6:30 p.m.

City officials will meet with Occupy Maine officials and the group’s lawyer Monday to discuss two violent incidents and some code violations in Lincoln Park.

The city’s lawyer, Gary Wood, wrote the Occupy Maine lawyer, John Branson, Friday to request the meeting.

Wood’s letter said the alleged assault that occurred Friday morning was “of particular concern” along with the code violations, such as having open fires, smoking in tents and propane heaters in tents in the encampment.

Wood’s letter said he wants to talk to Branson and “four or five members of the core group.” Wood, acting Police Chief Michael Sauschuck and several code enforcement officers will represent the city at the meeting.

In a Friday afternoon press conference, Sauschuck declined to say that the city was changing its policy on allowing Occupy Maine members to camp out in the park, as they have since early October.

He also said city police make regular foot patrols through the park and interactions with protesters have been friendly so far.

The city has said it will assess the continued camping in the park – which violates a city ordinance – on a day-to-day basis and will make its decision partly on how Occupy Maine responds to city concerns.

2:30 p.m.

Portland police have charged a second man in a morning assault at the Occupy Maine encampment in Lincoln Park.

Police issued a court summons to Danny Arnold, 34 on a charge of choking another man.

A police press release said Arnold and Chris Schisler, 34, assaulted Alan Porter, 45, as he was banging a drum to wake people at the camp. Schisler, who was located at the Portland Public Library after the 7 a.m. assault, is being held on $10,000 bail at Cumberland County Jail, charged with hitting Porter in the head with a hammer.

Porter was treated and released for a head injury at Maine Medical Center.

Police also described another arrest in which Jason Carr, 25, was charged at 10:20 p.m. Thursday with disorderly conduct. Officers say Carr was pushing and hitting a man who was trying to walk away even as others tried to restrain Carr.

The man told police he had entered the park to voice his opposition to the Occupy Maine group when Carr became confrontational. He did not want to pursue assault charges.

2:30 p.m.

A man injured in an alleged assault at the Occupy Maine encampment this morning has been discharged from Maine Medical Center.

The man was taken to the hospital’s emergency room with a head injury stemming from an assault with a hammer, police said. The man was treated for his injury and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Chris Schisler, 34, is charged with aggravated assault and his bail was set at $10,000, though he cannot be released because he also is being held for allegedly violating probation.

1:15 p.m.

Portland police say they have charged a man with assaulting another man with a hammer at the Occupy Maine encampment in Lincoln Park.

Police charged Chris Schisler who said recently he has been staying at the camp for several weeks, with assaulting another member of the camp at about 7 a.m.

The victim of the assault was taken to a local hospital with a head injury, police said.

Demonstrators said that the victim of the assault was banging on a drum to wake protesters to participate in a morning cleanup exercise, raking leaves so the city could collect them. The morning cleanup had been decided at the previous night’s general assembly, though many people at the camp were not there.

When the man started drumming to wake the camp, Schisler allegedly told him to stop and when he didn’t, smashed the drum head with the hammer, protesters said. In the ensuing confrontation, Schisler hit the man – a protester who has been active in park governance and maintenance – in the head.

Police responded and located Schisler later.

Schisler was known in the park as the owner of Boss, a pitbull, who he described as a camp mascot.

 

10:30 a.m.

Portland police are searching for man suspected of assaulting another man with a hammer this morning at the Occupy Maine encampment at Lincoln Park.

Police said the assault happened around 7 a.m. When they arrived, they found one man with a head injury. He was taken to a local hospital. The injury is not life-threatening, police said.
 
Police have a suspect they’re searching for, but they didn’t immediately provide any more details.