Dueling protest groups faced off near the grounds of the Oregon Capitol building Sunday afternoon. Police tried to separate the groups, but skirmishes broke out in the surrounding blocks.
In a particularly volatile moment, one man was taken into custody by police after he confronted a crowd with a gun. Others were detained as police ordered the crowd to disperse.
Right-wing demonstrators initially gathered in Sandy for a “Freedom Rally” then traveled to the Capitol. A flier for the event said they planned a “flag wave to honor those who fought for our freedoms.”
The plans attracted more than 150 counter-protesters, who arrived at the Capitol hours earlier. They billed their gathering as a “direct action in opposition to a fascist event.”
#Antifa brought their flag, weapons and riot gear to their violent protest gathering at the Oregon state Capitol in Salem. #AntifaRiots pic.twitter.com/AYsZqCCrel
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 28, 2021
The crowd pelted passing trucks — many flying a combination of American, Thin Blue Line and Trump flags — with paint and objects that in some cases shattered windows. Police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, telling the crowd to disperse.
The Salem Police Department, meanwhile, said it had turned away the caravan arriving from Salem. But members of the two groups clashed in the area surrounding the Capitol, chased by local and state police officers in tactical armor.
A few blocks from the Capitol, a man in a truck being hit with thrown objects got out of the vehicle and pulled a gun.
A nearby police officer ordered the man to the ground. More arrived, pushing the crowd back as the man was cuffed and his truck, decorated with American flags, was searched.
Another angle of the man who was arrested. #Antifa had vandalized his truck, surrounded him and pepper-sprayed him. #AntifaRiots pic.twitter.com/GTMjSmvSRT
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 28, 2021
In other confrontations, demonstrators deployed pepper sprays.
Police repeatedly ordered the crowds to leave the area and go home. Dozens of officers could be seen in the downtown core, responding to one confrontation after another.
#Antifa at the Oregon state Capitol in Oregon steal a flag off a truck, then pelt it with rocks. #AntifaRiots pic.twitter.com/F5aQqWnGwj
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 28, 2021
The Salem Police Department and Oregon State Police had posted a notice ahead of the weekend’s events.
“Causing physical harm to others, damage to property or purposefully blocking streets are unacceptable situations which will be addressed to best ensure community safety,” the notice said.
#Antifa continue to attack people driving by in front of the Oregon state Capitol. Here, they smash out a truck driver's window. #AntifaRiots pic.twitter.com/0kymKPxSfq
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 28, 2021
#Antifa impaled the red truck with a large tree branch during their mob attack on the vehicle outside the Oregon state capitol. There was a female passenger in the vehicle at the time who was nearly killed. #AntifaRiots pic.twitter.com/WZARAZoT5A
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 29, 2021
#Antifa smash up more vehicles at the riot at the Oregon state Capitol. They're targeting any vehicle that displays a US flag. pic.twitter.com/serqcNJ4cv
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 28, 2021
After hours of violence at the state Capitol in Oregon by #antifa, law enforcement have finally responded. #AntifaRiots pic.twitter.com/hRc1m1D25Y
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 28, 2021
Salem Police & Oregon State troopers move #antifa rioters away from the street they were occupying and assaulting drivers at. #AntifaRiots pic.twitter.com/Jg0U6d6EAC
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) March 28, 2021
A small group of armed right-wing protesters previously gathered at the Capitol on Jan. 17 as part of a nationally publicized day of statehouse protests that mostly failed to materialize. Counter-protesters showed up, but the groups did not confront one another.
Protesters also demonstrated at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the same day a mob supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Counter-demonstrators arrived in Salem a few hours after the local rally began, and clashes ensued before police appeared and declared an unlawful assembly.
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(c)2021 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)
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I remember Jar Jar Biden posing with the BLM terrorists and these thugs during the summer, his smirk hidden by his ever present corona-condom over his mouth. It took almost a month of his silence toward his pets’ left wing violence that polls told him to show some token disapproval to con main stream low information voters. What resulted was a half-hearted “Willie Wonka” condemnation. “. . . . stop . . don’t do that . . .I mean it . . ” It’s about time anyone who has any American patriot who has any sense of self preservation should gather his/her belongings and flee this state. Then let these animals self destruct. A little help from some natural disaster wouldn’t be out of line at this point.
I am starting to wonder about the cops……arrest the ones throwing stuff at cars, not the one’s driving down the street with a flag. If they would control the throwers the driver would not feel the need to take action on their own
IMO the cops LEFT, are the ones FULLY SUPPORTIVE of antifa/blm’s agenda.. ALL THE PATRIOT cops have either left, or been forced off the ob.
Sure a lot of physical damage and mayhem from a group that doesn’t exist and is only an “idea”. Sorry, dimwit from The View, your nonexistent group just rose up and stuck your foot in your mouth—again
How dare you compare Dimwit’s with those jackasses from the view… you owe dimwits an apology.
HOW much more violence and anarchy MUST WE as a nation, have to suffer, from these ANTIFA TERRORISTS, before action gets taken!?
So anyone who carries an American flag is from a “right wing group”?????? So in essence, anyone who is a Patriot toward our Country is a “radical right winger”. Evil is good and good is evil!!!!
TO THE LEFT< yes.. If you love our flag, you are a 'right wing traitor'…
Just so we ALL understand the rules in Dem Oregon, ANTIFA is allowed to do whatever they want! Anyone who resists them or tries to protect themselves GOES TO JAIL!
So VERY glad I no longer live there!
I’m sure it’s time to label police, government and maybe even the military as “Enemies of the State”.
IT certainly seems that way to me..
Please remember that when it’s time to vote. The democrats don’t care about American people.
THIS IS oregonistan. MOST conservatives have already left, or been bullied into silence.. SO COUNTING ON THEM voting to get rid of the democracks in charge, is a pipe dream (IMO).
We used to visit relatives in Portland and it was a sorry place to be then with political activists very often on the street corners ranting and raving about something. We no longer have relatives there but if we did they would have to come and visit us. No way would step foot in the hellholes that Oregon and Washington have become. It’s bad enough here.
Conservative patriots who want to wave the flag there should realize ahead of time that if they are attacked by Antifa it will be the patriot’s fault. Oregon cops will not defend them and if anyone goes to jail it will be the patriots. So your flag is ripped, your antenna is broke off, a tree is rammed through your windshield, it’s your fault, not the fault of the criminal who attacked you.
One of my gaming buddies, has a grand mother out in Gresham (just to the east of portland).. WHen they finally got told they could visit, they REFUSED, and said “IF you wanna see us, COME HERE TO OHIO. WE’re not going to you!”…
build a wall around the west coast period
That is surely amazing. Of course you know why those antifa dirtbags don’t do much in the South – there are a bunch of folks who hope they come to visit.
Notice, they never do this also, near/around MILITARY towns either…