Businesses along Court Street N.E. remain boarded up in downtown Salem following unrest in January. (Jake Thomas/Salem Reporter)
As Inauguration Day approached, Salem worried.
A week before Joe Biden was to be sworn-in as president, an FBI memo emerged that said armed protesters questioning the election’s legitimacy would descend on Oregon’s capital city.
Downtown businesses boarded up windows and installed security monitors. The Legislature suspended its work. Police told the public to avoid the Capitol building, which also boarded up its windows. Elected leaders fretted. Fearing further political violence seen at the Oregon and national capitols, the National Guard was called in to keep order.
Wednesday’s inauguration came and went with the feared chaos and confrontation never materializing. As the Legislature resumed its work the next day, demonstrators again stayed away.
“I think there were three to five people who waved a flag or sign,” said Lt. Treven Upkes, Salem Police Department spokesman, in an email about the Inauguration Day protests. He added that Thursday’s protest outside the Capitol “appears to be even less.”
“Nothing yesterday and not much today,” said Capt. Tim Fox, spokesman for the Oregon State Police, in an email on Thursday.
Downtown businesses breathed a sigh of relief. But Salem parts of Salem are still worried. Downtown storefronts remain boarded and business owners are on edge that more disturbances are on the way for the city’s center.
Salem has seen multiple violent demonstrations over the last month. On Dec. 21, a group of demonstrators attempted to force their way into the state Capitol, assaulting police and journalists. On New Year’s Day, a protest downtown was declared an unlawful assembly after right-wing protesters confronted police, who later called it an “extremely dangerous situation.” While an insurrection occurred in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, a brawl erupted outside the Oregon Capitol between left-wing and right-wing demonstrators.
Jonathan Jones, a local activist and owner of Epilogue Kitchen and Cocktails, saw his business targeted by members of the Proud Boys, a violent right-wing group during disturbances earlier this month.
He said he closed his business, located at 130 High St. S.E., on Inauguration Day and watched the ceremony at home, keeping an eye on the restaurant with surveillance cameras. While the day proceeded without incident, he said he remains worried.
“Those people aren’t going away,” he said of the right-wing agitators that have targeted him.
Jones said he’ll still continue to press the city on police reform and other issues in the new year. He said the electoral loss of President Donald Trump, who has been embraced by violent right-wing groups, and the victory of Democrat Biden will make it easier to focus on activism and not being followed home.
But he said threats from white supremacists and other extremists remain, which he said organized communities have an easier time fending off.
“That doesn’t magically go away because Biden won,” he said.
Jim Vu, a board member for Salem Main Street Association, said downtown business owners remain worried about further unrest. He likened their situation to being unsure if a hurricane has passed or they are in its eye.
With storefronts remaining boarded up, he said that there is a perception that downtown is largely closed. Instead, many restaurants have pivoted to outdoor seating to comply with pandemic rules and retailers have kept their doors open, he said.
“If we want these businesses around, we’ve got to shop local,” he said.
Roanna Gingrich, the owner of CreativiTEE & rofe designs, said she didn’t board up the windows at her store located at 110 Commercial St N.E. because she worried about the message it would send to customers.
But with violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, she closed up early and drove one of her employees three blocks to their parked car.
The uneasy time leading up to the inauguration has strengthened relationships between downtown business owners, she said. Her business and Little Lantern Floral, which shares a space, set up a stack of notes and cards with positive messages and designs that customers can sign and send to someone who needs it.
“I feel like I can breathe now,” said Gingrich on Thursday.
Now she worries that people will use businesses to make a political point, referencing a viral video where a maskless group tried to enter a Salem Trader Joe’s, defying the state’s mandate to wear face coverings in public spaces.
Her apparel business features work from local creators and an area for customers to make their own clothing designs. She said she’s had a few odd phone calls from people asking to print right-leaning messages on clothing (she didn’t say what), which causes her to wonder if her business’ politics were being probed before becoming a target.
“It just feels like we never know what’s going to happen,” she said.
A handful of protesters gathered outside the state Capitol as the Legislature resumed work on Thursday, Jan. 21. (Jake Thomas/Salem Reporter)
Down the street at the Capitol, four protesters stood outside the Capitol on Thursday to express their frustrations that the building remains closed to the public because of the pandemic.
Former Republican state Rep. Jeff Kropf wore a paper bag over his head to poke fun at legislators who aren’t meeting with the public.
“What we have here, is a failure to communicate,” he said, a remark that drew laughter from other protesters.
Mark Cosby drove from Marcola in Lane County to the Capitol to protest the Legislature’s direction on gun control, vaccinations and taxation. The founder of gun rights group Oregon Push Back, Cosby held a plastic pipe with an American flag attached and wore a hat with a figure holding a pitchfork and the words “Fork Your Tyrants.”
The Capitol building is closed to the public because of the pandemic. Legislative proceedings are broadcast online and citizens can still call and email lawmakers.
But he said the public being blocked from entering the Capitol violates the state constitution. He said the closure is further evidence of an unwillingness by lawmakers to listen to the public.
When asked why so few showed up, he said that people are at work.
He also added, “People are tired of politics.”
Contact reporter Jake Thomas at 503-575-1251 or [email protected] or @jakethomas2009.
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