Among the Oregonians who traveled to Washington DC for what would become a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was Tim Davis, 59, of Springfield. Davis has been an identifiable presence at rallies that have turned violent across Oregon since July, including one in Springfield, another in Portland, and two in Salem.
In addition to being part of the group that stormed the Oregon State Capitol on December 21, this past week he was caught on video and in still photographs participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. It was his second trip to Washington DC in the past month attending events that turned violent.
Several videos of the U.S. Capitol insurrection record Davis in the throes of the mob. Footage, posted by Insider News, shows him waving a flag on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. An image posted by Getty Images, depicts Davis with a megaphone in front of the Washington Monument. The caption below the photo reads “A man calls for the storming of the U.S. Capitol building.” Davis told OPB, who originally reported his presence, that he did not enter the Capitol building itself. After he returned to Oregon, Davis gave OPB an interview during which he said he “wasn’t aware they had stormed the Capitol.”
Just sixteen days prior to DC, Davis was recorded at the Oregon State Capitol on Dec. 21 when extreme right-wing protesters turned violent, assaulting at least six police officers. Some of the group refused to disperse even after the police declared the assembly unlawful and broke into the Oregon Capitol during the Legislature’s Special Session. Video footage from that day shows that Davis was among the group who refused to disperse and then entered the Oregon State Capitol, despite it being closed that day. He entered the Capitol after police officers were sprayed with what appears to be bear mace and moved back into the building. Chandler Pappas has been arrested for that assault.
Later in the same video from the Oregon State Capitol on Dec. 21, Davis can be heard yelling with Pappas about an OSP trooper who won’t let them into the building. Davis appears to yell “He can hang with the rest of them,” in reference to the trooper.
Earlier in December, Davis was in DC for yet another protest that turned violent. Video places Davis in the streets of DC with a group of other Oregonians, including several who are being investigated by the Oregon State Police [OSP] for assaulting Black community leaders at the Oregon State Capitol on August 15.
In an Instagram Live video that the Clypian obtained from Davis’s trip to DC in December, he is seen in a hotel room with several of the alleged assailants from the August 15 melee. In one exchange where Davis is being hailed as a fighter, he acknowledges that he is not a combat veteran “Except for in Portland,” referring to protests in the city. Davis adds that he’s been in “a lot of hand to hand combat” against left-wing protesters.
Davis later describes the government as corrupt and argues that people need to come together to end the government.
“We’ve gotta use our constitutional right just to abolish these people [politicians] from power,” Davis says in the video. It is unclear which constitutional right he is specifically referencing.
He says to fix the nation, the people in power must be “removed.” He then adds “We’re not gonna vote them away.”
Davis then goes on to tell the people watching that “we have to risk everything.” He references back the sacrifices made by those who fought in the Revolutionary War, urging the people watching to be like them. Following this, Davis adds that people need to be prepared to leave their homes and families.
Davis continues to talk saying that Americans must “stand up together and declare that this government is abolished.” He goes on to liken the government to a “criminal cartel.”
“We got to literally remove [current politicians] from power by whatever means they require us to do it in,” Davis says, adding that they won’t go voluntarily.
He calls for the current politicians to be arrested and tried in a “military court of law.” Davis specifically references Governor Kate Brown and says “that b**** needs to be arrested today.”
After Davis talks for several minutes the phone is passed back to the man who started the livestream. Shortly afterwards, someone in the background can be heard saying “it’s gonna be a fight, a bloody one.”
“All you little punk a** b**** antifa out there, we are coming for you… before this is all over you’re done and that’s a f***ing promise,” someone in the background adds and the people in the room start clapping.
Several months prior to these events, Davis attended a rally for Trump which took place outside the Multnomah County Justice Center in Portland on August 22. The rally resulted in several hours of violent conflict between anti-fascist counterprotesters and those from the Trump rally.
A week before this on August 15, Davis attended a Reopen Oregon protest at the Oregon Capitol where several Black community leaders were allegedly assaulted. Davis was identified as one of the alleged assailants by victims.
Victims reported injuries from the altercations, including trouble breathing, back and neck injuries, and cuts, scrapes and bruises. One victim was taken to the hospital.
Davis was directly involved in the second confrontation, our reporting of the day’s event shows. Davis is seen on video standing in front of Tyrone Jones, a Black community member, while the two argued. Davis then pushes Jones. This prompted a brawl with several other Reopen Oregon and Black Lives Matter protesters becoming involved in the melee.
OSP did not intervene in either conflict, citing minimal staffing and the crowd policing themselves, in an email sent to the Clypian at the time; however, they did begin an investigation. After several months of investigating, OSP forwarded the case to the Marion County District Attorney’s Office in November. The District Attorney’s Office told the Clypian that they are currently reviewing the case against the assailants, including Davis, to determine if they will press charges.
Before the August assaults in Salem and Portland, video shows Davis at a protest in Springfield on July 29. That protest entailed a violent clash between protest groups, as well as with police. A video, which the Clypian obtained, shows Davis and several others being asked to move back from behind the police line, and Davis responding by yelling at the police, asserting “You don’t have the right to tell us to back up.”
Davis has not faced any criminal charges for his participation in any of the aforementioned protests. The status of the Aug. 15 assaults remains pending.
