On Saturday, June 27, approximately 200 people gathered on the steps of the Oregon State Capitol for a rally in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Although Salem’s daily protests in support of this movement have ended, this marks the fifth weekend of rallies.
The event was scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m., however, organizers did not have all the necessary sound equipment. So, the speeches did not begin until after 1:30. This late start also resulted in the cancellation of the planned march.
While people waited for the speeches, they wrote chalk messages on the sidewalk in front of the Capitol. These messages, which filled much of the area at the bottom of the steps, included phrases such as “Defund SPD,” “BLM [Black Lives Matter],” “I Can’t Breathe,” “Justice For All” and “How Many Deaths?”
Protest organizers also provided free water and pizza for protestors as they waited. The refreshments were off to the side near a few booths. These booths contained people from Salem Democratic Socialists of America and the City of Salem’s Human Rights Commission providing information on how protestors could get involved. The third booth was there to register people to vote.
As they waited for the beginning of the rally, protestors stood near Court St. chanting and holding up signs. Chants included “No justice, no peace,” “Black lives matter” and “Say their name.”
Many of the signs had general anti-racism messages that can be seen at almost all the protests, such as “Silence Is Betrayal,” “I Can’t Breathe,” “All Lives Can’t Matter Until Black Lives Matter” and “End Police Brutality.” However, there were also signs specifically about Salem.
A couple signs were directed at Salem Police Department [SPD] such as “Jerry Moore Is A Coward” and “Defund SPD.” Moore is SPD’s current chief and has received criticism from the community both over his handling of the armed men in front of Glamour Salon and the first several days of Black Lives Matter protests.
There were also several signs directed at Salem Keizer School District [SKSD] and specifically the school board. Some of these signs include “Resign Now, Salem-Keizer Demands It, Marty Heyen” and “Salem-Keizer Can Do Better.”
These signs come as a video went viral in Salem last week of school board director Paul Kyllo (Zone 7) wearing a mask of a Black, retired Trail Blazer player. Kyllo left the mask on for the entirety of the hour and a half long board meeting and no one on the board requested that he remove it. Multiple board members were seen laughing about the mask, which has been referred to as “digital blackface.” Since the video garnered city-wide attention, people have begun calling for the resignations of Marty Heyen, chair of the board (Zone 2), and Kyllo. Many of the speakers echoed this sentiment.
The speeches, which were all translated into ASL, began with spoken word poetry from Emmett Wheatfell. This was accompanied by Wes Tjernlund, Marcus McQuade and Nathan Olsen, playing the saxophone, drums and keyboard, respectively. Wheatfell also performed a duet with singer Jamila Maries.
“In a nation striped and cloaked in red, white and blue, George’s life was snuffed out by a white cop wearing his dress duty blue. That white cop did what COVID-19 could not do. George Floyd was dead before the code blue,” Wheatfell said during his performance.
Speakers spoke on a variety of issues, many which echoed past weekends. Some addressed the school board calling for the resignation of Heyen and Kyllo, as well as, the removal of school resource officers [SROs]. Shelaswau Crier, a community leader who has spoken at several protests in the past, urged protestors to sign petitions, write emails and submit testimony in an attempt to remove SROs.
“This is not about having good cops and having bad cops. This is not a judgment of our officers in Salem or our officers in Keizer. This is about our kids,” Crier said.
Other speakers shared their experiences with racism in Salem. Amber Allen, an employee for the State of Oregon, talked about how she is treated differently by her coworkers because she is Black. She discussed how people talk to her as if she is less qualified and intelligent. Allen also talked about the struggles of raising Black children.
“I am fearful because I have black babies. I am scared every day that they could be the next George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery or so many others who are not being named,” Allen said.
Rian Gayle shared the difficulties he faces as a deaf, Black man. He discussed accessibility in Salem and how the lack of it is damaging for deaf people, especially, deaf people of color. Gayle said that every time he goes somewhere new, he has to consider if it is safe there for a Black man and for a deaf, Black man. Gayle went on to show the crowd how to sign “Black Lives Matter.”
