“Can’t stump the Trump” was the mantra of the day for Portland State Students for Trump as organizers held the group’s second meeting.
At the advice of PSU’s Campus Public Safety Office, the event was moved outdoors instead of being in the cafeteria as originally advertised.
Protesters organized a counter protest for the same day and promoted it via posters around campus that read “Racism does not belong at PSU.”
The pro-Trump group initially met at the PSU Park Blocks but quickly moved to the Urban Plaza where a smaller group of protesters were waiting with drums, whistles and sirens.
Both sides drew in many non-PSU students of varying ages. Among Trump supporters were people wearing anti-Hillary and anti-socialism shirts.
Infowars also had a significant presence with a small media crew and fans wearing its branded gear. Infowars is a right-leaning, controversial website created by Libertarian radio host Alex Jones.
The protesters had few identifiable affiliations compared to the first Trump meeting. A small number of protestors wore Black Panther uniforms while a few others concealed their faces with masks.
No single anti-Trump demonstrator took a clear leadership role as the group made collective noise to drown out support for the national candidate.
Each group remained on opposite sides of the plaza for about 15 minutes but eventually moved face-to-face. The two groups remained at a relative standstill for another forty minutes.
Trump supporters carried megaphones and chanted several slogans like “Can’t stump the Trump” and “USA, USA,” but were mostly overshadowed by the sirens and whistles. Between individuals, “Go get a job,” “Take a shower” and other insults were shouted.
Some protesters eventually tried to block banners carried by the Trump supporters by forming body walls.
In reaction, Trump supporters unraveled a banner that read “Soros Stooges” behind one group of walled protesters. Activist businessman, George Soros, is said to have funded and organized some anti-Trump demonstrations.
One protester, Brandon, who declined to give his surname, walked to the middle of the Trump group with his siren. Tensions mounted briefly as Trump supporters attempted to cover his siren with their hands and backpacks.
Brandon, an activist with the Black Rose Anarchist Federation, told the Vanguard that he is not a student and that he showed up “to shut down Trump supporters.”
The Trump supporters attempted to address some speaking points mostly led by non-students but could not be heard well over the noise. After an hour, PSU Students for Trump founders Stephen Johnston and Volodymyr Kolychev led the group back to the Park Blocks. The protesters followed.
In the Park Blocks, Trump supporters were met with onlookers and lingering guests of the PSU Farmers Market, which happened earlier in the day.
PSU Students for Trump momentarily stopped near Cramer Hall but were again drowned out by the sounds of protest. The group then changed tactics and led themselves on a longer march in the vicinity of downtown Portland. The protesters followed, but largely remained on the opposite side of the street.
As the march continued, the number of participants on both sides began to dwindle. The march ended near the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Southwest Broadway. Video footage shot by a Pacific Sentinel reporter shows a protestor throwing food on the remaining Trump supporters who had gathered in a circle.
Several men chased after the protester who was soon apprehended via a citizen’s arrest. It is unknown if he faces any charges.
Tensions escalated again as the remaining protesters and Trump supporters confronted one another outside the concert hall. Olivia Pace, an organizer with the PSU Student Union, accused Johnston of posting a racial slur online.
In response, Johnston and other Trump supporters shouted repeatedly, “Where’s your evidence?” Pace took an active lead in disrupting the first Trump meeting earlier this month.
A masked protester, identified by the Vanguard as Phoenix Singer, spit on a Trump supporter during a verbal argument. Singer is running as a write-in candidate for Associated Students of PSU Senate with Unite PSU. Singer served as ASPSU Equal Rights Advocacy Director in 2013.
Footage of the incident has been shared on social media.
Pace and Singer did not respond to the Vanguard‘s request for comment.
Editor’s note: Additional details added April 18 at 7:30 p.m.
As an alumni of PSU I am incredibly ashamed. As a parent of a college age student I would not encourage my child to attend this college. At the end of the day we all get a vote. There is no need for this childish nonsense. Trump should cut a check to the protestors because it is people like this who are actually pushing moderates to the right.
We moderates (or “RINOs”) left the GOP years ago. Today’s Republicans eschew intelligence and cooperation for bombastic bullet-point extremism, which has led to the GOP’s destruction.
Liberals use the same tactics.
