On Tuesday, Sept. 7, Labor Day afternoon, approximately 150 protesters gathered on the Capitol steps for an “American Lives Matter” rally. At the same time several dozen counter-protesters, many affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, gathered on the opposite side of the street, by the Capitol Mall.
Protesters for the “American Lives Matter” rally stand by the Capitol steps, waving flags and armed with guns and other weapons. Photo by Eddy Binford-Ross
The people attending the “American Lives Matter” rally were heavily armed. There were several assault rifles, handguns, paintball guns, bats, batons, bear spray, mace and knives. Some of those armed appeared to be teenagers, but no law enforcement could be seen confirming their age or right to carry. The counter-protesters had a couple baseball bats, but those were the only visible weapons.
Flags were featured very prominently at the right-wing rally. There were dozens of Trump flags being flown by protesters and on the back of vehicles. There were also American flags, Thin Blue Line flags, “Don’t Tread On Me” flags, Proud Boy flags and more. Counter-protesters had one anti-fascist flag, a Black Lives Matter flag, a couple Mexican flags and several signs.
Counter-protesters gather by the Capitol Mall. Photos by Eddy Binford-Ross
In a video that went viral from early in the rally, a protester identified on Twitter as Marcus Edwards is seen speaking into a megaphone. In this speech, Edwards falsely equates people who identify as LGBTQ+ to pedophiles. He then calls for Democratic leaders to be “shot dead in the streets.” The crowd then cheers.
These words have been denounced by both Republicans and Democrats from Oregon. Representative Bill Post, a Republican in the Oregon House, tweeted “I absolutely denounce this cr**! This speaker does NOT represent me or any real Republicans. Horrible.”
Representative Julie Fahey, a Democrat in the Oregon House, tweeted in response to the speech as well. Fahey said “…this type of rhetoric (and the crowd’s response) is anything but normal, and it needs to be taken very seriously.”
Around 2 p.m., witnesses say that one of the counter-protesters was either yelling at or touching the flag of a right wing protester. The right-wing protesters responded by macing and shoving the counter-protesters. One counter-protester said that the protesters used wasp spray, but that report is unconfirmed.
By around 2:10 p.m., the crowds were standing on opposite sides of the street with people from both sides in the lanes. Several people got into yelling matches and approached each other so that they were right in front of the other side. This yelling was periodically broken up by cars driving through.
By 2:45 p.m., both groups had moved fully out of the street and onto the sidewalks. This move was a mutual decision between the groups in an apparent attempt to deescalate tensions.
Shortly after this, the counter-protesters moved back under the trees in the Capitol Mall to regroup and make decisions on what to do. Many left at that point. Right-wing protesters were spread out on the Capitol steps and in the area in front of the steps talking. There was occasional yelling back and forth.
Around 3 p.m., there was talk from both crowds that the Trump Caravan that had gathered in Oregon City was on its way down to Salem. The protesters stood around awaiting its arrival.
At approximately 3:30 p.m., part of the caravan arrived. Oregon State Police (OSP) estimates that 45 to 60 people joined the crowd at this point. the entirety of the caravan never seemed to arrive at the Capitol; however, dozens of cars with Trump and American flags or messages written on the side drove by around the same time. Many of the cars had illegally taped over license plates or had removed them altogether.
A little before 4 p.m., a group of Proud Boys marched up the Capitol steps where they were joined by several other protesters. The group then began to unfold a large American flag at the top of the steps. As they did this, the crowd chanted “USA” and “F*** Antifa.”
Once the flag was unfolded, the group said the Pledge of Allegiance. Several people were seen at this time making the “okay” sign, which has become identified as a white power sign in certain contexts according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Proud Boys and other protesters unfold a large American flag. Photos by Eddy Binford-Ross
A little after 4 p.m., Proud Boys and other protesters bull rushed the counter-protesters who were still gathered in the shade on the other side of the street. The bull rush appeared to be unprovoked.
Viral videos show that during this bull rush one live streamer was beaten to the ground and then maced by a protester as he lay there. Other counter-protesters were shoved to the ground or shot with paintballs and CS projectiles, according to OSP.
Salem Police, who had been parked on the sides of the Capitol Mall, responded to the bull rush and several officers stopped protesters from further pursuing counter-protesters who had continued to run off the Mall. They repeatedly told the protesters to “break it up.” The officers ordered at least one protester to drop their paintball gun and told the crowd to move back towards the Capitol.
Salem Police does not have jurisdiction over the Capitol Mall; however, they can respond to certain incidents and had officers positioned there to try to keep the peace. There were also extra officers on foot, in squad cars, on bikes and on motorcycles, positioned in the areas immediately around the Capitol and downtown.
