On Tuesday, Salem’s peaceful rally in honor of police brutality victims was full of song and dance. Throughout the evening, songs such as “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo and “Purple Rain” by Prince played as protestors lined Court Street in front of the Capitol holding signs. Dance mobs broke out multiple times when the “Cha Cha Slide” and the “Cupid Shuffle” came on. Like on Monday, the protest remained completely peaceful for the entirety of the event.
The protestors gathered at the Capitol around 6 p.m. and most left a little before 11 p.m., in order to follow the new curfew. Those gathered elected to remain at the Capitol instead of marching, unlike in previous nights. There were more officers visible Tuesday than on previous nights; however, there were less police vehicles in the immediate vicinity, with officers opting for bicycles instead.
Early in the evening, protestors began to write on the Capitol steps using chalk. They wrote messages such as “Black Lives Matter.” One of those gathered wrote the names of African-Americans who have been killed by police or armed civilians in recent years, including Amaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray. The names were written in two columns flanking a portrait of George Floyd which stood against the wall of the Capitol.
After protestors had written these messages, Jonathan Jones of Epilogue Kitchen and Cocktails, who organized the event, read a list of demands. These included the abolishment of gerrymandering, the establishment of nationwide vote-by-mail and “a divestment of funding for surveillance, prisons, exploitive corporations, punitive justice and the militarization of police forces.”
He urged those gathered to make these demands to their elected officials. The organizers then passed out papers to all in attendance detailing the demands. The papers also provided contact information for elected officials– Governor Kate Brown, U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, U.S. Representative Kurt Schrader, Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney and Oregon Representative Brian Clem.
Following this message, those in attendance were invited to lay flowers, provided by the organizers, in front of the portrait of George Floyd. Many people took a moment of silence as they laid the flowers in honor of Floyd.
After the flower laying, one of the protestors began to break dance. The rest of those gathered formed a circle around him and cheered him on. After he left the floor, the crowd filled in and many began to dance.
Following the dancing, protestors stood quietly with their fists raised in solidarity. They then moved to line both sides of Court Street, where they stood cheering as cars honked in passing.
In between more dancing and cheering, Jones spoke again to notify those gathered about a rumor that there were people in the crowd who were planning to incite violence. He reminded them that this was a peaceful protest and that violence had no place at this event. His words were met with chants of “no violence” from the crowd.
At 9:30, protestors began to chant, through call and response, the names of African-Americans who had died at the hands of police or armed civilians. Then at 10 p.m., Jones began to speak again. He called for a few minutes of silence in honor of those who had lost their lives. After the moment of silence, protestors gathered around the painting of Floyd with their fists raised as “Amazing Grace” played from the speaker.
A calmer soundtrack marked the final 45 minutes of the gathering. Then, a little before curfew ended, Jones told those gathered that the protest was over and that they should go home. He said that getting into a fight with police was not worth it and that they had bigger battles to overcome.
The protest dispersed, with almost everyone leaving before curfew went into effect. Around 11, a fight broke out between some youth, who had attended the protest, on the West side of the Capitol park. The fight involved some underage people who were visibly intoxicated and it turned physically violent. There were 15-20 people present on the scene. The crowd quickly dispersed when Salem police arrived in riot gear to enforce curfew.
From there, the Salem Police Department, including a SWAT vehicle, several police SUVs, and the officers in riot gear, swept the city for anyone who was breaking curfew. At the same time, Oregon State Police swept the Capitol, as it is state property. People were significantly more compliant with the curfew Tuesday night and no standoffs between police and protestors occurred that resulted in violence from either side.
By 11:20, there was no one remaining on the streets downtown– protestor or otherwise. The armed men who have been out in front of Glamour Salon for the past four nights, had moved from in front of the shop to up in the Liberty parkade. A heavy police presence remained.
Protestors plan to gather again tomorrow on Lancaster Drive from 3-7 in the afternoon.