This moderate shifted to the right because of the protesters and leftists like those who attempted to silence the students here. It’s a sad, sad day when Alex Jones is more reasonable than those who comments on.
“A masked protester, identified by the Vanguard as Phoenix Singer, spit on a Trump supporter during a verbal argument.”
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This is actually libel, if you think a person is the alleged protestor and you don’t have legal evidence your about to drop then you need to use words like allegedly or just leave it out of your story. There’s actually Trump supporters who physically assaulted several of the protestors but short of filming it we are getting one-sided footage from literal white supremacists that we don’t actually need at a place like Portland State.
People know Singer and can link their face, generic anarchist clothing ( since they are a self-proclaimed communist), and comparing piercings on their mouth to past videos to back up the Vanguard’s claims. Every time leftists claim something happened, this supposed evidence never sees the light of day. But of course, you’ll blame it on “literal white supremacists.” This article is very accurate to what happened.
You do realize there were blacks, hispanics, and asians, present with whites in support of Trump? Are they white supremacists as well? The only racial supremacy I saw, in the videos and in person, was a Black Panther being present.
If anyone is pointing fingers, the whole world is pointing at the authoritarian students of PSU that have crashed many civil meetings held by staff to create “safe spaces” and “POC task forces” These students silence free speech and take grants and scholarships while claiming they’re being oppressed.
I would only suggest that you keep this up, you’re bringing more people to the right side and that is for the best for everyone.
I don’t know why you’re ashamed to be a white supremacist – it’s actually within your legal right to be so. White supremacy can be adhered to by any community – any one who believes in the supremacy and legitimacy of white fascism is allowed to hold those view points. People, including myself, will condemn you, but you should just attempt to be earnest about your extremist views.
Separately, unless you have legal evidence this person is who you claim, there are literally thousands of people in Portland that look like this and have similar piercings and identify as quote unquote communists. Portland is brimming with people in these identities.
If you have the wrong person, I’m sure you and the other white supremacists would rather find the actual person you want, and I’m sure the writer of the article would want to have room for their own inaccuracy since, well, people like you are the source of their worst information and you sort self-marginalize yourself out of civil conversation on a daily basis.
I’m sure you’ll find a platform for your white supremacy that better adheres to your ideas than Portland or this university, and hope the writer will realize that by even having you on his side it’s sort of already a negative point for jumping to conclusions.
How exactly am I a white supremacist? I’m simply asking to have a conversation, to challenge each student’s idea of what they believe. The ironic part about Singer’s assault was that before it happened, the victim was asking them to go home and research events online by themselves instead of succumbing to the misinformed, collective thought.
America, and especially PSU, doesn’t have it bad at all. It’s wonderful we get to have a battlefield of wits here and that’s what universities are really for. Leftists want universities to be a “home,” and not an intellectual space where opposing thoughts are heard. The notion of their “safe spaces” is created to block out whites and specifically white men. The BLM group’s co founder even stated in a tweet that Allah should give her the strength to not kill all white folks. http://tinyurl.com/zkn8e73
The progressive students want to replace solidarity with segregation in schools and that’s going to set us back 50-60 years in race relations.
The only people wanting to turn this into a race issue is the left and ultra-right, (of whom are disregarded for their crazed opinions). You do not know me but you’ll throw exaggerated assumptions of my ideology, skin color, and perhaps even gender, before even meeting me. You simply want to create civil unrest, racial tensions, and do not want to focus on keeping our country solidified, no matter the race/ethnicity. Your protected biased opinion is a perfect example of what is wrong with colleges today but between the blaring sirens and whistles, we’re finally seeing a return to intellectual dialogue.
PS’s facebook page has a skateboard pic. Its very distinctive, easily identifiable yellow and red markings are identical to the one the spitting transgendered male in video footage is seen holding. Of course, if Singer is not the person in the video who spit in the man’s face for merely asserting his opinions, then why has HE (ha ha, do something about my use of this pronoun!) refused a simple request for a comment from Vanguard?
So last year Kaitlyn Verret ran with Tony Funchess who dated underage girls & was convicted of attempted rape. She refused comment when that was brought to light. In the last 2 weeks she has physically assaulted a journalist, threatened other students & protected Phoenix Singer who spit in someone’s face. Still no comment. Either she has poor judgement or she approves of their actions. Which is it Kaitlyn?? Her judgement can not be trusted to manage student fees