The crowd moved back for approximately ten minutes.
An older man, appearing to counter-protest the event, stripped down completely naked. He was maced and shot with paintballs. After doing this, protesters helped wash the mace out of his eyes and then told him to leave.
Then several people from the Trump group saw a young Black Lives Matter supporter standing at the end of the plaza in the Mall holding a sign. They shot the person with paintballs. One right-wing protester ran after the young person, pushed them to the ground and began to hit their face. The BLM supporter briefly got to their knees before being shoved back down again by another heavily armed man. “Get out of here you f**” can be heard in the videos of the attack, making it a potential hate crime under Oregon’s new law.
Police, including several Salem police officers and a couple OSP troopers, reached the scene from where they were positioned on the edges of the Mall as the second man was shoving the young person down. The Salem police officers shoved the protester off the Black Lives Matter supporter and onto the ground. They also shoved the man who initiated the attack to the ground.
Officers pushed the crowd back with batons and a bike. They yelled at the crowd to “Back up” and “Stay back.”
Several officers pinned both men to the ground, emptied their pockets of weapons, and placed them under arrest. The two attackers were escorted to the squad cars on the side of the Mall. Videos show the detainees and police standing around in that area for a little while.
Ty Parker and Trenton Wolfskill are arrested by Salem police officers after shoving and hitting a counter protester. Photo by Eddy Binford-Ross
Despite making the arrests, Salem police do not have jurisdiction over the Capitol area and so they transferred custody of the alleged attackers to OSP.
Troopers took criminal reports of the assault and other crimes, according to Capt. Tim Fox of OSP. The two men who were arrested were cited and then released by OSP within a couple hours near the same location the attacks occurred. The alleged assailants remained in the Capitol area the entire time, while alleged victims were treated at the Salem Hospital for their injuries.
One of the men arrested was identified as Ty Parker from Durango, Colorado. He was charged with Assault IV (a misdemeanor) and Intimidation I. The other person arrested was Trenton Wolfskill from Eugene, Oregon. He was charged with Assault IV.
Other alleged assailants, including the woman who maced the livestreamer have not been arrested or charged, although investigations have been opened.
“Troopers will continue to conduct follow up investigation on other criminal reports taken during this event,” Fox said in regard to other incidents that occurred that day.
Right after they escorted Parker and Wolfskill away, police told protesters to move back to the Capitol. Right-wing protesters moved back slightly but remained in a line on the Mall. Chants of “Fuck Antifa” could be heard at this point.
A little before 4:30 p.m., protesters began to follow a man with a press vest. The man, Brain Conley, is part of Portland’s protest press corps. Protesters surrounded him, yelling “Antifa press” and ordered him to leave. He refused.
Someone in the crowd shot several paintballs at his back. The apparent leader of this group told the rest of the protesters not to hurt Conley. After some tense chatting, the group dispersed.
After this, the protesters stood around on the Capitol Mall. They chatted, gave interviews and waved flags. Several people talked proudly about how they had “taken the Capitol Mall” from “Antifa.”
The group also seemed worried about the possibility of the Black Lives Matter supporters sneaking up behind and attacking them. Protesters also talked about how a group of dozens of Antifa were hiding a few blocks away. The counter-protesters did not reappear by the steps or the Mall for the rest of the afternoon.
A little after 5 p.m., protesters allegedly saw counter-protesters messing with a flag in the park on the side of the Capitol. Well over a dozen protesters ran that way, with more following. The counter-protesters were not in the park when they arrived.
Protesters then ran around the Capitol and through parts of Willamette University looking for them. Due to COVID, the university campus is closed to the public according to signs posted all over campus. They were unsuccessful and returned to the Capitol fairly quickly before being cited for trespassing.
Around this time, several OSP troopers came out and stood right by the side doors into the Capitol. They waited there briefly and then went back inside.
By 6 p.m., the crowd was winding down with just a few dozen remaining. Most stood around talking. A couple small groups, armed with assault rifles and paint ball guns, walked through the Capitol area apparently looking for counter-protesters. One said he expected another confrontation.
One group of these men chased after a small group of apparent Black Lives Matter supporters at the far end of the Mall. The men had guns and paintball guns. Once the small group had made it to the far roadway, the protesters let them go without any physical confrontation.
By 6:30 p.m., the sky was extremely smokey from the wildfires which were growing in size and the protesters left, many in the bed of trucks, to go to a group dinner.
After they left, OSP came out and cleared the steps of debris.
