Last weekend, when the Proud Boys and other militia sorts were in town, someone assaulted the homeless encampment in Chapman Square.
Last night I visited and talked to seven people who were there, including one person who was hospitalized due to injuries. Here's what I found.
Last night I visited and talked to seven people who were there, including one person who was hospitalized due to injuries. Here's what I found.
At approximately 3 AM on Sunday, August 8th, a white jeep carrying two men and one woman stopped around 4th and Main. They yelled insults to camp residents and appeared to be drunk. One of them dropped his phone while the driver floored it.
They parked at Terry Schrunk Plaza, got out, and began accosting people. Several residents gathered sticks and poles and attempted to fight back. According to one:
"They took turns, swapped back and forth. It looked like they'd fought together before."
"They took turns, swapped back and forth. It looked like they'd fought together before."
The worst violence of the night came when both men began stomping on a tent with a person inside it. This person received a severe head injury and was hospitalized. There was a significant amount of blood. I was shown a piece of plastic he had bled onto: 
Each corner of Chapman Square has a semi-separate camp. They started at SW 4th and Main and moved on to the tents set up on 3rd. There they several black teen residents:
"They were just ready to fight. Every fucking step they took the n-word was just coming out of their mouth."
"They were just ready to fight. Every fucking step they took the n-word was just coming out of their mouth."
Five witnesses all alleged constant use of that racial slur with a "hard r". All witnesses agree the men appeared to be heavily inebriated. They were eventually driven off when an adult female resident hit one of them with bear mace.
No one at the camp recognized these people. I have not yet found photos or videos of them. Everyone I spoke with assumed they had something to do with the right-wing gatherings on Saturday and Sunday.
However, that cannot be proved at this point.
However, that cannot be proved at this point.
One of the teens I interviewed told me:
"We all think they're gonna come back sometime. They always do. One thing that's stuck in my head is we are left here to defend ourselves. No one is helping us."
Another added:
"What would help? If people would come down here."
"We all think they're gonna come back sometime. They always do. One thing that's stuck in my head is we are left here to defend ourselves. No one is helping us."
Another added:
"What would help? If people would come down here."
Several of the residents will be staying in a hotel, booked via mutual aid funds, during the right-wing incursion next weekend. People were very worried about being attacked again. But not everyone planned to leave. One man told me:
"It's our home."
"It's our home."
The counter demonstration to the right wing incursion will be at Salmon Springs Fountain on August 22nd at 1 PM.
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