Armed members of the far-left Antifa network clashed with passing by motorists and counterprotesters outside Oregon’s Capitol on Sunday.
Video footage showed members of the anarcho-communist group assaulting people with pro-Trump and pro-law enforcement flags driving by the Capitol in Salem. At one point, the crowd lobbed a rock directly at a driver, shattering his driver’s side window.
Some of the group flew Antifa flags; the vast majority donned gear favored by the network, including all black clothing and items to obscure their faces from being identified by law enforcement.
Approximately 100 such individuals, armed with weapons such as guns, bats, and shields, arrived on the Capitol mall grounds shortly before noon, according to the Salem Police Department. A police tweet described the group as “heavily armed.”
“Soon after their arrival, the Salem Police Department began to receive reports that individuals from the Court Street group were targeting vehicles driving by. The victims reported their vehicles were damaged by paint filled balloons, rocks, and other hard objects being thrown at them as they passed. One vehicle sustained significant damage after a large tree limb was thrown through the front window into the vehicle’s passenger seat. Patrol officers responded and took several reports to initiate criminal investigations,” police said in an incident summary.
Oregon State Police officers and local officers responded and declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, attempting to disperse the crowd with crowd control munitions. They closed Court Street in front of the Capitol. The closure prevented a conservative caravan from entering the area.
The dispersed crowd began moving about nearby streets and became embroiled in various altercations, with property damage reported.
Three arrests were ultimately made. Andrew Alan Foy, 34, was arrested on disorderly conduct and criminal trespass charges. Nathan McFarland, 33, was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge. Anthony Villaneda, 18, was arrested on unlawful pointing of a laser charges.
A bail fund said it was coordinating with the Salem Antifa chapter to pay bail for those arrested. It later said it got enough money to pay for bail for two of those taken into custody.
Videos and photographs from the scene showed one man flying American flags from his truck detained after brandishing a handgun at Antifa members. The man appeared to have been released shortly afterwards. The Salem Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Antifa had planned a “Hate Has No Home Here” event, also described as a “Fascist Free 503,” in Salem to counter a Freedom Rally organized by a conservative nonprofit called The Conservative Wing that they said was fascist.
Antifa stands for anti-fascist, though critics say the network regularly uses tactics that are fascist.
Later on Sunday, the state’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would bar openly carrying guns and other weapons at the Capitol, as well as at demonstrations across the state.
The Democrat-controlled chamber approved the legislation 57-40. The state Senate passed it last month.
From The Epoch Times
