about his arrest at Occupy Portland's eviction Jack Mongeon, 81, was charged with disorderly conduct in the Sunday afternoon sweep of Occupy Portland's camp at Lownsdale Square. Watch video 
	 
	 
	Suddenly, police snatched four people from the front of the crowd and arrested them. Next, he said, they yanked him into their ranks, pulled him to the ground and banged his head twice into the concrete as they twisted his arms hard behind his back, snapping on a zip tie. 
	 
	Sandy Sampson, an art teacher at Portland Community College, was standing nearby. 
	 
	"It looked to me like they were being very rough with him" she said. 
	 
	Mongeon told police they were making a mistake. He said he wasn't part of the Occupy Portland group and had heard no warnings to vacate the park. 
	 
	"I'm not part of this group," he said he told police. "I'm 81 years old. I'm not fit for this kind of thing." 
	 
	He ended up in a TriMet bus packed with people who were arrested, with the men in the back and the women in front. He said everybody introduced themselves and started chatting. The average age was 28. He lectured them on the need to be peaceful to make their point. 
	 
	The group was taken to the former Southeast Precinct police station on East Burnside at 47th Avenue and processed. About 5 p.m., he was released, given a plastic baggie with the belongings in his pockets. 
	 
	He's due to appear in court Jan. 7 on charges of disorderly conduct. 
	 
	Although his body aches, he has no regrets. 
	 
	"If it were the same thing again, I'd probably do exactly the same thing," he said. 
	 
	-- Lynne Terry</div></blockquote></blockquote>
	 
	He was probably bored out of his mind from shopping with his wife and got arrested on purpose so he didn't have to go home with her. 81 year olds who "aren't fit for this kind of thing" don't normally "want to see what's going on" when police with riot gear are involved in the equation.

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