Multiple speakers shared about how important protesting is and how crucial it was that people continue to show up.
“This here is not unpatriotic, you are following in your Founding Fathers’ footsteps,” Delicia Huerta said about protesting.
Others added to this sentiment, stating that this movement is not going to be a fast one. They told protestors that this would last for years and that they need to keep showing up. Some speakers also added that protesting was not enough. They told people to vote, run for office and get involved in the government.
“Vote like your life depends on it, because for some people it sure as hell does,” Rebecca Hunt said.
Saturday’s protest was not without conflict. Multiple interactions between protestors and counter-protestors occurred over the course of the event.
The first interaction occurred when a man wearing a Trump 2020 shirt and waving an American flag began to walk through the edge of the crowd yelling things such as “All lives matter” and saying people shouldn’t be wearing masks. At first, organizers told people not to engage and protestors mostly followed this direction. A few people yelled in his direction and tried to engage, but other protestors physically held him back.
The man then proceeded to walk further into the crowd and people began to gather around him. He walked up the steps of the Capitol and, by the time he had reached the top of the first set, most of the crowd was surrounding him. He began using a megaphone, at which point the crowd moved tightly around him. Protestors then raised their fists and began to chant “Black lives matter.”
Different groups of participants interacted with him in different ways. Some urged the crowd to step back, give him space and return to speeches. Others tried to block his view with umbrellas and signs. Some moved in close and began yelling in his face. A few touched him and grabbed his flag, at which point the counter-protestor began to tell them to “stop assaulting the flag.”
Around this time, Oregon State Police [OSP], who had been inside the Capitol for the entirety of the protest thus far, walked outside. They did not engage with the crowd and instead stood back from the conflict.
At this point, protestors moved away from the counter-protestor and went back to listening to speeches. He walked to the other side of the steps and began to wave his flag and yell into his megaphone. OSP gathered behind him and did not engage. Some protestors asked OSP if he could be removed and OSP told them that he was within his rights.
A few protestors held signs in front of him, both to block him from view and to stop anyone from going to interact with him. The counter-protestor eventually left and was followed by a small group who yelled “nazi” at him. A few OSP troopers followed and he attempted to engage with them, telling them how grateful he was that OSP was there and saying that protestors would have assaulted him if there were no officers. OSP ignored his attempted engagement.
After the counter-protestor left, Adrien Lockhart spoke to the crowd about how they should listen to Black organizers in order to mitigate conflict. He shared that someone threatened to beat him up when he tried to block people from engaging.
Towards the end of the protest, more counter-protestors showed up. Three women arrived holding signs that read “Cry Out To Jesus And Live” and “It’s A Sin Issue Not A Skin Issue.” They yelled at protestors and told them that they were all sinners going to hell.
A group of people alleged that one of the women was aggressively moving the stoller with the baby in it at protestors. They called Child Protective Services and reported the woman for child endangerment.
One protestor opened a water bottle and began to pour it on the head of one of the counter-protestors. Another protestor hit the bottle away. OSP walked over following this, however, they again did not engage with the crowd.
Several people went up to the women and the two groups began to yell at eachother. Two of the women walked around filming the conversations on their phones. A few protestors then formed a barricade between the women and others to stop any more interactions. The women eventually left.
After these interactions, a group of protestors went to talk to the state troopers. The troopers told them that their goal was to keep the peace with only their presence and that they did not engage unless necessary. A few troopers also told protestors that they were doing a good job keeping the peace themselves.
The protest ended at 4:30, with the next major Black Lives Matter event scheduled for July 4, beginning at 12 p.m. at the Capitol. This event is in scheduling conflict with a pro-second amendment rally calling for attendees to “stand with the thin blue line” which is marketed for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
