THREAD: At tonight's monthly "Church at Planned Parenthood" protest on Wolverine St in Salem. Slow so far. Will update as things happen.
Saw Salem riot police assembling nearby. Thing starts at 6. Just a few protesters here now.
See pinned tweet above for context on how July went.
Left is gathering. Hear the right's pick up trucks now. Golly, it's 93 degrees.
Several known Proud Boys here now, none uniformed like before in July. No "church" goers yet. No service tonight?
Anti-fascist line forming. It's ready to go. Giant semi kind of in the way.
Sprinklers feel real good right now.
Cops are here waiting.
Churchgoers trickling along with Proud Boys. Have a feeling this "service" will be shorter tonight.
FYI
Anti-fascists have a sermon of their own tonight.
Church goers swapping Bible verses with antifa now.
Competing sermon from antifa tonight
Far-right convict "Tiny" Toese is here on Wolverine St with the Proud Boys at Planned Parenthood days after partaking in a riot in Portland last weekend. He was released from prison last winter.
...Looks like no actual "service" tonight, folks.
Maybe a dozen Proud Boys and a dozen of the churchgoers here.
Maybe 50 anti-fascists now.
Some "debates" going on now. And some words for the press.
Police are incoming. Road sealed off.
We're getting ready for something. Ppl are moving, getting louder.
"Church at Planned Parenthood" claims they want "law and order" tonight. We'll see what happens.
Also Toese is really trolling here.
We're very close to lift off here.
Very vocal fighters here
Artur Pawlowski, the Canadian far right "preacher" who led last weekend's far-right "service" in Portland, is here. The event spurred mass street violence for 2 days.
Salem clergy are here witnessing against Pawlowski's Proud Boy-flanked sermon.
Someone threw something
"Service" or what there was of it tonight is finishing up. End is set for 8 p.m.
Proud Boy shaking hands with counter clergy is a first for these types of events.
Proud Boys already have the mace out and ready.
Think that's an air-soft gun?
Proud Boys were the first to fill the air with mace tonight. Anti-fascists were *mostly* able to return fire, lob smoke grenades back at them.
Police had arrived two hours prior and were assembled in a nearby parking lot. They arrived as the Proud Boys left.
They grabbed at least one anti-fascist who was addressing them with a bullhorn.
Also of note in the gas attack video: A man on the Proud Boy side from behind the wheel of a car can be heard screaming, "Get in, Eric!"
He is likely referring to Eric Oelkers, a neo-fascist from the Salem area who vandalized a local black-owned business in January.
The Salem police and Sheriff's deputies have packed up and moved on as the crowd dispersed. We're done.
...Some of the Proud Boys were still in the parking lot of the shopping center as police drove away.
A few scrapes and bruises that I could see among the crowd. Some red eyes too. No idea about how the one arrestee is doing. Felt one pellet myself in the fight. I'm fine.
I am departing Wolverine St.
One more anecdote: Proud Boy Daniel Tooze wants to start a pay-per-view channel starring himself.
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